Alaska Wolves Plan Prompts Boycott Threat
By DAN JOLING
Associated Press Writer
March 8, 2003, 1:36 AM EST
ANCHORAGE, Alaska —
A national animal-rights group has pledged a tourist boycott if the state kills wolves to boost moose populations for hunters in Interior Alaska. But villagers in the area say they need more moose to keep food on the table.
The Alaska Game Board is considering predator control on 520 square miles near McGrath, 200 miles northwest of Anchorage.
Predator control would help protect moose calves during their critical first two months of life, when up to 60 percent are killed by wolves and bears. The goal is to increase moose numbers so hunters can harvest 130 to 150 animals a year.
Steffen Strict, representing the McGrath Native Village Council, told the Game Board Thursday that the wolf population is out of control near the village, where a loaf of bread costs $4.50 and residents count on game for food.
“Moose meat is necessary for feeding my family,” Strict said.
But Priscilla Feral of Friends of Animals, headquartered in Darien, Conn., said Alaska can count on a tourism boycott if the plan is approved.
“For every dollar you spend to kill a wolf, we will match in launching an offensive,” she told the board Thursday. She promised high-profile advertisements in major newspapers urging tourists to avoid Alaska.
Feral said McGrath is only the first area that will be considered for predator control. She also questioned the need for harvesting more moose.
“No one is claiming that McGrath residents are beginning to starve, or anything close to that,” she said.
Community leaders in McGrath and surrounding villages urged the board to follow through on previous plans to increase the moose population.
Donne Fleagle, speaking on behalf of MTNT Ltd., a village corporation representing McGrath and the neighboring communities of Takotna, Nikolai and Telida, stressed the importance of moose meat to residents.
“There is nothing more important to our people than a healthy moose harvest,” Fleagle said.
She said villagers would be willing to forgo hunting in the area if they had a commitment to also remove predators and allow the moose population to build.
Fish and Game Department biologists testified that the 490 moose in the study area produce about 344 calves annually. Black bears kill 100, wolves kill 90 and grizzly bears kill 43, while fewer than a dozen die of other causes. Slightly more than 100 survive, replacing the 98 or so adult moose killed in roughly equal numbers by human hunters and predators.
Feral and independent wildlife biologist Gordon Haber said the Fish and Game Department has ignored scientific review that’s skeptical of the situation at McGrath.
Board Chairman Ben Grussendorf directed two board members to work with department staffers to draft a recommendation for board consideration next week.
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On the Net:
Board of Game: http://www.state.ak.us/adfg/boards/gameinfo/boghome.htm