Crowd supports predator control
HEARING: Testimony backs wolf hunt to boost McGrath moose.
By Elizabeth Manning
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: March 7, 2003)
A public opinion survey released by the Alaska Wildlife Alliance this week reported that more than three-quarters of Alaska’s residents think the state should not kill predators to boost the moose population around McGrath.
But at a public hearing Thursday in Anchorage, the Board of Game heard exactly the opposite: Most of the 45 people who testified said a state-sponsored predator-kill program is long overdue for McGrath and four nearby villages.
The moose population there has remained depressed, argued people who support predator control, and local hunters have suffered from a lack of game meat.
“We have so many wolves in our country that people are carrying handguns to the outhouse, dogs are getting plucked off chains and wolves are resorting to cannibalism,” said McGrath resident Alan Dick.
Dick and many other people at the hearing said they are tired of the Board of Game crafting predator-kill plans that the state never implements.
“We understand the frustrations of the residents of McGrath, as we are in the same, if not worse, condition,” said Marty Caress, a resident of Cantwell and chairman of the Denali Fish and Game Advisory Committee.
Those opposed to predator control said Thursday that the need for more moose has been exaggerated. Hunters are not having a hard time finding moose around McGrath, they said. They also worry that the state will suffer another tourism boycott if the state moves ahead with killing predators.
The hearing Thursday was held so Board of Game members could hear what people think about predator control for McGrath. At the end of the meeting, board chairman Ben Grussendorf directed members Ron Somerville and Ted Spraker to craft a specific plan for dealing with McGrath’s predators.
That plan will be presented Monday at the regular Board of Game meeting at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel. That meeting begins this morning and continues through March 17.
If the board decides to go forward with predator control in McGrath, it is sure to be controversial. During a teleconference call last month with the board, state biologists proposed shooting wolves from helicopters or tranquilizing and relocating them, and relocating brown and black bears within a 520-square-mile area.
In 1993, the last time Alaska started killing predators, national animal rights groups organized a tourism boycott of the state.
Priscilla Feral, president of the Connecticut-based Friends of Animals, told the board Thursday that a similar boycott would happen again.
If the state starts killing predators, she said, her group will launch a “coast-to-coast” campaign with high-profile ads to inform the public.
“You’ll kill some wolves, and the backlash will be tremendous,” Feral said. “Times have changed. Violent persecution campaigns against wolves, bears and other predators are considered uncivilized and mean-spirited.”
Some people are concerned about that threat.
“The last thing our small businesses need now is a public relations crisis,” said Randy Bozelle, a lodge manager and representative of the Alaska Wilderness and Recreation Tourism Association.
While the plan’s specifics were not discussed by board members Thursday, many who testified said they thought the state should hire professionals to shoot wolves from helicopters because it would be the most efficient. Caress, however, said he favors tranquilizing and euthanizing wolves because he thinks it is more humane.
Some people who testified said they want other predator control programs to get started elsewhere in the state.
“I hope it works” in McGrath, said David McHoes, a fishing guide and former hunting guide who lives in Skwentna. “And then you can move it over to our area.”
Echoing the complaints of McGrath residents, McHoes said moose have become hard to find around Skwentna. He blames wolves and bears, which prey on moose.
Joel Bennett, Alaska representative of the Defenders of Wildlife, said he fears the spread of such programs.
“Where would the state stop once it started down this road?” Bennett asked.
He also pointed out that McGrath residents have among the highest hunting success rates in the state. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, about half of those who go moose hunting around McGrath have been successful in recent years. Elsewhere in the state, success rates can be as low as 10 percent.