Wolf activists howling mad over kill plan
By SHERRY DEVLIN of the Missoulian
Protests in Missoula, elsewhere to urge tourist boycott of Alaska
Hoping their howls are heard in the 49th state, wolf advocates will gather in three dozen cities, including Missoula, this weekend to protest the aerial shooting of wolves in interior Alaska.
They’ll play tape recordings of wolves howling, encourage their dogs to follow suit and maybe even join in themselves, said Suzanne Garland, a spokeswoman for Friends of Animals.
The howl-ins are the opening salvo in a campaign by the animal-rights group to encourage tourists to boycott Alaska until the state rescinds its wolf-killing program.
“The heart of the protest is to get as many people as possible to say we’re going to boycott Alaska,” Garland said Friday.
Protesters will distribute 50,000 “Boycott Alaska” postcards – all addressed to Gov. Frank Murkowski – during the howl-ins.
A similar boycott in 1992 created enough of a stir to help end another such eradication of wolves. And in 1996 and 2000, Alaska voters approved referendums against aerial wolf shooting.
“Now Governor Murkowski has allied with hunting interests and ignored his constituency,” Garland said. “Now he wants to send people up in helicopters with automatic weapons to wipe out these animals. It’s barbaric and unnecessary and totally uncalled for.”
The three-year, three-phase plan would begin this winter with predator control across 520 square miles near McGrath, 200 miles northwest of Anchorage in the interior of Alaska.
By killing wolves, hunters would help to protect moose calves during their critical first months of life, state officials believe.
Up to 60 percent of the young moose are killed by wolves and bears; thus, the state’s wolf-killing plan. The goal: to increase moose numbers so hunters can take 130 to 150 animals a year.
Native Alaskans have told the state Fish and Game Department that wolf numbers are out of control in the McGrath area. Villagers depend on game animals for food, so rely upon a healthy moose population.
Moose meat, the villagers say, is necessary for their very survival.
But Friends of Animals disagrees with the wolf-killing program and believes the state of Alaska has not accurately surveyed moose numbers in the McGrath area.
The group also considers aerial shooting unethical.
“The state will issue permits to selected private fixed-wing and helicopter pilots to do this killing,” said Gordon Haber, a wildlife scientist and wolf advocate with the organization.
“Their passengers will then shotgun the wolves from the air,” he said. “It is likely that in some cases, the aircraft will not be able to land to retrieve dead wolves and put dying wolves out of their misery. This will continue for at least two or three winters.”
This weekend’s protest in Missoula is planned for 10 a.m. Sunday at the Raven Cafe, 130 E. Broadway. Similar events are planned in Chicago, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Atlanta, Rockefeller Center in New York City and Albuquerque, N.M.
“And we’re starting to pick up worldwide attention,” Garland said. “The Wolf Society of Great Britain and Barcelona, Spain, have signed onto our boycott. They want to get involved as well.”
“We just don’t understand the state of Alaska’s rationale,” she said. “Wildlife watchers outnumber hunters 3-to-1 in Alaska. Nationwide, the ratio is 5-to-1.”
“The numbers are on our side on this one,” Garland said. “But that doesn’t seem to hold any sway over the governor of Alaska.”
If you’re interested
Wolf advocates will gather to howl in protest of Alaska’s aerial wolf-shooting program at 10 a.m. Sunday at Missoula’s Raven Cafe, 130 E. Broadway. Nationally, Friends of Animals will sponsor protests in 36 cities this weekend.
More information on the group and its boycott of Alaska tourism is available on the Web at www.friendsofanimals.org.