Sean Parnell is Killing Local Business from a Helicopter.
~Photo by Florian Schultz
Contrary to the opinion of my ex-governor, all progressive bloggers do not live with their parents, and eat cheetos while wearing pajamas in the basement.
This blogger, for fifteen years, owned two businesses in bustling downtown Anchorage. After a decade and a half in retail, you learn the cycles. There’s early fall and back-to-school shoppers, then a spike in sales around the beginning of October when everyone gets the Permanent Fund Dividend check. Then there’s a lull until right after Thanksgiving. Black Friday launches the holiday shopping season which is the biggest money-making time of the year. Then the doldrums of January, the little spikes for Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day, and then Memorial Day Weekend hits, and summer begins. June, July and August are all nice and steady. The locals are all out of town fishing, camping, hiking, kayaking, sailing, but the tourists have come to town. Hallelujah.
Suddenly the stores are filled with smiling happy people who have saved up for their once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Last Frontier and are here to make the most of it. I’ve talked to a lot of tourists in my life. I hear where they’ve come from, where they’re going and what they’d like to see. I always heard about two things. First, the Kenai Fjords National Wildlife refuge with its puffins, sea lions, whales, otters and glaciers. The other one was Denali Park. I heard about the long hot bus ride into the park – and how it’s a real kidney buster. It was dusty and people were packed in, and how it took all day. They wondered about whether to even do it. And then I heard how it was the best thing they’d ever done.
I never got tired of hearing about it. It’s like going on a nature walk with a little kid. Everything is new, and wondrous. It’s all magic. I’d hear about moose, and foxes, and bears, and eagles, all through new eyes. But most of all, I’d hear about the wolves. Hearing a 70 year old man in a white windbreaker sound like a little boy at Christmas saying with sparkling eyes, “I couldn’t believe we saw a wolf!” is a wonderful thing. Of all the wildlife in Alaska, a wolf sighting is the most special of all.
I’ve seen wolves in the wild, and they’ve seen me. It’s a moment I’ll never forget. Two black wolves, like dark spirits, racing across the golden Nogahabara sand dunes – a remarkable place in the interior that looks like a chunk of the Sahara punctuated by isolated spruce trees. I had no camera, but the image in my mind of cresting a dune in a small plane, and seeing those two wolves running across the sand and into the trees is one I will not forget.
I thought many things, like “Why is my camera in my bag?” and “My God, they are incredible. So wild, so beautiful.” I did not think how fun it would be to chase them down and shoot them. Most people don’t.
That’s why, when comedians and critics try to be particularly cutting about Sarah Palin, they often invoke the image of her in a helicopter shooting wolves. They do this because it’s the worst thing they can think of. They do it because reasonable people find it abhorrent.
And when reasonable people find a state practice abhorrent, they will rail against it.
The recent actions, and extreme predator control tactics employed by the state are raising the hackles and the bile of reasonable people. A recent vote by the Board of Game eliminated the buffer zone around the National Park that protects those Denali wolves that are so beloved by tourists, when they stray outside the park boundary. The measure benefits a handful of trappers in the area, and robs thousands of their dream of shooting these wolves with a camera. And the deciding vote to eliminate the buffer was cast by the newest member of the board – Al Barette, who happens to own a commercial tannery, and the company that makes the Alaska wolf trap. He cast his first vote for his own self interest at the expense of the interest of tourists, and the tourism industry. He was also the recipient of the first aerial wolf hunting permit issued.
Then there’s Corey Rossi, a friend of the Palins. He doesn’t have a college degree, but they waived that requirement for his recent appointment as Division of Wildlife Management. He’s not a biologist. His previous job was eradicating invasive species – a professional killer whose nickname is the “gopher choker,” he is unqualified for the job. His first mission is to obtain $100,000 in public funds to do a high-quality video about the joys of killing wolves and bears in Alaska. The fluff piece on why it’s OK to eliminate 80-100% of bears and wolves in some areas is the quintessential anti-science video that gives all the reasons why good science should be ignored, so that we can usher in a new era of massive extreme predator control in order to artificially inflate the numbers of moose and caribou that are available to be hunted.
It snowed here recently, which means the planes and helicopters were in the air. It’s easier to track wolves on new snow. Those who flew out and shot wolves seemed to have had a great time, and emailed their smiling victory photos to family and friends.
Others further north targeted the Yukon Charley preserve area. Last year, the state agreed they wouldn’t shoot wolves in packs where members had collars. Collared wolves in the area are part of a 16 year study of wolf packs conducted because the National Parks Service wants to make sure the area has adequate wolves, and that they are managed properly. These radio collared wolves have been monitored and science has gained a tremendous amount of data.
This year the state made no promises about the pack mates of radio collared research wolves, but agreed not to shoot the wolves with collars. This week, helicopters took off, spotted the wolves and shot every member of the pack – collars and all.
Sixteen years of research, the time and expense of collaring the wolves, the fact that the area had few wolves to begin with – none of this seemed to matter. The Department of Fish and Game says that the shooters saw the collars and shot anyway. The Department has recently claimed “sovereign authority” to manage all wildlife in the state, including federal lands that they previously have not had access to.
So, as someone who used to rely on Alaska’s tourists for my livelihood, I have to wonder what those people in the Lower 48, who are planning their summer vacations must think. When that couple decides on a destination, how do they feel about spending their money in a state that has recently instituted policies like the gassing of wolf pups, the snaring of bears, the shooting of bear cubs, the extermination of research wolves, and the eradication of areas that have been preserving the beloved wolves of Denali? How do they feel about the sneering contempt for science, the appointment of only those who share a narrow vision for Alaska’s wildlife that does not include tourism, nature photographers, and those who think that when we try to manage and control nature, we usually lose.
Reasonable people are revolted, and reasonable people will take their money and their business elsewhere. Of this, I am sure. And I am angry.
I hear all the time about how Republicans are pro-business, about how the Chamber of Commerce is supposed to be looking out for the interest of businesses. I hear about how small business owners are the bread and butter of our economy. I hear about how what’s really killing business is taxes. And I say that what’s really going to be killing business is killing. The Parnell administration has its own agenda and it does not include supporting tourism, or mom and pop businesses across the state – hotels, motels, gift shops, gas stations, fast food places, restaurants, camera stores, sporting goods stores, and anywhere people spend money.
Small businesses should not tolerate an administration that stacks boards and commisions with unqualified non-scientists who vote to serve their own narrow interests at the expense of the majority. What happens this year when that summer cycle comes around, and business owners look for the steady income in June, July and August that keeps their staff employed, and provides revenue until the holiday season arrives? I hear nothing but crickets coming from Juneau. Maybe that’s the only wildlife left.
Alaskans who work hard, trying to put food on the table, and braces on their kids’ teeth, and pay their mortgages shouldn’t be second-class citizens whose needs are subjugated to satisfy what amounts to nothing more than blood lust – a blood lust that kills not only the wolves, but the industries and businesspeople who rely on those who love them.
The boycotts you invite and the ire of small business owners will wake you up, even if your common sense does not.
~From the Friends of Animals "Boycott Alaska" campaign
i will be first to both cry at the atrocities and to howl with anguish
I am revolted.
i hope something can be done, this is just so wrong. The buffer zone thing really annoys me.
Yep. I’ve been coming to AK at least once a year for the past decade, but I’m gonna have to reconsider this year. There’s foulness afoot and an overall bad attitude on the part of the politicians.
Thanks for keeping everyone informed on this. Alaska’s predator control policy is sick.
AKM…
is there any chance that between You and Shannyn asking that Huffpo will post your story..? More people in other states need to be made aware of this policy and situation. They can call their own State or National politicians.
You have many people who Follow You and Shannyn on Twitter.
Will you be sending out a Tweet?
Parnells office email and phone number is on this link for reference.
They had 84 FaceBook members this morning.. then 118 later around Noon. There are now 180. Spread the word. Doubled just today.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&gid=365452741386
Let me suggest joining the Alaska Wildlife Alliance Facebook page! These people are doing great work, and will get out messages about what we can do to help. They only have 96 followers, which is a shame.
I’ll be spreading this article further. Thanks, HIG.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=12371730367&ref=ts
AKM
My husband and I are on opposite sides of this debate. We are both biologists and hunt for our food. I am vehemtly opposed to general predator control. He feels it is necessary and is best done by helicopter/plane.
My husband hunts the 49 mile country near Eagle and Chicken about every other year for moose. I was lucky to go with him a few years ago. It was my first chance to be out in an area where I might hear and possibly see wolves. I never did hear a wolf howl, but we were supposedly near a den and I did hear one morning what sounded like pups trying to howl. The few cow moose we saw were very nervous and we only saw one bull, who got the heck out of the area fast. We were not successful in that area that year.
Hubby insists that the areas where the wolf eradication is taking place is very moose depleted and that the predators much be reduced in the areas where subsistence hunting of moose is needed. And now with the recent attack and death of a young woman in Chignik Lake from wolves, opinions such as his seem to be proven right.
However, I do believe that the G&F board is in desperate need of more scientists and less commercial advocates. I also think that the removal of the buffer zone around Denali (which my husband shrugs at) was a big mistake.
I put in for the Denali car lottery every year but have yet to win. I’d love to drive through the park with my 74 year old mother and hope to hear/see wild wolves, something we have wanted to do all our lives. If Sean Parnell’s F&G department continues along this way, the chances of that seem to be getting even more thin.
this is terrible. what in the heck are these morons doing?
the pictures of those men with their murdered wolves should be on the front page of every newspaper in the country.
Alaskans who don’t cry out against these practices ought to be ashamed of themselves. thank you AKM for a great post.
Start calling for a boycott (SP) of A&E and The Discovery Channel. Can we copy and send this article to these channels and their sponsors?
I have been traveling to Alaska for summer Halibut fishing for the last eight years. The fishing has been awesome but, even more awesome are the friendships that I have made among the charter captains.
I am very close to canceling this year’s trip because of this situation. I intend to do some more research on this subject and I will come to a decision soon. If I cancel it will be a heartbreaking decision. Further I hope I will be able to keep my friends in the charter community.
If you do decide to cancel, please write to Gov. Sean Parnell and tell him why. Copies to Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich and Don Young wouldn’t hurt either. Thank you. AKM
Idaho got in on the wolf-kill express earlier this year, overturning years of wolf population protections, and taking wolves off of the protected species list. A lottery for hunting tags was greeted with great joy amongst the hunters due to the pent-up demand. The rationale is that elk hunting (which feeds some Idaho families) had become threatened by the “predators”. My morning newspaper jolted me awake at the start of the wolf-hunting stampede with a photo of one of the first hunters to bag himself a wolf. I’ve no doubt this fellow had never hunted elk, nor fed a family with his efforts. He was simply thrilled to kill this wolf which he posed so proudly with. But at least he wasn’t in a helicopter. My gawd.
This appears to be in the same category of clubbing baby seals to death – stupid and unthinking. I am frustrated with the minority causing so much havoc in our world. There needs to be a huge house cleaning in Alaskan politics before anything changes – and unless good-thinking Alaskans can get others to vote, and vote with the idea of change, then nothing will change.
hedgewytch – you two must have some very interesting conversations! I’m not sure I could live with someone who is such a polar opposite to my thinking about the world. You are much stronger than I!
JimLINY, this is a tough decision. I’m sure you will miss seeing your friends in the charter community, but you may be able to make some new, nice Canadian charter friends, at least until Alaskan politicians come to their senses. AKM, I am not advocating that everyone go to Canadian charters; I am simply suggesting that halibut doesn’t know the border lines so the fish remains available
I pray that many of these current decisions will be reversed soon. If not, time to get that broom out and sweep out the old to being in the new! My thoughts are with my Alaskan friends at this time.
AKM~ this is sad..This makes me sick..What kind of people gets kicks out of killing wolves…Oh forgot..this is also,too a thrill for the twitt….so very wrong…
According to estimates by the Bear Viewing Association:
At its peak, a few years ago, before intensive predator extermination got into full swing, bear viewing brought at least $50 million per year into Alaska.
Yet, the Board of Game has done little to protect predators near even the most productive viewing sites such as Wolverine Creek and the region between Katmai National Park and McNeil River Game Sanctuary. On the contrary, some “hunters” actually target viewing sites and predators so trusting of people that they sleep or nursing babies near viewers. Worse,
the BOG seems determined to wipe out most bears and wolves across the state, irrespective of the ecological, economic, and social impacts of this policy.
Elimination of the buffer zone along Denali is but one more example of what many people see as BOG’s contempt for ecotourists and the wide range of businesses supported by ecotourism.
BOG statements that buffer elimination was designed to motivate opponents of predator control to be “more reasonable” is like saying that people who protest against someone poke a stick into one of their eyes deserve to have their other eye poked too.
If BOG wants opposition to die down, it might start by listening to opponents, understanding how BOG policies are impacting them, and trying to find ways of meeting needs of the public which do not derive from killing predators.
Among the many changes things needed in Alaska’s predator management program is zoning. Second is allocation of resources based on various criteria, including number of people benefiting from a resource.
Zones might be allocated on a round-robin basis: Flip a coin to see who chooses first. Suppose that viewers select one zone. Hunters/trappers choose the next. Then viewers again. and so on.
In how much of the state should each use be given priority? Should this be based on the relative numbers of hunters and trappers vs. viewers (obviously, many Alaskans and many tourists do both)? Suppose that there were equal numbers of people hunting/trapping and viewing. Should we allocate half the state to each? Probably not, since the same bears or wolves can be viewed again and again by thousands or tens of thousands of people, whereas an animal can be killed only once. Off hand, I don’t know what ratio would be best. But I suspect that nearly all viewing needs could be met in just a few percent of the state, if viewers were given first choice of areas to be zoned with viewing as the primary use.
As we Alaskans are fond of staying, America isn’t a simple democracy where majority rules; it is a republican democracy where even a the majority cannot override the rights of any minority. We claim that this republican spirit is nowhere stronger than in Alaska. Yet, in practice, far too much Alaskan politics takes the sledgehammer approach: pack committees with a majority of advocates for one extreme position, then crush anyone with different needs or ideas. This fosters the kind of divisiveness which is tearing this state and this nation apart. If dividing an enemy is the key to conquering it, how can dividing ourselves against ourselves benefit anyone but our enemies, domestic or foreign?
I am so heartbroken over this I could not sleep all night. It is just almost impossible to understand how so many mindless and heartless people could be placed so high in the government of a state. After all that I have gone through with the same kind of people it is clear to me it is a systemic problem that has gone on long before Palin was governor. I know how vendictive a lot of them are on many levels and how superior they think they are. This is why they do not listen to what the majority of the public want. After that so called call-in town meeting Parnell had where he encouraged federal government hate I believe these wolves were shot to spite what the federal government wanted and show them Alaska will do as Alaska pleases. I have heard that so many times, like when I tried to find an apartment with my cat and so many landlords told me that in AK they don’t go by the federal law that those with disabilities are suppose to be able to have a therapeutic animal. It’s called the United States for a reason. That is why they sent AK all that money to help them out. The prison system certainly does not honor the few civil rights inmates are supposed to have. Then knowing what most wildlife biologists are about it is so hard to understand why they would participate until the group think and bullying factors are added. If they don’t cooperate they will be gone and of course Palin appointed butchers to fish and game to begin with. She appointed awful, incompetent people to many different positions, including the DOC and nursing board. Since Ak is having less economic problems than the lower 48 it seems observing what they did wrong and trying to do everthing to promote a strong economy would be what the leadership would do, but no they clearly have another agenda. All of us have issues with the federal government and I certainly will point out what I disagree with, but I also will give them credit for what is right.
I could not even finish reading this post. Sick. Sick. Sick. These people (can we even call them people?) are so very sick.
Despite having made so many friends in Alaska (thanks, AKM & Mudflats), I will not visit until this policy is reversed. I love wolves, I would never wear an ipod while running, and this Board (just over half of it, anyway) is as corrupt as $P.
Health and peace to wolves, humans, & everyone else.
This really does need to be posted to Huffington AKM. Does anyone know if there are petitions anywhere on the net that can be signed and sent to Governor Parnell?? As much as I want to visit Alaska I would never come while these atrocities go on. What in the world is wrong with these people??
time to revoke the Alaska state charter and turn the whole f-ing territory into a national park with humans under lockdown…
@ #7 hedgewytch
Interesting post from two different perspectives in one family.
My comments concern your statement that you both “hunt for your food”…..and my comments are not directed specifically at you but “hunting for food,” in general:
At some point, Alaska will have to join the realities of an explosive human population on this planet. Wild meat as a food source is not sustainable except for a privileged few anymore. The precedent for this unhappy fact is not a modern one. Whenever a human population outgrew the local wild food supply in the near or far past, humans had to adapt by either taking up agriculture/ animal domestication OR moving on to less populated areas. The second option has become increasingly non-existent on our crowded planet.
With that said, several questions must be asked:
Who should have the privilege to hunt wild animals for food these days, and in the future?
Who gets to make the policy regarding wild life management?
Why should national wild life resources be subject to state policy makers and/or local hunters/trappers?
Should the right to hunt wild animals for “food” be morally (or pragmatically) superior to the inclination to preserve and respectfully manage our diminishing wild life and “wildness,” in general?
Why use helicopters and modern technology to cull wild predators just so more prey meat is available for the few privileged humans who persist in the fantasy that the earth can still sustain hunters and gatherers? Managing wild life (predators and prey species, both) in this manner is simply a perverted form of “domesticating” the wild herds of moose and caribou for human’s use.
Want to be real hunter? Then get out there with homemade bow and arrow or snares and compete with the wild predators for the prey. The modern scenario of hunting “wild animals” is duplicitous and self-delusional….
I called Parnell’s office at about 4:20 AK time. I was told there was ‘ no one available ‘ to answer my questions. Did someone take off early… since it is Friday? I thought the Government had to continue to run. I told them I had already sent the Gov. and email last night and I wanted some answers to the questions I posed in the email. I had many questions and would I EVER even get a ‘ reply ‘..? The young lady said the Governor might not respond but it would get forwarded to the ‘ right ‘ person in the matter.
I was told this would be Clar Campbell. Anybody know of Her..? ( to call her..?) Is she one of Sarah’s Friends..?
I don’t think any of my questions will ever see Parnells desk. he’s probably in session with his Board of Game… the ” Hunting Lobbyists “.
Isn’t that what they do… Lobby for the Hunters..? ( AND get PAID for it )
BTW : that Facebook link in my @6 post at 3:22pm is no longer 180 Members.
it is 232… and growing…..
I sent that link to Parnell in my email last night. I wonder if he is watching it and is getting the message. How about it Sean…?
Excellent post, AKM……pragmatic and passionate at the same time!
A dedicated grassroots campaign over the next year to spread the word about these practices could yield positive changes via the ballot box. Kick out the policy makers who are allowing these egregious practices to continue.
In the meantime…..vote with your feet (money)! Support Alaskan businesses which promote a more balanced and rational commitment to managing wild life and other precious resources. Policy makers tend to follow the money trail…..
The Alaska Government is broken. They should had the land back to Russia for better protection.
“Boycott Alaska” campaign， that’s a funny game for people.
Years ago I took the little bus through Denali and camped there overnight- it was one of the big events of my life. If I had the choice, I would visit the world’s mountains rather than its cities. Never saw a wolf, but for about three winters a small pack travelled on lake ice past our cabin in Alberta. Hearing their voices at night was amazing- they are so different from coyote voices.
Then they disappeared, and the park rangers said that hunters had followed the pack into the Alberta Provincial park (where the wolves were protected) from the British Columbia side, six miles away from our lake, and killed all or most of them. Since the border is the Continental Divide, it is not possible for a human to do this accidentally. We mourned the loss. A dozen years later wolves still had not returned to the park.
Wolves travel a huge range and need their buffer zone. I mourn your pack.
I sent an email to Parnell’s office earlier today (via his website). I hope these emails are read. I also hope mine does not get discounted since I went a step further and asked that Parnell disengage his administration from the undue influence of the previous administration! – yes, I mean Sarah.
Wolves in Juneau. The usual goons make their dimwitted comments. Note the one bragging about killing Romeo, our black wolf.
White Wolf Encounter
http://juneauempire.com/stories/031910/out_592882717.shtml
I can tell you how this group of 4 feels about a summer trip to Alaska. Alaska is one of two states we haven’t been to and would really like to visit. The initial cost of $1650 per head for airfare, car and a motel near Palmer as our base, for two weeks at the end of June is just the start. Often, on our adventures we buy so many things we often have to ship items back home ahead of us by UPS. Tonight at dinner, we decided against the vacation to Alaska. The reason for our decision to avoid Alaska this year is the fact that we wouldn’t feel comfortable contributing to a state or local government that uses tax payer money to line their own pocket at the risk of losing the states beautiful natural resources. We live on the west shore of Lake Michigan and we do a lot of fishing and other water sports. The fish we pull out of the lake here come with a warning that reads “No More Than One Serving a Week”. They’re loaded with lead, mercury, PCB’s, you name the chemical it’s in the fish. In fact, over here we call them “Nuke Fish” because they glow in the dark. Is that what Alaska wants? Alaska, preserve your natural resources, it will forever pay back. Don’t sell out to the industries of Oil, Gas, Mining, Fur Traders, Trap makers, Wal-mart or Mayors who collect on bogus life insurance polices, they do not have your interest at heart. They will leave you with a land striped bare and beyond repair. So maybe next year we will visit, we’ll see how it goes. Good luck Alaska.
Because of AKM and the Mudflats community, I wanted to go to Alaska in the fall….not
brave enough for a winter trip yet…but now I definitely will not consider it.
The older I get, and the closer to whenever my own death will be, the stranger it seems
that people can relish killing the way these wolf killers do.
And from what I have read from genuine biologists, it is not just a question of wolves
and other predators vs. elk, moose, deer. It has to do with forests, and the water table
and the changes when the ungulates are out of proportion…and much more.
I cannot say how sad I am. Our nest on this planet is being fouled faster and faster.
Damn. Those are powerful words. Think the idiots will pay attention?
Once again, AKM – Bravo!
mo Says:
March 19th, 2010 at 6:27 PM
Wolves in Juneau. The usual goons make their dimwitted comments. Note the one bragging about killing Romeo, our black wolf.
White Wolf Encounter
http://juneauempire.com/stories/031910/out_592882717.shtml
************
OMG! I thought I read Romeo just disappeared and since he was older they thought he just died…damn I should of known some asshat killed him!
I was going to come back to Alaska this year to visit Denal, but not now….I called Parnell and left a message why, about the bufferzone, the taxidermist, the gopher choker! Boycott Alaska Summer 2010!
Follow the money – Do the friends make more from the big game hunters or the tourist business? I am sick about this.
The wolf was haunched down on the ground; hind legs tucked under its full-grown body and its head resting on its extended front legs. Amongst the few scattered trees and against the packed white snow, the big gray wolf (predominantly gray, but with black, white, and blond mixed in) was, at the same time, oddly out of place in its stillness and totally natural in its wild setting.
It heard a sound and looked up. Its gaze was steady; it held no malice, only majesty…and an unanswerable question. It gazed for some long moments and found no answers…there were no answers to give.
The wolf once more laid its head down on its outstretched front legs and rested it there for a few moments. As if having made a distinction deep within its soul, it then shook its shoulders and again raised its head.
With what I can only describe as a mixture of resignation, understanding, and, ultimately, gratitude, its weary eyes looked steadily and unflinchingly at the source of the sound. Within the span of less than a half-minute that encompassed all of eternity, it wordlessly spoke all that it had seen, all that it had experienced, and all that it was; it communicated its dignity and its life.
And so it was appreciated. And so it was honored. And so the shot came. And so it died.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve mentioned on these threads how my Dad, rest his soul, was an avid home movie maker. Among his hundreds and hundreds of reels, is one taken in the dead of winter when he and my Mom were sledding out to check up on some far-flung person who hadn’t ‘reported in’ for a while. Part of their journey that day was across open spaces, part was in ‘forested’ areas – both are captured on the Kodak film. This would’ve been about 70 years ago, outside of Whitehorse, in the Yukon Territory.
While they were in the woods on that journey, they came across a big gray wolf caught in a leg trap. Dad filmed the poor thing, its head down in obvious pain; its front right leg snapped in two by the unrelenting and nondiscriminating steel jaws. Without a break in filming, Dad handed the camera off to my Mom and he whistled at the wolf to get its attention; Mom continued to capture on film the moments that followed. The wolf looked up at my parents – it could not escape…it could no longer move; the pain and exhaustion were evident, but it could –and did!– tell its story. My Dad, with a single shot, gently released it from the agony.
I will never forget the voice of that big gray as it spoke volume upon volume for all wildlife. beth.
Whether you are in Alaska or the lower 48, wolves need our help to survive.
http://www.defenders.org/take_action/
Defenders of Wildlife has a lot of information on who and where to call and write.
Found another petition to sign on Care 2 News-http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/co-sponsor-the-paw-acts-1535-hr-3381
Lee323 @ #20
I concur with almost all of what you have said.
This is an elegant and moving post by AKM, it awakens many moral issues that are easily overlooked by those who are exclusively concerned with their own wealth and welfare.
I guess I am prone to think that deeds beget appropriate consequences.
Those who cannot fathom ecology will ultimately be consumed by it.
I am not so sure that punishing the overall Alaskan tourist economy is sensible. It seems to me that that those who have taken the course of giving wolf pelt revenue to their pals would be unmoved by the suffering of others.
Those who organized this travesty should be attacked directly, not by punishing others who will suffer in either case. Someone with standing in
Alaska must undertake to impeach Parnell for fraud, and to dissolve the wild life board for conflict of interest. Those of us outside Alaska with no standing to sue, can support the effort simply by giving them money.
Put their feet to the fire.
hedgewytch Says:
March 19th, 2010 at 3:36 PM…
“Hubby insists that the areas where the wolf eradication is taking place is very moose depleted and that the predators much be reduced in the areas where subsistence hunting of moose is needed. And now with the recent attack and death of a young woman in Chignik Lake from wolves, opinions such as his seem to be proven right.”
@hedgewytch
Moose and caribou are quite healthy in Denali where there are quite a few wolf packs that are healthy and excellent hunters. We need to ask whether too much killing of leaders of wolf families leads to young wolves being left hungry and untrained. If so, then too much killing actually could lead to the wolves becoming more dangerous to humans. Stick to your guns (so to speak)!!!
Your post brings back an event I experienced in Denali National Park several years ago when visiting from California with my 82-year-old mother. The bus was traveling back toward the visitor’s center and I was scanning the landscape for wildlife when I saw something moving along the bottom of an embankment a couple hundred yards away. It was a wolf. My eye traveled up the embankment to a mesa that extended back some ways and there was a small group of caribou grazing there. At the same time I noticed more movement on the other side of the caribou and there were two other wolves moving in on them. At this moment the caribou alerted and moved as one away from danger. The wolves all gave pursuit, but it seemed half-hearted and they broke away after only a short run. It was the most thrilling moment of our visit to the park, even though we also saw a mama bear with two cubs, a moose, Dall sheep, eagles and other wonderful animals. I’ll always have that memory of just those three or four minutes when I understood the amazing importance of preserving our natural resources for all time. I have visited your beautiful state many times and will return (my son lives there) but I am saddened that the care of its resources is in neglectful hands.
I think we need all the good people and all the good critters in Alaska we can get–howling, acting, helping to change things.
Sixteen years of research – gone in minutes with no way to reverse the damage. I am so incredulously tired of people feigning deeply religious, Christian ethics and showing not one iota of respect for ‘life’.
Parnell’s entire Murder Inc. Game Board should be brought up on charges of Attempted Genocide. Then he and his board should all be airlifted to a remote area where other hunters fly above them with rifles trained on their backs so they get to experience the other side of their ‘sport’.
About every five years or so, when Australia puts the call out to cull the wild roo, whose numbers dramatically increase due to having a long lifespan and almost no natural predators and become a real threat to themselves, local ranchers and farmers, US animal rights groups descend on us like locust.
Where are they now?
Why aren’t they calling for Parnell’s balls?
It’s not ‘Alaska’ which needs to be boycotted – it’s Alaskan government, diseased by the Palins, Murkowskis and Stevens that needs to be targetted.
Tourists should keep their tickets and use part of their vacation time to picket the governor’s office.
Jeez. What a sad commentary on human stewardship of the planet.
A couple of personal notes>
I’ve seen wolves. During the year I was stationed at Clear, I always paid attention when I was out running if the PA said “Wolves have been sighted”. Occasionally, I sighted them. I can’t say I was filled with trans-species love — mostly, I tried not to look like prey. But it never occurred to me (or my USAF bosses) that the correct response to seeing wolves was to go out and spray them with M-16s. The correct response was to stay out of their way.
A couple of years ago, I inadvertently caught a marlin. We were spending a week on Maui, and I decided to support my brother-in-law by joining him and his son on a half-day fishing boat with me and my two sons. Neither of my boys had been deep-sea fishing, so I thought it would be fun. I also fully expected that a half-day (four hour) tour would result in no fish (fishing does not require actually catching fish).
As it turned out, we had three strikes — an ono, a wahoo, and, against all reason, a 200 pound marlin. My 18-year-old son worked it for 20 or 30 minutes and then I had it for 10-15 and it came up. To his credit, the bait asked if I wanted to bring it in or let it go. To my discredit, I told him to bring it in. After I had regained my breath, I regretted that decision, and have ever since. Now, I’ll be honest, it’s only a lightweight regret — it’s a damn fish, and not endangered — but there is no doubt I will never kill another marlin.
The point of this excessive anecdote is that I cannot put myself into the heads of the “I shot a wolf from the sky” enthusiasts pictured on Shannyn’s page. Anybody here ever see “The Magic Christian”? Anti-aircraft barrages to bring down pheasants?
@37 Krubozumo Nyankoye: The thing is, when one is not a citizen of an area, the only effective protest that an individual can mount against practices in that area is an economic one, by restricting contact (aka “boycott”).
It is undoubtedly true that any such economic intervention will create unexpected side-effects, and some of these will harm both the innocent and those who share opposition to the boycotted practices.
Nevertheless, in most cases, the majority of the impact will fall on the actual offenders, or their supporters ( in this case, we are talking about “wildlife tourism”). One also hopes that those peripherally affected will realize that their own interests require a new perspective.
I do some animal rescue of dogs. I’ve had several wolf/shepherd and wolf/husky/malamute hybrids over the years. Each one is gentle, intelligent, loving, kind, sensitive, social, funny. That wolf component brings in some magic stuff.
In the future, there’ll be a human race that does not take joy from killing our fellow beings. Thanks for helping us get there sooner.
Beth @ 34, your story of your parents on film brought tears to my eyes. At first I thought you were quoting from a book. My what an impression that left on you. Bless your father for putting it out of it’s misery. Hunters/trappers have a different psyche from the rest of us….a macho thing, I guess. We did eat what my husband brought home, but I’d rather eat beef!!!! Too much sage in Colorado! Iowa dear was corn fed and almost palitable. I just don’t like killing of any God’s creatures. They were here first but won’t last long with people like those in Alaska running the show. My husband has been to Alaska fishing and we did enjoy the halibut, but couldn’t afford big game when we had 32 elk in our yard everyday! (That we couldn’t shoot.) But we have much better DOW people here and the rules are enforced! Good rules! Poachers are fined and jailed and never get licenses again! Alaska should fine, jail and take away the privilages of those on the board up there…..including Palin for creating the laws that permitted this and putting the unqualified in those posts. Thank you for sharing your story. Good post AKM it needs to go nationwide!
AKM, immense thanks for posting this important story.
HonestyinGov, you were the one who broke it, so we ALL owe you gratitude.
@Lee323 #20:
Wow, I just can’t even comment ……. you said it so perfectly.
Those of us who live here do so because we choose to, and many rely upon game. Subsistence is a major factor. The wolves have been here forever, and there’s always been game. Nature takes care of herself, and of us.
(But not if the big-game hunters and BOG get in the way.)
Nuff said.
Thank you.
@34 Beth:
That was so incredibly, wonderously, sadly ….. beautiful.
Thank you.
@37 Krubozumo Nyankoye:
You put into words EXACTLY what I was thinking last night when I first read of this.
Why punish the tourism industry? They really are not the problem here. (I work in that industry — and let me tell you, we’ve been hurtin’ for a few years now ……. )
No, let’s hit the nail on the head. It’s Fish & Game, and Parnell’s administration, who need to hear about this. The boycott might have a slight effect, but that’s not the issue here. Tourism and wolf-killing really have nothing to do with each other.
@38 Moose Pucky:
That’s why I was so dismayed to hear about this latest shooting in Yukon-Charley. This was a whole pack of four wolves. Just think of how much could have been learned from them, with TWO of them being collared. They could have told us so much about their feeding and territory habits, and we would have known so much more about what their lives were about.
Such a shame.
As an Alaskan who depends on the summer tourist season for about 70% of my annual income, I ask those considering boycotting Alaska tourism to NOT do so! If you do, you will be punishing the wrong people!
Most of us involved in tourism understand that wildlife viewing is one of the primary reasons people travel here. I do custom tours in my taxi to areas where our visitors have a good chance of seeing the local critters. I know that seeing a deer, mountain goat, or seal is worth an additonal $20 tip, a bear more, and a wolf (rare here in Our Fair Capital City) as much as $50.
Most of us in the industry have voted to ban aerial wolf hunting all 3 times that it’s been on the ballot, and we won twice. The folks who are to blame are the big game guides and urban trophy hunters, along with all the right wingnut Texans and Okies that moved up here with Big Oil, the folks with the Easy Rider rifle racks in their pickups. Boycotting tourism will not harm these folks in any way, but it will punish those of us that continually oppose their idiotic “abundance management” agenda.
These lazy urban idiots chase down game with ATVs instead of actually hunting like we did when I was a kid, hiking in 20 miles for a hunt and packing out the meat on our backs. They mistakenly think that getting rid of predators will automagically make more moose and caribou available, ignoring the fact that the land has limited capacity to carry large populations of ungulates, and that if they kill off all predators, the prey will overbrowse and the population will crash. Duh.
So PLEASE don’t boycott the folks that have done everything they could to end these barbaric practices!
As infuriating as this latest incident is, I want to put in a word for bears, which are also being killed by the hundreds as part of predator control. Rossi and deputy commissioner Patrick Valkenburg have accelerated the 2007 program to remove 60 percent of the black bear population in part of Unit 16, across Cook Inlet from Anchorage, based on the thought that black bears were killing too many moose calves. It is legal to shoot as many bears as you want over bait stands, including females with cubs. They hope to kill at least a thousand….for now.
This is a temporary measure because black bears will quickly immigrate into the area. Furthermore, ADF&G admits it doesn’t have a clue about predation dynamics when there are wolves, brown bears, and black bears involved. Bear experts have told me that not all bears kill calves, so they have no idea if they are even killing predator bears as opposed to vegetarian bears!
Nevertheless, Rossi has been instrumental in helping the Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife group (the one that got him, a former board member, promoted). They set up shooting camps in Unit 16, using a helicopter to transport their members. Last year they started an “experimental” program to snare black bears and they allowed a “bycatch” of up to 10 brown bears that could be killed if they couldn’t be released safely. Last year 81 black bears were killed in snares. Eight brown bears were caught. Three were “euthanized.”
In January the BOG quietly reclassified black bears as furbearers, meaning they can be trapped and their hides can be sold, something that hasn’t been legal in Alaska since 1925. In March, Valkenburg told the board that the department would work on a plan to reclassify grizzlies (Interior brown bears) so that brown bears and black bears could be trapped outside of predator control areas. There is also talk of shooting brown bears over bait (which is being tried in some predator control areas now).
A few years ago, Valkenburg, a former ADF&G biologist, put in a proposal to allow black bear trapping in the Interior, with the idea that trappers could sell the opportunity for clients to accompany them and shoot the bear in the trap, as is apparently done in Maine. He thought that sounded like a great experience for visitors. They didn’t approve that proposal then, but you can bet it’s on the way.
Valkenburg was a vice president of the Alaska Outdoor Council when he was hired by Palin’s crew. AOC is the big money and power behind game issues–full-time lobbyist, campaign donations, their members sitting on the BOG, etc. They make sure any BOG appointee they don’t like doesn’t get confirmed.
Wolves get a lot of attention, and rightly so. In the meantime, no one is asking the department to provide hard science showing that any of these efforts to reduce wolf and bear populations are having a substantial long-term payoff. That’s because there isn’t really any. A recent report on the Division of Wildlife’s performance showed that in 2009, game populations increased more than 2 percent in only three of the six predator control areas.
There are only two good solutions to this dismal situation.
1. A decent Democrat has to beat Parnell and succeed in appointing reasonable board members who will be confirmed by the Legislature.
2. The Legislature must change the intensive management statutes that provide the legal grounding that virtually forces the board to create predator control areas when hunters can’t achieve unrealistically high “harvest objectives.” This statute ensures perpetual predator control in Alaska because there will never be enough moose or caribou to meet those goals.
This is a tough battle. In the meantime, a public outcry may cause them to back off for awhile.
And for heaven’s sake, email A&E and the Discovery Channel and tell them what’s really going on in Sarah Palin’s Alaska!
http://www.aetv.com/
http://extweb.discovery.com/viewerrelations
Sorry for the length. I’m pissed off.
One more thing:
Need I say — this total-pack innihilation took place only TWO DAYS after the predator control season went into effect!
Think this was intentional — ?????
You decide.
@47 HarpboyAK:
YUP! Totally underscore everything you said!
Don’t punish the little guys in AK who do great things for tourism. Let the big-game hunters from the lower 48 stay home for a few years.
And change the law to make that favorable.
@41 OzMud:
“Tourists should keep their tickets and use part of their vacation time to picket the governor’s office.”
GREAT ADVICE! Urge everyone to follow it!!!
@44 Stanley Krute:
We also have had rescue dogs with wonderfully ‘wild’ tendencies. To this day, they are so dear to our hearts. Pretty savvy, loving critters they were, and we miss them so.
Our world could learn so much from them.
As an Alaskan, I too have mixed feelings about a boycott. HarpBoy is correct, many who value our wildlife and help share it with our visitors, will be hurt. Those who perpetuate the predator control policies will not feel any financial pain unless they own a tourism business or hunting/guiding business.
If you do boycott, please be sure to write Governor Parnell, the Board of Game, and the Alaska Travel Industry Association and tell them you are not coming to Alaska because of predator control policies, how many people will not becoming, how many days you planned to spend in Alaska, and if you planned on staying in hotels, going on tours, etc. I have included the addresses for each person/group below:
Governor Sean Parnell
PO Box 110001, Juneau, AK 99811-0001
Board of Game, AK Dep’t of Fish & Game
PO Box 115526, Juneau, AK 99811-5526
Alaska Travel Industry Association
2600 Cordova St, Ste 201
Anchorage, AK 99503
If you wish to contact each individual Board of Game member, the following link gives you their personal mailing addresses:
http://www.boards.adfg.state.ak.us/gameinfo/member/gmemadd.php
MAKE SURE you state you are boycotting Alaska because of predator control policies. If you do not, Parnell will say it is because of an extra $14/person in cruise ship taxes that he is trying to repeal. He has already stated that the reason Alaska’s cruise ship passengers has declined is because of this amount of tax; he doesn’t understand the economy might have anything to do with it.
If you do not boycott, please be sure to support wildlife viewing businesses. Tell them that you are only going on those types of excursions so they understand just how important Alaska’s wildlife is to you. Answer the questions of any surveyors asking questions about what you are planning to do while in Alaska so the data is there to show just how many people come to Alaska to view wildlife, not kill it. Be sure to write the addresses noted above and tell them you have come, but have only participated in wildlife viewing opportunities and that you DO NOT support predator control policies.
Invite you all to join a lively discussion at NATIONAL PARKS TRAVELER about this issue:
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2010/03/updated-alaska-gunners-wipe-out-wolf-pack-yukon-charley-rivers-national-preserve5548?nocache=1#comment-21266
“Shooting wolves from planes is to hunting, what hiring a prostitute is to dating.”
How can Alaskans love their dogs and hate their wolves?
Yeah. You can certainly tell Parnell from me that Alaska will never see one dime of my money if he’s going to shoot wolves, gas cubs, snare bears, squander salmon and appoint unqualified hicks to sensitive environmental management boards. If he can’t support local businesses that rely on tourism….why should I?
Krubozumo Nyankoye at 37.
Punishing the tourism trade in Alaska is the only way to effect enough people to try to convince them to stop electing asshats like Parnell who then appoints asshats like the current board.
Once they learn to stop voting against their interests, those tourist dollars will start to roll in again.
Trying to punish Alaska’s tourism trade won’t do diddly-squat, unless you think you can beat the international tourism money-types. Sorry (and it hurts me to say this), it ain’t gonna happen. They’ve got us SOOOOO way-beat.
In fact — a tourism protest against this latest wolf-killing will actually HURT many small seasonal businesses in Alaska.
But here in AK we do have some votes — and we certainly can let those in power know what we think of them. That’s what we need to do. At least, IMHO. And if those of you in other states chime in too, that could mean even more!
If you live in AK, write your reps and Gov! If you don’t, write AK’s Gov!
Wow, just took another look at AKM’s title for this post:
“Sean Parnell is killing local business from a helicopter”
AKM, you had it right from the very beginning.
Killing local business.
I agree with Krubozumo Nyankoye and Harpboy that it is counterproductive to take actions that hurt tourism businesses, as they are allies on this issue, yet they are going to have to absorb the backlash economically. I also understand Strangelet’s point that people outside AK who feel disgust about this decision want to respond in a way that has an impact. A tourism boycott is an action that is effective in focusing attention on the issue, and it’s tangible. However, it does not always accomplish what people might think. And I do not believe that the main impact will fall on the “actual offenders.” Their political status can, ironically, be strengthened.
There was an earlier tourist boycott, back in the Hickel administration in the early ‘90s, over a similar wolf “control” plan. The way it played out back then, it felt as if the entire state was being punished for the actions of a small cabal. Some well-meaning people assumed we all were wolf-killers, or wolf-killer-supporters, just because we lived here. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out how this made residents feel. (Obviously–since the likes of Palin have long since learned how to play on this response.) The controversy reinforced the “nobody out there understands the Alaskan way of life” mentality and its political corollary, Frontier-Identity Defensiveness Syndrome. That is why the theory that a tourism boycott and attendant publicity will somehow result in the electorate throwing the bums out is actually the opposite of what is likely to happen.
I hope that protests against this latest travesty will keep the focus squarely where it belongs. If it spills over onto Alaskans generally, as it did before, it only reinforces FIDS and entrenches the power of those who are doing harm.
@14 Stephen F. Stringham, PhD:
Stephen, I cannot believe I missed your post – but I did. And I think everyone needs to read it:
http://www.themudflats.net/?p=10715&cp=1#comment-179546
I can understand your rationale for zoning. But when it comes down to it, I think subsistence should be the main criterion.
If those shoot-em junkies want their moose, caribou, whatever — well, then, they should come AFTER the people who live there. Just my HO.
And I hope it doesn’t hurt our local tourism. I’m a part of it.
AKM…. thank you for responding to my earlier post.
You mentioned a group called the ” National Wildlife Alliance ” in your reply.
The active FaceBook link you posted just goes to the standard “FaceBook Signup Page “. Was it supposed to be the Wildlife Alliances Facebook page…?
It didn’t take me there ….so I looked them up. This is their actual Page.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&viewas=0&gid=12371730367
This is their actual webpage as well.
http://www.akwildlife.org/
I looked over their webpage and I didn’t see any mention where they had posted that they were even ON Facebook.
You said …. ” They only have 96 followers, which is a shame.”
If they advertised or mentioned this Fact prominently ( at least I never saw it ) on their page I’ll bet they could get more people to sign up as a Facebook member. 96 IS pretty small. I don’t think people know they have a page…it could be that simple.
***AKM… when checking their FaceBook they could have a link or mention to the story you posted here. I think that would benefit them as far as informing readers to some very important Facts about the wolf situation and the BOG. They really need to link or post your story on their page.
This also seems like a perfect subject to be discussed if there is
another ” Coffee Party ” scheduled for tomorrow in Anchorage and how the BOG and these actions affect revenue coming into the State. This issue has a direct impact to Alaskans. A PERFECT subject.
I called your Governor on the phone and emailed Him today, but I’ll bet Parnell doesn’t care or respect my opinion. He’ll never reply.
The ” Coffee Party ” members though… He MIGHT listen to you Alaskans because you will vote him out of Office.
@14 Stephen F. Stringham:
“We claim that this republican spirit is nowhere stronger than in Alaska. Yet, in practice, far too much Alaskan politics takes the sledgehammer approach: pack committees with a majority of advocates for one extreme position, then crush anyone with different needs or ideas. This fosters the kind of divisiveness which is tearing this state and this nation apart. If dividing an enemy is the key to conquering it, how can dividing ourselves against ourselves benefit anyone but our enemies, domestic or foreign?”
– Just think about this, my friends –
Well I don’t know if its the correct group or not but I’ve joined FB ‘Alaska Wildlife Alliance’ – a group which has scheduled a public meeting on March 27th (in Anchorage I believe).
If there are more FB groups addressing these problems I will be happy to join as many as necessary – just keep posting links for me – thanks
Gorgeous sunset btw – too bad the day was so ugly…
Beautiful state, but the view of an “outsider” is that there are alot of very ugly people in charge. We all have reprehensible politicians in our states, but we seem to have more of a balance then Alaska does.
Palin doesn’t need a show touring Alaska, she has already succeeded in showing us the ugly side, the one she has helped to create.
If it weren’t for you courageous souls fighting against the corrupt and hypocritical politicians in your state I would never choose to spend my money there. I hope for your sake and the amazing wildlife that you are so lucky to have that you can throw these barbarians out of office. including all of their conflict of interest appointees!
Echoing many here…
Last tourism boycott damaged many businesses, not only those engaged in wildlife viewing activities, but many far removed from the area in question . We suffered disproportionately 600 miles away in this huge state.
Lee323 opens a door on a conversation Alaska is overdue to start. About half the state’s population lives within a couple hours of each other and it’s time to start talking about what that means in relation to availablity of ‘food’ animals .
Honestly, the people in the vast areas of the rest of the state are sick and tired of stupid policies in the ANC/valley region affecting the rest of us so dramatically.
We have no real predator control program , just a bunch of cobbled together gobbeldegook. We have no support from this administration to look closely at what pressures humans have put on ungalates in what is really a small area- just a bunch of hype about reducing wild-predator pressure…
Love 59 North_of_the_Range ‘s FIDS description- so true! And so sad and silly.
IF folks DO decide to visit this year, please write to all those 53 BearWoman provided addresses for and let them know WHAT you came to see , what wildlife viewing venues you chose, and what you spent – the dadgum state needs to be smacked right in the forehead with information about the folks who do come visit to see wildlife.
So far, the dingbat guns-and-trophies gang has outshouted everyone else.
Time to change that…
It must be nice to live a life where you are left unmoved by the suffering of others, human or animal. Even excited or getting a “rush” from causing the suffering yourself. What empty
“human beings.” These type of people make good criminals, not politicians.
I liked Lee323′s discussion, weren’t hunters and gatherers normally nomads? Hunting and harvesting an area and then moving on to another? Staying in one place and living this way does not seem sustainable unless you remove every predator.
I just picked up a copy of “500 places to take your kids before they grow up” by Frommer’s. Two listings for Alaska — the inside passage trip (I second that!), and Denali Park (have to reconsider that these days).
Of course there are many many ways & places to explore in Alaska, and we’ve done/seen many of them that aren’t in the book, and would recommend them. But many are very expensive &/or difficult with children, so the Frommer’s recommendations are fair. But really, who rides on that Denali Park bus for hours and hours to enjoy the scenery? I, personally, sat there for the wildlife.
Parnell was viewed before as the Shadowy-Palin-Wannabe, and he’s since proved that to be a reasonable view. My gripe with ACES has long been the fact that in making a mad grab for oil dollars Alaska overlooked the A) job loss associated with oil companies spending their dollars in an environment more financially beneficial (yes, this has happened), and B) why oh why oh why has Alaska decided to shaft tourism & fishing, industries that can (will????) be around long after the oil/gas flow turns to a trickle? Palin/Parnell and their ilk are short-sighted and are shafting Alaska in every way at every turn.
Really discouraging. As someone born & raised in Alaska, lived there for over 30 years of my life, when I see the people that get elected over & over due to the apathy of so many who can only seem to get excited about applying for & spending their PFDs, I never ever want to go back to Alaska again. Because my daughter goes to uni in Juneau I might make it that far, but anywhere else? I don’t think so.
‘Never cry wolf’, showed us that these creatures keep the vermin in check, voles, mice, lemmings, etc…not just baby caribou or moose…secondly, as one who depends on the tourist industry, we recieved letters back from outside patrons that said they would never patronize our state again BECAUSE of Palin and her ilk and their policies. There is (was) a huge proportion of visitors that are progressive conscientious ‘thinking’ folk, who will have nothing to do with states that advocate the killing of it’s animals and destruction of it’s environment….and that’s us, unfortunately.
I read through the ADN article. The story from the game officials smells like rotting fish. Two contradictory stories about the collars — 1) the shooter saw the collars and went for the kill anyway; 2) the collars were “malfunctioning” and they couldn’t ID the wolves. Is it possible they were deliberately USING the collars to locate and/or track these wolves? This is why the question from the researchers asking about the exact GPS coordinates is so important. I can’t help wondering whether the wolves were really outside the protected area — or not.
I’m a longtime wolf admirer/advocate. Only once did I see a wolf (from a distance) in the wild. But I have observed them at the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN and at Wolf Haven in Tenino, WA. — and read about them extensively. I am fascinated by the fact that they are social beings who live in and interact with their pack/family much the same as we humans do. In many important ways wolves are much like us humans — and we have much to learn from them.
My husband and I are in the process of formulating vacation plans for this year — and Alaska was once high on the list. Now we are looking at Churchill, Manitoba or Vancouver, BC for wildlife viewing opportunities. We just can’t see spending our tourist dollars in a state run by troglodytes.
This phrase in the article caught my eye, “unqualified non-scientists” and that’s it on the nail head, Alaska is neck deep in decisions made by just that, “unqualified non-scientists”! I could name at least five off the top of my head that are mismanaging our fish and wildlife for subsistence users up here in the Norton Sound. We’re being forced to eat chicken and pollock because moose and salmon are becoming harder and harder to get. If you have a craving for fish, it’s either a $2.49 can of sardines or a $10 can of red salmon. Budgets are so tight, many of us have to settle for Top Ramen or Cup of Noodles. No wonder diets out here in Bush Alaska are causing health problems.
Legislative oversight and a new governor is what Alaska needs right now.
If you are a registered voter in Alaska, you can use the following tool to send a less than 50 word message to any or all of Alaska’s legislators that you choose in swift stroke.
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/poms
BearWoman @ 53 writes: ” [...] Be sure to write the addresses noted above and tell them you have come, but have only participated in wildlife viewing opportunities and that you DO NOT support predator control policies.” [bold emphasis added. b.]
““““““
I think great care must be taken to differentiate between:
1) sound, rational, scientifically-supported, sane predator control [measures and policies], and,
2) blanket ‘control’ of predator animals derived from an ‘understanding’/belief that a predatory animal is a predatory animal is a predatory animal, and since it *IS* a predator, any and all methods to get rid of it, are ‘fair game’, should be applauded, should be supported, and should be implemented.
There are times when predator animal control IS called for…when the specific conditions, science, and circumstances call for the control [of a predator(s)], it *IS* necessary. Although those control measures and policies might sound draconian and/or heartless [think the eradication of marmots *introduced* into an established ecological setting and overrunning it] they are nonetheless *necessary* in order to maintain and/or restore the balance of Nature *pre*-man’s mucking it up.
Nature is an awesome thing…over eons and eons, ‘controls’ have evolved/developed to ensure a balance: if there is not enough food to sustain it, a population will die off from starvation, have fewer offspring to ensure each will have a better chance of survival, and/or relocate to where food is more plentiful; if the climate changes, a population will [gradually] adapt by growing thicker fur/fat reserve (or shedding fur/fat reserve) and/or changing ‘living quarters’ through temporary or permanent migration.
The balance in Nature is –was, and always will be– a delicate one; when MAN [used generically] starts imposing his ‘controls’ *without* a full understanding of the consequences, we’ve all got problems. Similarily, if man does *not* intervene when such an intervention is *fully* supported by scientific data, etc, we also have problems.
I’d hate to see all predator control measures and policies erased from the books *just because* the likes of Parnell et al are such damned fools (when it comes to the issue of wolves) and/or *just because* said policies and measures seem to the caring-heart, ‘not nice’ (marmot eradication.)
I think we *MUST* make it clear there IS a difference between “predator control” supporting *man’s* enjoyment/whims and “predator control” implemented *for* scientific-/rationally-supported facts and data. We have to be very careful in our advocacy that we don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. beth.
Amen 72 beth.
You can thank Alaska’s MILLION DOLLAR BABY!!
Does “Hillbilly Sarah” care about preserving the wildlife
in Alaska? Only if it puts money in her pockets.
Lot of talk coming from Alaska…yet no action by the people.
Vote out all the ‘PALIN CROOKS’…and just maybe, the lower
48 tourist trade may want to visit.
Politicians only care about two things: money and votes.
If you’re not an Alaskan registered voter they don’t care what you have to say.
Unless there is money involved.
mlaiuppa Says:
March 20th, 2010 at 2:56 PM
Politicians only care about two things: money and votes.
If you’re not an Alaskan registered voter they don’t care what you have to say.
Unless there is money involved.
***********
Even if you are Alaskan they don’t care! There was a 500 sig. petition given to the BOG from people who lived around Denali wanting the Bufferzone and they voted in favor of the local Wolf killers, Al Barette, Coke Wallace, to name just a couple.
I have to give AKM & Shannyn kudos to see the writing on the wall, that reasonable people are not going to spend their money in a state that “harvest’s” its wildlife and puts them on the “table along with the potato’s”!
The SOA has the fricken nerve to put on their website “10 most wanted” to been seen by tourist’s…wolves/Bears…and they just gave a big “eff” you to Alaskan’s and the Federal gov. but they will take the Federal money, thank you very much….!
2 wks ago gavel to gavel had a meeting televised about how the cruise ship industry is dwindling and today I saw Parnell signed something with cruise ships…who says a Boycott won’t work???
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=365452741386
Gordon Haber studies wolves for approx 41 years. Unfornately he passed away last year in a plane crash in Denali…
No scientific basis for current wolf control program
By Gordon Haber
Published November 12, 2006
http://www.alaskawolves.org/Reports_files/Op-Ed,%20FDNM,%2011%3A12%3A06.pdf
must see YouTube video…it made me weep because it’s so true.
Sarah Palin’s Alaska:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlAbSQ450UI&feature=player_embedded
@34 Beth:
That was so incredibly sad and beautifully said.
Boycotting Alaska won’t stop or hurt those who want to kill the wolves and bears it will only hurt the majority of the people who are against it,as @37 Krubozumo Nyankoye said.Though e-mailing Parnell about a maybe ,would be a good thing to do.Just to let him know youy thoughts on it.
mlaiuppa #56 did not think of it that way but it is a reasonable assumption that could work
Predator control can be over worked. We in my state have an over abundance of deer,they had to ok shooting them in the city, and giving out more permits for hunting,prolonging the hunting season ect,partly imo because we lost our wolves and have just now in the last year or so begin building it up again.it took some time to build the population of these wolves where they needed to be and yet keep them away from the cities. The only bears we have are in the far north and those I have see lived near dumps and lived on food garbage from those not from deer ect.