Alaska's aerial wolf hunting program under attack in Congress

Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. George Miller, both California Democrats, have introduced a bill in Congress that, if passed, will all but ban the aerial hunting of wolves in Alaska.

Alaska officials would have to declare a biological emergency showing the imminent collapse of a species before the wolf hunts can take place, and could only allow such hunting to be conducted by state or federal wildlife employees, barring private contractors.

"Shooting wolves from airplanes is not sport -- it is cruel and inhumane," Feinstein said in a written statement to the Anchorage Daily News. "It undermines the hunting principle of a fair chase and often leads to a slow and painful death for the hunted animals. This practice should be banned."

The legislation would close a loophole in the 1972 Airborne Hunting Act (which bans most aerial hunting in the U.S.) that allows Alaska to issue permits for such hunting of wolves on non-federal lands.

"What this bill does is essentially makes it impossible for Alaska to manage wolf populations in any sort of responsible way," said Pat Valkenburg, Alaska Department of Fish and Game deputy commissioner. "We finally have a program that works and to end it because of the emotional feelings of uninformed people is just not a good idea."

The subject of Alaska's aerial hunting really came to light during the presidential election campaign, when Gov. Sarah Palin was on the Republican ticket.

As previously written about in Outposts, the hunts are conducted as a means of predator control in an effort to help dwindling caribou and moose populations recover. These animals are key food sources for many Alaska resident hunters.

The wolves are "intensively managed" in six zones where moose and caribou populations are deemed dangerously low.

-- Kelly  Burgess

Photo: Wolves at Yellowstone National Park. Credit: Associated Press / Daniel Stahler / National Park Service

Comments

[Cinder]

I hope this bill passes. Those aerial hunters need to stop being so greedy and start working to protect the beautiful state they live in and the creatures that live beside them. Alaska was meant to teem with the wildlife it supports, not become a scene of animal murder.

[Rachel]

I agree with Jillian, would we want to be chased down to the point of exhaustion and shot. No we wouldn't. We need to view animals as an equal not as something lesser

[Trent Rush]

Wolves are the most beautiful thing on the planet. They mean everything to me.

[Paul Richins]

California mind your own bussiness take care of your own screwed up state!!!!

[jillian]

The wolves are chased by hunters in helicopters for dozens of miles until they're too exhausted to run anymore and then they're shot when they lay on the ground to rest.

Completely inhumane and unfair method of wolf control that should be banned as soon as possible.

[Ann]

It's about time! What took so long? These beautiful animals keep balance in wild nature, man causes imbalance and all for the sport of it all. This whole disgusting mess needs to come to a very abrupt end.

[Jessica Brand]

Proponents of aerial wolf killing say the program is about making sure subsistence hunters in Alaska have enough food to eat. But this it is not true. In many of the predator control areas urban hunters are in direct competition with rural subsistence users. And worse, in some wolf control areas out of state trophy hunters and the commercial guiding industry are still allowed access to limited game resources that should be available for subsistence needs instead.

[David Zarmi]

Nice.