Defenders Of Wildlife are at it again. Last year they were up here raising hub about letting private pilots and gunners shoot wolves. They insisted that only Fish and Game employees be able to do that.
So this year Fish and Game employees are doing the shooting from Helicopters and are doing a very efficient job of reducing predictors. They are finally getting close to the required numbers to make the project work.
Now Defenders Of Wildlife are up in arms over the State doing the job. Yesterday they filed for an injunction to stop the working Predator Control Program.
I'm going to offer another side of the story from a good friend Greg Compeau of Fairbanks. One thing Greg does not mention tho is that this is an International Herd. That means it is a herd that crosses the border in it's migrations. The Canadians have not hunted this herd for years due to low numbers. Alaskans are taking a very small number between 2 and 3%, the rest is being taken by predators. The Canadians are really getting upset that the Americans are doing nothing on our side of the border to build up the numbers of this herd. One of the major problems is that the Feds will not let us do Predator Control on Federal Lands and they own 74% of Alaska. We can only do this on state land.
Rebuild caribou
Craig Compeau, Fairbanks
Published Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Recently, Alaskans have witnessed another substantial decline in the Fortymile caribou herd in Game Management Unit 20E, and we have only ourselves to blame. We have had the tools to help improve caribou calf survival but have done very little from an active management perspective. For either political or environmental reasons (or both), we have failed miserably.
Enter Gov. Sarah Palin, who has a firm grasp on not only what abundance management means but also what it actually takes to achieve it. Add to that some “outside the bureaucratic box” thinking by some new faces within the Department of Fish and Game, as well as a Board of Game that is not afraid of what might be printed in the Mother Earth News, and you begin to see a little light at the end of the tunnel.
Rather than initiating another five-year study (which can be a convenient way to outlast a four-year governor), the Board of Game has voted to take specific actions to turn around these plummeting populations. We know from past experience in this same GMU that targeted, intensive management works, and can have a dramatic positive effect on caribou calf survival. Although very effective, most people are surprised to learn that such intensive management is only being done in about 10 percent of the entire state. (For some excellent factual data on predators and prey, go to
www.defendersofwildfood.org.)
However, if you put your ear to the ground near Eagle, that thundering noise you hear is not a caribou herd; it is Priscilla Feral and her radical gang of “do-gooders” riding into Alaska to save us from ourselves. She is here to tell us once again that everything will be just fine if we let nature run its course. Tell that to the Fort Yukon mother of three staring at $8-per-pound hamburger in the local general store, after having bought 5 gallons of fuel for $45.
So, kudos to the governor, ADFG and the Board of Game for standing up for Alaskans. Maybe that thundering noise is applause from our founding fathers.
