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- From: Nigel Allen <nigel.allen@canrem.com>
- Subject: Defenders of Wildlife Opposes Alaska Decision to Kill Wolves
- Message-ID: <1992Nov21.221045.27260@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
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- Organization: NDA
- Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 22:10:45 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 47
-
- Here is a press release from Defenders of Wildlife.
-
- Defenders of Wildlife Opposes Alaska Decision to Kill Large
- Numbers of Wolves to Increase Moose, Caribou Herds
- To: National Desk, Environment Writer
- Contact: Lisa Swann or Dr. Al Manville, 202-659-9510, both
- of Defenders of Wildlife
-
- WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 -- Following is a statement by
- Dr. Albert Manville II, senior wildlife biologist, Defenders of
- Wildlife. Manville has worked on the Alaska wolf issue since 1974,
- and most recently presented testimony on Nov. 13 before the Alaska
- Board of Game opposing the proposed wolf control program.
-
- "There is a bitter irony in the Board of Game's adoption of the
- Strategic Wolf Management Plan in October 1991, a plan which called
- for ensuring the long-term conservation of wolves throughout their
- historic range in Alaska. The decision to restart intensive wolf
- control measures reads more like a 'quick fix' prescription to
- benefit a few people rather than a sound wildlife conservation
- management plan for wolves and their prey. It is a throwback to
- turn-of-the-century wildlife management techniques that wiped out
- the wolf and destroyed the balance of nature. Some still believe
- -- wrongly -- that if you eliminate wolves, the prey populations
- will automatically rebound. The dynamics of predator-prey
- relationships are complicated and still not well understood, and
- depend a great deal upon habitat type and availability. The
- elimination of all wolves in portions of the Nelchina Basin of
- Alaska in the late 1970s resulted in no net increase in moose
- there, since wolves turned out not to be the major predators of
- moose in that area.
- "Wolf control simply will not solve the problem of more demand
- for moose and caribou; what Alaska really needs are socially
- responsible policy makers in step with changing public attitudes
- about wildlife conservation. By, reintroducing highly
- controversial and unsophisticated management techniques such as
- aerial wolf control, Alaska has put itself out of step with
- national trends in wolf conservation.
- "With the approval of this massive wolf control program, the
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Board of Game have shown
- us beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are fully incapable of
- responsibly managing Alaska's wildlife especially wolves."
- -30-
- --
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