NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/sci/bio/4199

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-21 | 2.7 KB

Xref: sparky sci.bio:4199 talk.environment:4722
Newsgroups: sci.bio,talk.environment,ak.general
Path: sparky!uunet!uunet.ca!geac!r-node!ndallen
From: [e-mail] (Nigel Allen)
Subject: Defenders of Wildlife Opposes Alaska Decision to Kill Large Numbers of Wolves
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 08:45:42 GMT
Lines: 43

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-