| Show v NATION The Salt Lake Tribune Fall of the Wild? Biologists Fear Wolf Htmt Will Cut Down Not Beef Up Alaska's Big Game of Alaskans don't hunt Yet 80 group of people" groups generally THE NEW YORK TIMES al ANCHORAGE Alaska — Trying to tip the balance of nature in favor of moose and caribous wildlife officials have decided to start shooting wolves from airplanes over a huge portion of the Alaska wilderness By reducing the number of wolves that prey on animals Alaska wildlife officials hope to produce a bounty for hunters and tourists "We feel we are going to create a wildlife spectacle on a par with the major migrations in East Africa" said David Kelleyhouse director of the Alaska Division of Wildlife Conservation With votes Wednesday and on Tuesday the Alaska Board of Game set in motion a major reordering of the predatory chain in a habitat often referred to as the American Serengeti The move promises to affect the populations of the nation's biggest herds of moose dall sheep caribous wolves and grizzly bears into the next century But some biologists say the state has entered a dangerous phase of "playing God" that will so upset the natural cycles that it will actually produce fewer animals The decision to begin killing wolves a wildlife management practice that was stopped nearly 10 years ago after critics labeled it barbaric is bound to generate an international outcry For many people the Alaska gray wolf is a symbol of the state's wild character chronicled in Jack London tales and Walt Disney big-gam- e wolf-killin- g five-yea- 43000-square-mil- e wolf-killin- no 1 Out-sma- ll hunt-Hunter- fa- - Ex rso n) s' DIChn 1711 D141 Li WE BEAT ANY SALE PRICE IN UTAH BRING US THE AD co though the exact numbers have not been determined Although the proportion of Alaska residents who hunt is twice the 8 average in the rest of the nation there is considerable opposition to the program here "We don't think game populations should be artificially maintained for high levels of hunting" said Dave McCargo a director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance a group dedicated to protecting the state's wild animals "More than "ar I conefuTo 1 t t 01 t li COMPLETE HARDWOOD FRAME AND COTTON FUTON oC1 1111 it 111$ telliSAIgela g s40088 $0088 'IJSINGLE $41088 OMEN I " I Salt Lake City UTAH'S LARGEST FUTON DEALER BEST SELECTION BESTPRICES OPEN MON-SA- - 10AM-6P- T SUN M UT 486-588- 9 11AM-4P- M R (0) 2277 So Highland Drive 10 FULL - El H - 1 1 - s "111111liglir FKIDAV9 movies To inflate Alaska's populations of moose and caribous which already number well over a million the state plans to kill hundreds of wolves each year Wildlife experts estimate that the wolves the primary predators of Alaska's animals number no more than 7000 statewide The plan calls for the wolves to be shot by game officials from airplanes or by citizens who will be allowed to track them from the air then land and shoot them Both practices are prohibited big-gam- wolves Since bears as well as wolves prey on the moose and caribous the state will also try to eliminate more bears in some areas al- state did not begin killing wolves it would take too long for the moose and caribou herds to build up vored this veek's decision Randy Smith director of the Alaska door Council a coalition of ers and gun users said that if the this agency is being run for a 6 attempt to make it easier for hunters to kill moose and caribous said Kelleyhouse whose appointment two years ago reflects a philosophical change in wildlife management favored by Gov Walter Hickel of Alaska Prior to Hickel's election in 1990 the state had been moving away from any sort of systematic program The plan enacted this week by r the state game board is a wolves in a of program shooting area between Anchorage and Fairbanks a section of birch forests glaciers and tundra that is home to more than 60000 caribous 30000 moose 2000 grizzly bears and about 700 By Timothy Egan A29 Friday November 20 1992 - "t?fit Itt AV & 08- ID 1 IN D A k If 0 N ILW cy 1-4- ! e ir TAKE AN under the Federal Airborne Hunting Act but the law makes an exception for state game manwildagers or for life control A number of wildlife biologists say that killing hundreds of Alaska wolves each year would not guarantee a population explosion of large animals In some areas 80 of the wolves which run in packs of eight to 30 animals would be killed "This decision is bad biology all around almost insulting from a scientific standpoint" said Dr Gordon Haber a wildlife scientist who has been studying wolves in Alaska for 27 years Letting nature take its course over a number of years would gradually build up the herds Haber said If too many wolves are killed the game herds will grow too fast and risk mass starvation or disease he said Other biologists have pointed to state-sanctione- ADDITIONAL d big-gam- TICKETED PRICE ON AM ' OFF IIERCHANDISE SIGIIED WITH A n---CI- Y i 3©7 e 7 TAKE - Yellowstone National Park AN where wolves were wiped out long ago and where the elk population is now so excessive that hundreds have died of starvation or disease in recent years Wolves are extinct or endangered in every state but Alaska and Minnesota Some critics say the decision this week to kill wolves systematically harkens back to campaigns of the 19th century a claim state officials dispute "I have never heard anyone in this state say we ought to eliminate all the wolves" said Bruce Bartley a spokesman for the ' Ii ADDITIONAL 0 - c OFF : wolf-poisoni- wildlife department TICKETED PRICE ON AMY rIERCHANDISE SIGNED WITH A OFIEEll DOT "What's happening is some hunters feel they are being shortchanged They think a few more moose and caribous ought to die by bullets instead of by teeth" Although there are no real animals in shortages of Alaska this week's decision is an big-gam- e TAKE I t LLER FOAM - AN BCC1C'S SALE ALL COOK BOOKS ir 20 1 i t 1 ADDITIONAL OFF i I' 1 IN NOVEMBER --- USED COOK BOOKS ARE INCLUDED FAMILY CEIC ER ZION 9001( S104 154 SOWN Wm WOE FI MON NA are 14111 PAW liDvAt E UT MO INbq ssa 33 tt THE POWS NATI WO SOWN 10uFetrut (NO 116 hm01 0 l - OFF 1 pm r TICKETED PRICE ON AttlY MERCHANDISE SIGNED WITH A illiD DOT Get your Christmas' discount on hopped I Ale going with a 10 and unhopped malt extracts Sale ends Nov 30 1992 MOUNTAIN NE'k I Percentages oft represent savings on ticketed prices Savings off original prices available until stock is depleted Limited to stock on hand Not valid towards prior purchases "611 South Towne 10450 S State St BREW 572-922- Cottonwood 4835 Highland Dr 272-826- 9 Mall Valley Fair Mall 3601 S 2700 W 967-600- 4 3 XPomir 0 1992 OGDEN 2300 Grant Ave 393-844- Bountitul 101 W 1600 N 300 University Mall 2241311 298-35- 3 — v ' I — JCPeite"A I - ' NM G3 1 Orem 2793 S STATE 4872337 illNinE NA a la janAtt 1 w4 AAAAAAAA LAAIL Lk AIX 2ALa1A11t111 $ m A A 46 - |
