Alaska OKs Killing of Wolves Near Fairbanks; Foes Call for Boycott

The state of Alaska on Thursday formalized its plans to kill as many as 75% of the wolves that live in an area near Fairbanks, prompting opponents of the plan to renew their call for a tourist boycott of the state.

After four days of hearings and deliberations, the state Board of Game authorized government personnel to kill the wolves, which hunters and some native Alaskans contend are depleting caribou herds. The wolf population in the area ranges from 150 to 200. Biologists estimate that from 6,000 to 7,000 wolves inhabit the state.

The plan calls for shooting, trapping and snaring the wolves without the direct use of aircraft. However, the board decided to let trappers who are flying to their remote traplines to also shoot wolves, provided that the trappers travel at least 100 yards from their aircraft before firing.

Animal rights groups and other foes of wolf control condemned the decision. The Fund for Animals, a New York-based conservation group, reissued its call Thursday for an international tourism boycott of Alaska. Director Wayne Pacelle accused game officials of sanctioning “de facto aerial wolf control.”

“There’s no way to prove (a wolf) wasn’t shot directly from the air,” said Kim Behrens of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance.

Last winter, the state adopted a wolf-control plan involving airborne sharpshooters taking 300 to 400 wolves statewide in each of the next five years. An international uproar, followed by the threat of an organized tourism boycott, forced game officials to abandon the plan.

Last month, the state proposed the scaled-down plan passed by the board this week.

“We consider this worse than the original proposal,” Pacelle said. “It’s another tool to create dead wolves, no matter the means.”