BIOPOLITICS OF WOLF MANAGEMENT IN ALASKA

• Main Author: Franzmann, Albert W.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Lakehead University 1993
• Subjects: Canis lupus; Alaska
• Online Access: http://alcesjournal.org/index.php/alces/article/view/973

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) began a wolf (Canis lupus) management planning process in 1990 following years of controversy over the issue. A planning team was organized consisting of persons with widely varied values and interests regarding wolves. They developed a set of recommendations which were the basis for a Strategic Wolf Management plan which pawned Area Specific Plans and Implementation Plans. The process in abstract was working. However, once implementation of wolf control became a reality, there was a negative response heard worldwide. This response was primarily organized by animal rights groups using tactics that were guaranteed to fuel a response. They were able to use a threatened boycott of the tourism industry in Alaska to force a political cancellation of wolf management using aircraft. The events associated with this planning process and the events that followed are documented in this paper by a member of the Alaska Board of Game, from his perspective.