Alaska voters shoot down predator control initiative
Originally published Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 11:53 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 12:21 a.m.
Digg
delicious
Facebook
Mixx
Reddit
Stumble It!ANCHORAGE -- A ballot initiative that would end the state's predator control program as now conducted was failing at the polls Tuesday.
With 70 percent of the votes counted, the measure was lagging with more than 55 percent of voters saying no.
Ballot Measure 2 would prohibit the shooting of wolves and bears either from the air or once a plane has landed, unless the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game finds that a "biological emergency" exists and has adequate scientific proof.
The measure defines a biological emergency as one in which a prey population will irreversibly decline unless aircraft are used to reduce the number of wolves and bears.
It also would require state employees to conduct predator control. Now, private citizens are permitted to kill the animals.
The initiative also would allow only the minimum number of predators to be removed to end the emergency.
Nick Jans, one of the initiative sponsors, said it was tough going up against the Palin administration, Fish and Game, and members of the Alaska Outdoor Council. A strong Republican turnout also may have hurt their side, he said.
"I think that basically we got dragged under a train," Jans said.
He also said the description of the ballot measure prepared by the lieutenant governor's office was confusing to voters.
"It reads poorly and I don't think that is a mistake. It was intentional," he said.
The state's predator control program, begun in McGrath in 2003 and now operating in five areas of Alaska, is designed to help boost moose and caribou numbers where residents say game has become too scarce.
Under the program, more than 800 wolves have been killed and a far smaller number of bears.
Supporters of the state's predator control program say it is doing some good, bringing much-needed relief to rural residents at a time when the cost of living in Bush Alaska is skyrocketing with the prices for food and fuel.
Opponents say the program, approved by the state Board of Game, thwarts the will of the people, who have twice voted to undo similar programs where aircraft were used to track and kill predators.
Opponents also say the program caters to big game hunters and guides from urban areas, mostly Anchorage and Fairbanks, by manipulating game populations unnecessarily.
Cliff Judkins, board game chairman, said he can understand why people don't much like predator control but wants Alaskans to know it is done as a last resort.
"There is just no other way to reduce the wolves," he said.
Eddie Grasser, president of the Alaska chapter of Safari Club International, the group that provided most of the money to fight the measure, said the vote shows that most Alaskans support hunting as a vital part of wildlife management.
"Our side believes we need these types of management tools available," Grasser said.
No one needs moose and caribou meat so much that wolves and bears need to be shot from the air, said Breffny Conley, 48, of Chugiak, as he prepared to vote.
"I think it is morally wrong. That is a sport for cowards," he said. "God gives us things on earth that you can work for or steal. That's stealing."
Before Alaska statehood in 1959, shooting wolves from airplanes was common. Aerial sport hunting was banned in 1972 but the law allowed aerial shooting for predator control.
In 1996 and 2000, voters rejected using aircraft to help track and kill wolves. The legislature overturned the measures.
Lin Halterman, an antique appraiser in Chugiak, said she voted in favor of the initiative because she thinks when it comes to predator control the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has too much power.
"The trouble with too much control is too much control," she said.
John Orr, 64, of Anchorage, said he voted no on all four ballot initiatives because he doesn't think voters should have to decide such issues. That's what legislators are for, he said.
"They are letting us down on the job," he said.
However, voting no on Ballot Measure 2 was easy, he said.
"There is no shortage of wolves and bears," Orr said.
His wife, Maria, said she also voted no, pointing to the motorist who last Friday hit a large grizzly bear as it crossed one of the city's busiest highways.
"It showed me they are way too close in town. This is our natural habitat," she said. "We can share the land without them overrunning us."
Community Discussion
Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.
Where is the report on Ballot Measure 4? Are the rich man afraid to release the results after they spammed my mail with all this crap?
Alaskan voters have spoken..........Thanks all "no voters"
Sad. Very sad indeed.
good maybe that will discourage the out of staters and the wolf advocatists from trying a end run again, rember the drive to boycott alaska by tourists. i am getting very tired of everybody except alaskans telling us how to run our state.
All one has to do is look at California as an example of Animal Activist Groups controlling by not controlling.
Now Californians are complaining that they can't keep their cats and dogs from disappearing because of the cuddly precious coyotes they loved so much.
Animal Rights activist like ALF are urban terrorists, and PETA supports them with legal funds and lawyers, the remaining AR Groups attempt to manipulate the majority with their minority emotions, gloom and doom.
AR nuts, California is your state if your not happy with it, don't try to improve upon your failures here in Alaska!
Let me get this straight. You people voted "no" on this initiative because...there are too many wolves? For whom? Hunting guides and a few hunters? Afraid of some competition? But wolves eat moose meat. You primarily eat bologna sandwiches and other processed-meat products. There IS no competition. Subsistence hunters have done fine without Safari Club and airplanes for, oh, at least about 12 thousand years now on this continent.
Talk about manipulation, Crucible; the poor, rich out-of-state big game hunter can't get a shot at a moose for all those blood-thirsty wolves. How did SCI manage to sell ya that one?
Crucible and that Mcgillagorilla character seem willing to cut off the nose to spite the face. "It's a LOCAL issue, and we aint lettin' any PETA or any outsider up here tellin' us what to do!", whatever the issue may be. All hopped-up on that anti-fed, anti-liberal crap, aint ya!! To the point where you can't even see when yer own chain's being yanked.
I am David and am 3rd generation Oregon. Please be carefull of persons moving in from California and causing laws to be changed. Have you noticed how many Alaska residents are from Oregon & Washington? It might be because we have been infected with California type laws.......
LOL the pro wolf people lies, misinformation, myths and fairy tales are exposed. Alaska has had enough. Wolves need to be control otherwise they will wipe out the prey species. In BC Canada they are worry there are too many wolves and they might wipe out the woodland caribou. About time common sense prevailed. Understand that Defenders of Wildlife only has 500,000 members less then 1 percent of America population. Time to tell this tiny faction of 1% to mind their own business and stay out of wildlife management that they clearly do not understand.
Wolves, bears, and cougars were pursued by our great-grandfathers for good reason. They were dangerous predators, way back then. Today, they're dangerous again because they've lost their fear of men. Do-gooders, that send money to "Save the Wolves", have nothing to fear since they never venture beyond asphalt pavement. Cougars and bears have taken a few joggers here in Kalifornia, and the cougar-lovers say, look large and make noise. I guess that makes sense to the cougar-lovers since they never go hiking and large is natural for them, if you know what I mean.
I am not an Alaskan resident. That said, I am glad that the people of Alaska have decided to speak on an issue that concerns them. It is not for environmentalists and wolf lovers to decide how Alaskans address the issue of predator overpopulation. Alaska is the last truly wild place in this country and allowing citizens to hunt predators is a historical state pastime. Let those how dare to live there decide how things should be done, not some hippie who lives on a southern Kalifornian beach.
Wipe out the prey speicies, eh, BruceH? If that were the case shouldn't moose and caribou be long gone? Wrong. These animals have been quite capable of regulating themselves and each other long before white folks arrived, or anybody else for that matter. Why are they only now threatened with extermination? I hear a little bit of fear talking. If you're afaid of wolves and cougars, just stay inside, jog on a treadmill. Some people act like wildlife is coming into THEIR backyard; isn't it vise versa? Yeah, jodark, it's not for environmentalists and wolf lovers to decide, its for Safari Club International to decide, the real experts. They'll keep Alaska truly wild. Wild means bears and wolves, wild means "as is", doesn't it?
For pity's sake - how many of you tree-huggers are willing to subsidize the mind-boggling costs of flying meat into villages that aren't on the road system?!? And don't spend MY money - I believe in proper game conservation and management - take up a flipping collection if it's so important to you.
for pity's sake - oh my... Did you seriously suggest that tree huggers are flying WOLF MEAT into villages? That is so ridiculous. Get a clue before you post something so absurd.
PS - save the wolves. From Oklahoma - someone who does live on pavement, who would love the opportunity to venture past the asphalt and counts on the chance someday (as long as the wildlife haters don't ruin it).
It was just brought to my attention that perhaps Jadis meant that the meat flown into villages was the meat of moose & caribou. I don't think so since he/she didn't say so, but I'm willing to entertain the possibility.
If the intention was meat flown into villages is wolf meat - see my previous post.
If the intention was meat flown into villages should be moose/caribou meat - I have yet to find a pertinent headline concerning this topic. The only thing I can find is stories/ads of organized wolf hunts with their own civic/state, etc. proceeds going to all necessary beneficiaries. Jadis: please provide a headline or at least a significant story to support your position that moose/caribou meat to villages is suffering due to the lack of aerial wolf hunting. sh
Wolf meat is uneatable. Any fool
knows that. Quit the lies and the garbage. Predators are never good kills for meat. All native people from the lower 48 to here know that. Quit the lies. Either put up or shut up.
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.