The Alaska We Envision

Questioning Our Stewardship of Alaska’s Wildlife

“I wonder how many Alaskans know right now what is happening in our backyard, the backyard that belongs to all Alaskans. Right now, men could possibly be on snowmachines gunning down entire packs of wolves with AR-15s. These men could be flying around in planes gunning them down in the deep snow. They could be shooting wolves from bait stations. They are hunting them on snowmachines in areas otherwise closed to motorized vehicle hunting, and they are sometimes doing the above mentioned slaughter within feet of the boundary of Denali National Park.

And you might be shocked to know, all this is completely and totally legal. So while the majority of Alaskans are taking pride in a state that boasts unspoiled wilderness and magnificent wildlife, the kind found collectively no where else on the planet, a small minority of Alaskan hunters and trappers are villainizing and slaughtering the very thing we hold dear and claim to revere. The very thing that fuels our tourist-based economy. This minority group of Alaskan hunters and trappers comprise the entire Alaska Board of Game, they make up a good deal of our Fish and Game Department. They make pretty much all the decisions that govern our wildlife, even though the Alaska Constitution says the conservation and utilization of our natural resources should be for the maximum benefit of the people.

This minority group of Alaskans are also the ones carrying the AR-15s, setting up baiting stations, gunning down our wildlife from the air and wiping out entire Denali Park wolf packs. It’s easy to dismiss what is going on in our backyard if it is out of sight and out of mind. But a picture, a picture speaks a thousand words, and a picture doesn’t lie. As stewards and shareholders of Alaska I urge you, as painful as it is, to view a photo taken recently of a jubilant wolf killer, which can be found online with a simple Google search.

And then I ask you, nonhunters and hunters alike, is this the Alaska you envision we live in? If the rest of the world saw this photo, could you honestly look the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come here to revere our wildlife with us in the face? Could you look your Lower 48 friends and family in the face? If the answer is no, you must act. Now is the time to change the tide and give Alaskans back our wildlife. Write your legislators, write the governor, support a wolf buffer zone around Denali National Park, demand a more unbiased and representative Board of Game and demand that the villainizing of wolves and the draconian intensive predator control programs in the state stop. Let’s be able to look the rest of the world in the face again and be proud, rather than disgraced, stewards of the Last Frontier.”

Juliette Boselli lives in Denali Park Source

Please take action for Denali National Park wolves, tap image above for more information. We will also have another action post up within a few days, please stay in touch.