Wolf Shooting Ban Petition Certified On October 30, a petition sponsored by Alaskans for Wildlife--a panel of prominent Alaskans-- was certified by Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman. This action may allow Alaskans to once again vote on the issue of public aerial shooting of wolves and grizzly bears on next year’s ballot. Alaskan residents voted twice to ban public aerial wolf gunning; however, the state legislature overruled the ban in 2003 and reinstated the practice. Alaskans for Wildlife must now obtain 31,000 signatures in order for this initiative to be included on the November 2006 ballot. Adoption of this measure would limit aerial shooting to Department of Fish and Game personnel, and only then in cases of biological emergencies. To date, 423 wolves have been gunned down by shooters in aircraft. June 2005 Defenders of Wildlife The second season of aerial wolf gunning in Alaska ended this past spring. All told, 276 wolves were gunned down by shooters in aircraft in an effort to artificially boost moose and caribou populations for sport hunters. The Alaska Board of Game plans to allow aerial hunters to kill hundreds more wolves starting late fall, but thanks in part to Defenders' efforts, aerial wolf gunning will not be allowed on national park and national wildlife refuge lands in the state. The board also approved the baiting and killing of 80 grizzly bears along the Canadian border. ALASKA AERIAL WOLF KILL TOLL SURPASSES 200 Hundreds More Wolves Targeted as Aerial Killing Programs Continue March 4, 2005 Anchorage, AK – The death toll from Alaska’s aerial wolf killing program has reached at least 210, with hundreds more scheduled for elimination by April 30. Wolves are being shot directly from airplanes or being chased to exhaustion by aerial gunning teams, who then land and shoot the wolves point blank. The citizens of Alaska have twice voted in statewide measures (1996 and 2000) to ban the aerial killing of wolves. Nonetheless, Governor Murkowski signed a bill two years ago overturning the most recent ban. “It’s deplorable that Governor Murkowski continues to back the extermination of wolves in key areas across the state even though his so-called predator control programs lack scientifically-based standards and guidelines to monitor the program,” stated Karen Deatherage, Alaska Associate for Defenders of Wildlife. “Lower 48 and urban trophy hunters are clearly the only beneficiaries of the governor’s ill-advised policy.” So far, over a hundred aerial gunning teams have obtained permits from the state to kill wolves in five relatively wild and pristine areas of interior Alaska. Plans call for up to 610 wolves to be killed in these areas by late spring. The programs are expected to last for four to five years. Eighty grizzly bears, including sows and cubs, could also be killed this spring as part of the program. “These programs are the equivalent of short-sighted clear-cutting programs in our National Forests, only this time its wolves and bears instead of trees, in one of the few places in America where these animals still exist in natural, sustainable numbers,” says Deatherage. The objective of this year’s program is to kill 80-100 percent of the wolves in a 50,000 square mile area in an attempt to boost moose populations for hunters, despite the fact that insufficient data has been gathered on the number of wolves and moose in this area. Aerial gunners can kill males, females and even wolf pups as part of the program. Update on Alaska - 1/2005 The state of Alaska is in the tenth week of its aerial wolf gunning program and already 71 of the 610 wolves targeted this winter have been killed. According to Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulation 5AAC 92.125, seven aerial wolf killing programs have been approved with a goal to kill between 1,200 and 1,400 wolves. Permits have been issued to aerial gunning team to kill 610 of these wolves this winter. Recently, 16 more permits have been issued for a fifth area along the Canadian border near Tok, Alaska. There is a scientifically significant group of wolves in this area, which as a result of years of intense study and research using aircraft, are particularly vulnerable to aerial gunners. Though this group of wolves spends a majority of their time on the federally protected Yukon Charley Preserve, they leave the preserve in winter to follow the caribou herd, making them easy targets for aerial gunners. Terrible news from Alaska - 11/2004 Wittness Wolves being Slaughtered by Aerial Gunners The anti-conservation Board of Game has just voted to allow up to 900 wolves to be killed by the barbaric practice of aerial gunning. This is six times as many as were killed last winter. Easy targets against fallen snow, wolves can be gunned down from airplanes or chased to exhaustion, then shot at point blank range. Alaska Game Board Targets Grizzlies, More Wolves - 11/2004 In order to artificially boost numbers of moose and caribou for sport hunters, the Alaska Board of Game recently approved plans to kill 80 grizzly bears by allowing hunters to bait the bears with human food. Hunting grizzlies by baiting is currently illegal in Alaska. The Department of Fish and Game may also provide a "bounty" to grizzly bear hunters in this area, pending legislative approval this winter. In addition, the board approved expanding land-and-shoot wolf killing for two additional areas, where up to 400 wolves will be killed by aerial gunning teams. All six of Alaska's aerial wolf killing programs will target nearly 900 wolves this season. These deaths, coupled with legal hunting and trapping, will result in approximately 2,500 wolves, or one-third of the Alaska's total estimated wolf population, being killed this winter. Although the Board of Game attempted to include federal lands such as Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge in the wolf killing plan, efforts by Defenders and others helped ensure that these areas were excluded. For more information about wolves in Alaska, please visit http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/wolf/alaska.html. To take action, visit http://www.savealaskawolves.org/ Since January 2003, bloody paw tracks have spread across Alaska after Gov. Murkowski reinstated the state-sponsored aerial wolf "control" scheme. As many as 147 wolves in 2003 were chased down and shot or shotgunned from planes in Alaska. The wolf killing is in response to hunting groups wanting to up the Moose population. Murkowski being in the pockets of the hunting lobby, especially out of state hunters, he approved the aerial assisted killing which has not been used since the late 1980s. Alaskans voted in 1996 and again in 2000 to end all related same-day use of airplanes for public wolf hunting and trapping. In 2003 only 14% of Alaskans held hunting or trapping license. During this state-sponsored killing, the state issues permits to selected private pilots and their passengers who will then shotgun the wolves from the air after tracking them down in small, fixed-wing airplanes and helicopters. In some cases the aircraft will not be able to land to retrieve dead wolves and put dying wolves out of their misery. This will continue for at least 2-3 winters, to kill additional wolves as they enter the area. After this formal control effort ends, the state will continue indefinitely with de facto control, to be carried out by private ground trappers and hunters. I hate to show this site but in hopes that it will give you more information about what is happening to the wolves, I am listing this site. This will show you what happens and will demonstrate what the real truth is about predator control. The pictures are very disturbing - Wolf Hunting (this site use to have a page about wolf hunting with photos - he recently took it down. Maybe all the publicity and emails got to him. He does show a white wolf murdered by someone named Paul from Florida. Keep writing!). Also, look at all the bears killed. Look at the prices, you get free wolf kills and the tags are a third less than all the rest. And while you are there, let him know what you think about his wolf hunting. Petition signing is a great way to go but it just doesn't get the attention that a boycott of tourism will mean to Alaska. A boycott of Alaska will put the screws to the administration of Murkowski who is responsible for the wolf murder program. We need to send Murkowski letters, emails, faxes stating that we want be visiting Alaska until the wolf eradication program is stopped. The wolf "control program" ends April 30th for this season (just in time for the tourist season) but will start again in August. So far, 147 wolves have been killed. This summer is the time to let Markowski know that we can affect the tourist dollars spent in his state. It is time to boycott tourist agencies, to tell people not to go to Alaska, to let Alaskan tour operators know that you won't come until the killing stops. We can make an impact and try to get this stopped before the season starts again in August but now is the time. A number of web sites have been setup with petitions, and email addresses. Wolf Howl-Ins have taken place in many cities accross the U.S. as well as worldwide. Postcards are available to send in your comments. Advertisments are showing up in the New York Times and other papers. It is important that we act in any way we can to let the Governor know that we will not stand for the slaughter of wolves. Let your friends know - tell them not to go to Alaska until the shooting stops. Below are some of the sites with information online that y Thank you, Henry Patton paws@laughingwolf.com ou can go to and respond! I am not endorsing any of these sites, just passing on the information. If we work hard, we can stop the slaughter. Thank you, Henry Patton paws@laughingwolf.com				Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907.269.7460 Fax: 269.0263 Email: ltgovernor@ltgov.state.ak.us Alaska Game Board Email: wolfcomments@fishgame.state.ak.us Other People to Contact about Boycott Tell them you are not coming to Alaska until the killing stops! info@alaskatours.com editor@alaska.com Cruise Holidays reservations@alaska-wildland.com Robin Feder at Pricess Cruises Alaska Travel Industry Association Alaska Chamber of Commerce Commisioner of Fish and Game - Kevin C. Duffy Deputy Comm. of Wildlife - Wayne Regelin Comments at Wildlife Jim Marcotte - Acting Executive Director of Board of Game Web Sites: Help Save Alaska's Wolves Additional Information on Wolves Speak Up for Wolves Defenders of Wildlife Friends of Animals The Sanctum, Inc. The Petition Site What Aerial Hunting Looks Like Stop Aerial Slaughter Some photos of wolve hunters and their murders!