Fight Continues for Alaska's Wolves
2007: Alaska's wolf predator-control season closed April 30 with 97 gray wolves killed from the air. An additional 78 were killed by ground-based hunting and trapping. This is far fewer than the 664 wolves the Alaska Department of Fish and Game had hoped to kill this year.
Most likely this is because the agency overestimated the original wolf population, says Tom Banks, Defenders' Alaska representative.
In spring, Defenders successfully challenged a wolf bounty program initiated by Gov. Sarah Palin, which encouraged aerial gunners to kill more wolves by paying them $150 for each one they killed.
An avid hunter, and member of the NRA, Gov. Palin was very much in favor of this program. However, the program was struck down by a state Superior Court judge after only a few days.
Based upon an article in Defenders Magazine, Summer 2007
