FAIRBANKS (AP) \u2014 Alaska\u2019s Department of Fish and Game commissioner has rejected calls from petitioners critical of the state\u2019s predator control rules to change the hunting program.<\/p>\n
About 150 Alaska residents, including several former Board of Game members and former commissioner Frank Rue, signed a petition in August that was sent to Gov. Bill Walker. They sought to have Walker replace lethal predator control with nonlethal methods and advocated for a 5-mile buffer zone to protect wolves and bears around national parks and national wildlife refuges, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.<\/p>\n
Fish and Game Commissioner Sam Cotten issued a response to the petition Thursday, saying he wouldn\u2019t adopt the suggestions for Alaska\u2019s intensive management program. The program, put in place by a legislative mandate, involves the killing of bears and wolves to protect deer, moose and caribou populations that are important sources of food for Alaskans.<\/p>\n
Cotten disputed the petition\u2019s claims that the program is \u201cunscientific, unnecessary, ineffective, costly, unethical, inhumane, and controversial.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe predation control programs in place are supported by scientific evidence and biologists are always gathering more. If evidence shows a program ineffective, department biologists are the first to recommend ceasing it,\u201d Cotten said.<\/p>\n
Creating buffer zones to protect wolves and bears from hunting would hamper predator control efforts because federal conservation areas already cover a large percentage of Alaska, Cotten said. He also added that moving or sterilizing wolves instead of killing them would be ineffective and expensive.<\/p>\n
Lead petition signatory Rick Steiner said the group is \u201cexceptionally disappointed\u201d with Cotten\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FAIRBANKS (AP) \u2014 Alaska\u2019s Department of Fish and Game commissioner has rejected calls from petitioners critical of the state\u2019s predator control rules to change the hunting program. About 150 Alaska […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[216],"class_list":["post-15382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-state-government"],"yoast_head":"\n