Palin and the Wolves

Deep in Alaska's interior, Fortymile Country is what you visualize when you think of the nation's 49th state: rugged, cold and heartbreakingly lonely, a feeling heightened by the occasional howl of a wolf. But there was another sound in the area last weekend: the whir of a helicopter, carrying a steady-handed state employee looking to target those wolves in the sights of his 12-gauge shotgun. This time the hunters came back empty-handed, but last month they killed 84 wolves in the area.

Alaska's controversial program, designed to cull the state's wolf population, captured America's attention last year when detractors gleefully hung it around vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's neck as an example of, well, something. Unsportsmanlike conduct? Unladylike behavior? A taste for blood? No matter—the criticism gave Palin supporters another reason to shout "attagirl" to "give 'em hell" Sarah. What do urban and suburban folks in the lower 48 states know about life in the wilderness, anyway? Michael Goldfarb, Sen. John McCain's former campaign spokesperson, went so far as to call the program "political gold" for the plucky VP candidate.

As the punditocracy chatters about a possible 2012 Palin presidential bid, the annual aerial hunt is likely to keep its wings. But behind the political whirligig is a complex conservation debate that has split Alaskans, hunters, scientists and the state and federal governments—since long before Palin came onto the scene.

At the top of the food chain, humans and wolves have a historical adversarial relationship. In Alaska, both compete for caribou and moose, which the state says gray wolves are depleting. The state says it is home to roughly 800,000 caribou, 200,000 moose and between 7,000 and 11,000 wolves—more than the entire continental U.S., which has a total of about 6,000 wolves. For the past five years, Alaska has had a fairly intensive predator-control program in six areas that make up about 9 percent of the state, mostly involving private hunters and small planes. The program has killed fewer than 300 wolves a year, and though the target this year was 460, state officials expect to again get only about 300. Private trappers and hunters take another 1,100 or so wolves annually.

When Alaska first joined the union, the federal government paid bounties in a failed effort to essentially wipe the animals out, and shooting from aircraft by private individuals goes back for decades. Today the state says it uses more scientific methods to manage all its wildlife. Under a state law enacted in 1994, the Alaska Board of Game (appointed by the governor) is required to "identify … important [wild] food sources for Alaskans, and to insure that these populations remain large enough to allow for adequate and sustained harvest." To protect wild game, the board can restrict hunting seasons, improve habitat and control predators (including wolves and bears).

A hunter who loves her moose-meat chili, Palin recently issued a statement in response to critics: "Alaskans depend on wildlife for food and cultural practices which can't be sustained when predators are allowed to decimate moose and caribou populations." Patrick Valkenburg, deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, says, "Sarah Palin is a realhero to the hunters." Alaska sells about 98,000 hunting licenses a year to its roughly 700,000 residents, but even some of those hunters believe the aerial wolf program is at best unsportsmanlike. (Another 14,000 out-of-state licenses are issued annually.) Some say it's a system designed to create overhunting. "The role of the hunter is grounded in conservation and stewardship and respect for the land and animals, not in extreme plans to 'grow more caribou' at any and all costs," says Mark Richards, from the Alaska chapter of a group called Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.

Some critics say the state is being far more aggressive under Palin, who took office in 2006. Vic Van Ballenberghe, a wildlife biologist and a former Board of Game member appointed by Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles, says Palin has "turned loose an army" against predators. The board also recently approved the killing of more than 900 bears in order to boost moose and caribou, and the gassing of orphaned wolf pups in their densafter the adults have been killed, claiming that it's more humane than leaving them to fend for themselves.