Hunting and Trapping Season Proposed Despite Precarious Alexander Archipelago Wolf Status

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) and the U.S. Forest Service announced their intention today that the 2020-2021 hunting and trapping season for the Alexander Archipelago wolf be reduced but still proceed, despite the uncertain future of the wolf.

ADFG released a fall 2019 population estimate of 316 wolves on Prince of Wales and surrounding islands in the Tongass National Forest. Not surprisingly, that estimate confirms that the unprecedented 165 wolves recorded as legally taken from this vulnerable population in two months during winter 2019-2020 represented an unsustainably high level of mortality – over 50% of the population now estimated to have existed at the beginning of that hunting and trapping season. The agencies now propose a 16-day trapping season and 30-day hunting season next month with no limit on the number of wolves that can be killed.

The agency is holding a public meeting on Thursday and provided this information:

The meetings will be held telephonically on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. The public meeting will be held from 6- 7 p.m. to provide the opportunity for the public to share information and interact with managers. A public hearing will immediately follow from 7-8 p.m. where the public can provide testimony. Participants may dial 888-566-1030 and enter the passcode 3344290.

Nicole Whittington-Evans, Alaska program director, Defenders of Wildlife, issued the following statement: 

“Last season’s mortality was a preventable tragedy, and now the agencies are proposing a hunting and trapping season with no quota that could again result in unsustainable mortality for these wolves. We call on the agencies to eliminate this risk for the upcoming season. We further call on the Forest Service to make a long-term commitment to landscape-level wolf conservation on the Tongass by protecting our old-growth forests, expanding wolf den buffers, and managing habitat for deer, among many other actions.”

Background:

Interagency Wolf Habitat Management Program

In 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its Interagency Wolf Habitat Management Program: Recommendations for Game Management Unit 2 plan. Among other commitments, the U.S. Forest Service defined steps to protect and improve habitat for wolves and deer, including increasing den buffer size, permanently protecting dens (both inactive and active dens) and ensuring those buffers are not slated for additional old-growth logging.

Alexander Archipelago Wolves in Trouble

• A March 5, 2020 announcement from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) reported that 165 wolves out of an estimated population of 170 (as of fall 2018) were legally trapped during the 2019-2020 season in the game management unit that includes Prince of Wales and surrounding islands. This record number of killings is in addition to any illegal killing, which is known to have been significant in the past. 
• In April 2020, conservation groups called on the agency to implement its 2017 Wolf Habitat Management Program, which was developed specifically to protect this vulnerable population.
• In July 2020, Defenders of Wildlife and other conservation groups petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to give Endangered Species Act protections to the Alexander Archipelago wolf.
• In September 2020, Defenders of Wildlife and other groups sent a letter to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game highlighting the shortcomings of its wolf harvest management strategy and urging it to close hunting and trapping seasons for wolves on Prince of Wales Island because of the record number of wolves killed in the 2019 season.
• Last week Defenders of Wildlife sent a letter to the Tongass National Forest Supervisor Earl Stewart requesting that the Forest Service prohibit hunting or trapping of wolves on Prince of Wales and surrounding islands for the 2020-2021 season. Additionally, Defenders called on the Forest Service to implement its Wolf Habitat Management Program as mandated by the Tongass Forest Plan. That Wolf Program sets forth a number of actions for the Forest Service to take to ensure the sustainability of the population.