Alaska's Wildlife

Support a Balanced Approach to Wildlife Management

Wolverines and Trapping in the Chugach State Park

Wolverines are a source of intrigue and mystery.  Wolverines make their living by being wide-ranging, predatory scavengers. The home range used by a single wolverine can be anywhere between 30 and 250 square miles.

They are extremely rare in the lower 48 states, and have disappeared entirely in many of their previous ranges due to habitat disruption and fragmentation.  They also have become the victims of secondary poisoning in areas where poison was used to kill wolves and other predators. Wolverines are a wilderness-dependent species. When we disturb a wild area, wolverines are often the first animals to disappear.  Almost any human activity, especially winter recreation, in wild, remote areas, can have an impact on wolverine populations.

In Alaska, we are blessed with an abundance of wildlife.  We also enjoy vast tracts of wilderness where, if we are lucky, we might witness a rare wolverine.  Just a short drive from downtown Anchorage lies Game Management Unit #14C, which includes the Chugach State Park.  According to the latest aerial surveys up to 18 wolverines range in Unit 14C.

 From 1973-2007, wolverines were protected from trapping within Chugach State Park.  Last year, the Board of Game made a very unpopular decision to open the park to wolverine trapping.  Over one hundred citizens attended a public meeting to protest this decision, and the Chugach State Park Advisory Board recommended that the Board reconsider their decision due to the public safety issues.  The Board refused to reconsider their decision.

For the second year in a row, from December 15^th – January 31^st , trappers will be allowed to trap for wolverines (as well as other mammals), inside Chugach State Park using large traps called Conibears.  As a result of several dogs being trapped last year, new regulations require traps to be set, at minimum, 50 yards from developed trails, ¼ mile from trailheads, campgrounds and other developments and no traps shall be set within ¼ mile of the Seward Highway from milepost 90-115.  Additionally, all trappers must register with the park and mark all traps with an identifying ID number.  Still, we recommend that people use caution when out enjoying wintertime activities in the park.

This decision by the Alaska Board of Game to allow the trapping of wolverines within the Chugach State Park is deeply troubling for several reasons.  State biologists who testified at the hearings warned the Board that the wolverine population in this game management unit cannot sustain this amount of additional harvest. The recommendations by State biologists went unheeded, in order to benefit a few trappers.  Wolverines used to be widely distributed across most of the arctic and sub-arctic regions in North America and Canada, but have largely disappeared. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s website claims that “The continued health of wolverine populations in Alaska is best assured by both protecting large expanses of wilderness and preventing overharvest”. 

The Chugach State Park is a popular destination for hikers and skiers, who far outnumber trappers who are utilizing this area.  Bird Creek, Indian and Peters Creek watersheds all lie within a 20 minute drive of Anchorage, the State’s most populous city.  It is not safe or appropriate to allow baited traps of a size that can readily kill dogs, who, incidentally are allowed to accompany their people without a leash in these areas. Last winter, in unit 14C, a total of four wolverines and five dogs were trapped.   One pet was killed by a Conibear 330 in the Chugach State Park, ten feet from an established trail. 

Though the state parks division does not have the authority to manage Alaska’s fish and game, it is responsible for overseeing public safety issues within the park.  Wolverines are targeted by trappers using large traps called Conibear-330s.  These powerful traps can suffocate a large animal in less than a minute, and are extremely difficult to disarm.   Alaska Center for the Environment is advocating for a trap-free zone where citizens can recreate safely without fear of their pets getting caught in a trap.

The other issue that bears mentioning here is the Board of Game itself.  Since this Board is making decisions about a resource that is technically for all Alaskans to enjoy, then it is time to balance it out to include a nonconsumptive wildlife perspective.  Alaska Statute 16.05.221(b) requires diverse interests and points of view to be represented on the Board of Game.  If your viewpoints are not being represented by this board, please let Governor Palin know by calling her in Anchorage at 269-7450 or in Juneau at 465-3500.  She can be reached by e-mail by going to this link:  http://gov.state.ak.us/govmailSP.php

For more information about wolverines themselves, please go to the following links:

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/new/meso/wolverine.html

http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/furbear/wolverin.php

Biologists say wolverine trapping numbers not sustainable

(Published May 15, 2008)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — State biologists are worried about the number of wolverines being legally trapped in Chugach State Park.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists say harvest numbers are too high for the population in the state park to be sustainable.

There are an estimated 18 wolverines in the park. Four were trapped last year. Six wolverines were taken the previous winter.

Biologists say that amounts to an average annual harvest rate the past two winters of about 23 percent - three times what is thought to be sustainable.

Biologists have new counting techniques that enabled them to get more accurate numbers on wolverines living in the Chugach Mountains. A mid-April aerial Fish and Game survey estimated 18 wolverines were in the mountainous area between the Knik River and Portage Creek.

That translates to a population density of 12.7 wolverines per 1,000 square miles, similar to wolverine density in more remote parts of Alaska.

Because of the slow reproductive rates of the animals, biologists believe a sustainable harvest rate is 7 percent to 8 percent, or one to two wolverines per season.

Howard Golden, Fish and Game's regional furbearer biologist, said also troubling is that trappers in the Chugach took more female than male wolverines. Eight of the 10 animals trapped in the past two winters have been females.

Wolverine trapping in the park was approved by the Board of Game. The state agency could recommend that the game board close the short trapping season.