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.   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.  In 2007, the Board of Game made a very unpopular decision to open the park to wolverine trapping. 

Due to public concerns of safety and at the advice of Department of Natural Resources and Fish and Game, the Board,during the spring 2009 Board of Game meetings held in Anchorage, reluctantly made the decision to close wolverine trapping in the Chugach State Park Management Area in Unit 14C.

It is now prohibited to use body gripping traps 7 inches or greater within the park.  A person using traps or snares in the area must register with the Department of Natural Resources Chugach State Park area office and provide trapper identification; all traps and snares in the area must be marked with the selected identification; the use of traps or snares is prohibited within:

(i) 50 yards of developed trails;

(ii) one-quarter mile of trailheads, campgrounds, and other developed areas;

(iii) one-quarter mile of “permanent dwellings”

The Board went against recommendations to close trapping within a one-quarter mile buffer along the Seward Highway, milepost 90-115, and also lengthened the season against the advice of Fish and Game biologists who are concerned about the high level of harvest in Unit 14C.

 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