Alaska Wolf and Bear Hunting Ban Ballot Measure Defeated
An Alaskan ballot initiative that would have prohibited shooting of a free-ranging wolf, wolverine, or grizzly bear from an airplane went down to defeat Aug. 26, 2008, with voters splitting 44.4% for the measure and 55.6% against (with 98% of precincts reporting).
Measure 2, the Alaska Wolf and Bear Protection Act, appeared on the statewide August 26 ballot in Alaska. It was promoted by Paul Fuhs, Bob Lynn, Victor H. Kohring of Alaskans for Wildlife, Friends of Animals, the Sierra Club, and the Alaska Wildlife Alliance with aid from the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.
The measure was opposed by Alaskans for Professional Wildlife Management, the Alaska Outdoor Council, the Alaska legislature, and Governor Sarah Palin.
Alaska Wildlife Alliance filed a complaint Aug. 14 with the Alaska Public Offices Commission alleging that the state is illegally trying to influence the outcome of Measure 2. “The timing and one-sided nature of the Palin administration’s propaganda are an illegal attempt to influence voters,” said John Toppenberg, the alliance’s director.
Tim Barry, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the Legislature did make an appropriation of $400,000 so that the Board of Game could educate and inform the public about the state’s intensive management program. He says the agency has not “been doing any campaigning or putting inserts in papers or making speeches about the issues.” [here]
Prior to the vote Wayne Regelin, former deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said if the ballot measure passes it means the end of a program, and along with it a “very important wildlife management tool that is used sparingly” in Alaska.
Donne Fleagle, a longtime McGrath resident who is married to former game board chairman Mike Fleagle, said the program has nothing to do with hunting. It is a game management tool that is helping people in rural Alaska put food on the table, she said. “We are seeing cows that are birthing twin calves now,” Fleagle said. “We are seeing a better survival rate for calves … It has helped our moose population. I don’t know how long people want to live on store-bought meat or could afford it,” she said. “I would hate to see village Alaska turn into a ghost town. This is the heart and soul of Alaska.”[here]
