Wolf control in Alaska: The 1997 National Research Council Report

Todd K. Fuller, Department of Natural Resources Conservation, University of Massachusetts, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003-4210, USA

In July 1996, at the request of the Governor of Alaska, the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences established the committee on the Management of Wolf and Bear Populations in Alaska. As one of thirteen Committee members, I helped prepare a report (National Research Council 1997) intended to provide advice on the ways that scientific, socioeconomic, and decision-making data can best be used to assist managers to make wise decisions regarding the management of large mammals in Alaska. The Committee held four meetings between September 1996 and March 1997, including forums in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and three native villages, and solicited input from a wide variety of organizations and individuals. The Committee assembled, analyzed, and interpreted existing scientific literature on the dynamic relationships among wolves, bears, and their prey, and on control and management programs in Alaska and other high latitude regions. The Committee also analyzed all available information on the economic values of consumptive and non-consumptive use of the focal species, together with data on public attitudes towards predators, their prey, and the goals and methods employed in predator management and control efforts. Nine conclusions and seven recommendations on biological issues were reported, as were eight conclusions and seven recommendations on economic aspects of predator management.