Alaska's Wild Game is Farmed for Benefit of Outside Hunters

In Ann R. Whipple's letter ("To those in Alaska's Bush, wild meat is worth protecting," Sept. 25) she made the case that predator control should be OK in Alaska because ranchers and farmers in the Lower 48 practice it. She then asked if there were any questions. Well, I have one. When did we start farming our wildlife in Alaska?

In the past year under intensive management 259 wolves and 89 bears have been killed in their natural habitat in the wilds of Alaska, not raiding Farmer John's hen house. Because the Department of Fish and Game would rather not have you see the graphic depiction of this slaughter they will not release these photos for publication.

Now, Rod Arno tells us that because of predator control the department has been able to issue more of the higher-priced nonresident hunting permits bringing in increased revenue ("Predator-prey management benefits hunters from here, Outside," Sept. 23). So the department benefits financially from predator control. We are essentially game farming for the benefit of out-of-state trophy hunters. If the motivation behind this extreme measure was simply to feed subsistence hunters, these nonresidents would have been excluded.

-- Linda Donegan

Anchorage

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