Alaska defends aerial wolf hunting

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Alaska wildlife officials are urging members of Congress to think twice about voting for a bill that would virtually ban the hunting of wolves from the air.

The proposal introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., would require Alaska to declare a "biological emergency" and prove that a species was on the brink of collapse before allowing the controversial hunting practice.

Gov. Sarah Palin's run for vice president stirred up opposition to the practice, which game officials say is an effective means of managing wolf populations, the Anchorage Daily News said Monday.

But officials warned that an overabundance of wolves and bears in Alaska can cut into the moose and caribou populations, and that shooting predators from the air was an efficient means of keeping the numbers in balance.

"What this bill does is essentially makes it impossible for Alaska to manage wolf populations in any sort of responsible way," Pat Valkenburg, deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, told the Daily News. "We finally have a program that works and to end it because of the emotional feelings of uninformed people is just not a good idea."