Oct 2, 2008 9:29 am US/Central
Ad Attacks Palin On Alaska Wolf Culling
DENVER (CBS) ―
The new attack ad by Defenders of Wildlife is graphic, visceral and disturbing. It's critical of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin for her support of a controversial predator control policy in Alaska that targets wolves.
The ad states: The more voters hear about Sarah Palin, the less there is to like. As Alaska governor, Sarah Palin actively promotes the vicious aerial killing of wolves. With no chance to escape, riddled with gunshots, it's a brutal death. The basic claim is true. Palin continued the policies of her predecessor in the governor's office that allowed aerial shooting of wolves for purposes of predator control. Here's how it works. If the Alaska Department of Fish and Game determines that moose and caribou populations are being overly preyed upon by wolves, in areas where people rely on those herds for food, the state can issue permits for private pilots to go out and shoot wolves from small airplanes. State wildlife officials acknowledge there's no fair chase involved. The wolf typically doesn't have much chance of escape once it's been targeted from the sky.
Nevertheless, the state considers aerial culling an important tool for protecting the viability of the game herds for human subsistence. However, some biologists who study wolves disagree with the state's premise that wolves impact rural subsistence in Alaska. The practice of aerial shooting remains controversial even in the hunter friendly state.
In defense of the practice, state officials correctly point out that Alaska maintains a healthy wolf population of between 7,000 and 11,000 animals. The state insists it is committed to the long term viability of wolves in Alaska. Moreover, wildlife officials say state biologists closely analyze the impacted caribou and moose herds before limited scope wolf killings are permitted.
Ad: and Palin even proposed a $150 bounty for each severed foreleg
This claim is true. In 2007 the state was behind in the number of wolves it thought it needed to cull in order to protect the herds, so Palin proposed a temporary bounty of $150 for each wolf killed. A court later blocked enactment of the policy because it violated a state law banning wildlife bounties.
But it's not the whole story. Environmental groups contend the rationale for killing wolves is based on suspect science. Defenders of Wildlife produced a list of scientists and conservationists who are highly critical of Alaska's policy. They believe the Department of Fish and Game should conduct a comprehensive study on the causes of declining game herds before it continues culling wolves. In response to that charge, state game officials said they approve wolf culling only as a last resort, after other remedial measures have failed to protect the game herds. One state biologist I spoke with explained that, despite the contentions of critics, the decision to cull wolves is grounded in well established science.
Ad: Do we really want a vice president who champions such savagery Bottom line. It's a difficult ad to watch. While the central claims are true, the ad leaves out important context. The commercial is largely critical of a policy that the people and legislature of Alaska have supported for years.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
