The article doesn’t go into any detail regarding the government agency that deals with this and that is the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Those are the people who determine the need for thinning the wolf population. Any debate regarding this should involve this department’s views and research. None of it was presented.
This isn’t an article, it’s an election year hit-piece by a liberal magazine.
Just think though, the sunkiller bomb would be a pretty great way to break up with your girlfriend.
Actually it is a real dangerous thing for the hunters to do if they have a pilot that is not real good at low level flying… If the pilot is trying to shoot also, the odds go way up for death for the humans…
The wolves of Alaska do not stay much in the wide open so the flying is mostly done in areas where a short lapse of attention ruins the airplane and those in it.
Also if you get too low and close the wolf or coyote can bring you down. When the animals get
really panicked and you are buzzing him close, he, thinking you are some monster bird of prey, will in desperation, attack and that means jumping at the plane. A 100 # wolf hitting the gear leg of a slow flying Cessna 172 or a Piper Super Cub is way more than enough to rip the gear off and knock you out of the air…
Hunting from small planes is way dangerous…
Science isn’t a matter of being liberal or conservative. And Palin ignores the pleas of scientists. 172 of them. It’s in the article.
Even wolf lovers such as myself understand that a balance needs to be maintained and that balance sometimes requires culling. According to this article, Palin does not understand or concern herself with the science of that balance.
Shallow as a saucer.
Shooting wolves from planes? Well, if you say so, but where are you going to get a cannon large enough that will fit on an airplane? 
Shooting wolves at people from a plane would be even more awesome.
Hmmm, no references to The Thing, or nuking them from orbit. Yet.
I say we take off and nuke the… oh.
Oh.
Well that’s bolloxed it up then.
It would be if I was the pilot. ( steep bank left Oh, sorry Mrs Palin. )
If there is a need to keep the population in check, and so long as they don’t drive populations too low to be sustainable, i see no issues. I’m not one to deliberately wound an animal, but it happens. Nature doesn’t care.
Oh, and picking them off from the air is perfectly natural? I guess there must be some big eagles around those parts… carrying big-assed rifles. Palin could at least have the decency to hunt these creatures using eco-friendly traditional methods, but no, convenience is far more important.
So the reason to kill wolves is to protect deer/moose is so that hunters can kill them?
Sounds like Sarah Palin could be great mates with the “scientific” whale killing mob.
(Bolding mine)
Yes, friend Zoe, the article does state that 172 scientists petitioned Palin. Are these 172 scientists molecular biologists, astrophysicists or perhaps nuclear engineers? Conveniently, the article doesn’t go into detail.
The scientists whose job it is to evaluate wolf population, the Alaska Fish and Game Commission scientists, have determined that population control is needed. They did this long before Palin was governor, and they will in all likelihood continue to recommend population reduction long after Palin is no longer the governor.
As Magiver stated above: “This isn’t an article, it’s an election year hit-piece by a liberal magazine.”
The AC-130 “Spectre” gunshiphas several cannons mounted on it, notably a 40mm Bofors gun and a 105mm howitzer…
The only way I’d support shooting wolves from planes is if the aircraft were WWI or WWII era fighters and “shooting” meant using wing or fuselage-mounted machine-guns to strafe them.
Trying to hit a wolf-sized target from 500 feet in the air, firing a rifle from an aircraft which is flying at 200km/h? The chances of not making a clean kill of the animal are far too high for my liking.
Helicopters are a different matter entirely, though. I’ve got not problem with helicopter hunting, and would like to try hunting wild pigs or deer from a chopper one day…
I have no problem with the hunting of wolves, as long as it’s done humanely, use enough gun, hollowpoint ammunition, and try for a one-shot kill, if you wound the animal, it becomes your responsibility to track it and dispatch it as humanely as possible, needless suffering is to be avoided
hunting from a plane, sorry, doesn’t pass the humane test so it’s unacceptable
You can read the letter here; it was sent to Governor Palin in 2007. Most of the scientists appear to be in relevant fields and their objections to the current policy have scientific bases. They aren’t being sentimental, but believe the most recently enacted predator control policies would unfavorably affect both predator & ungulate populations. (The wolves & bear compete with sport hunters; livestock protection is not an issue.)
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game is run by a Commissioner. Denby Lloyd is the most recent appointee. Guess who appointed him!
Yes and no. Palin has allowed it to continue, based upon recommendations from AF&G. There have been citizen ballot initiatives over the years to prevent aerial wolf hunting, but after the mandatory waiting time the State has just ignored them and gone back to the practice. The latest initiative of this sort just went down in flames in the August primary election.
My objection to this practice is that it is done solely for the benefit of moose/caribou hunters. The Board of Fish and Game is staffed with hunters, which is like having foxes determining whether or not the chicken coop should be locked. Hunters feel they should not have to compete with wolves for game, apparently.
How about shooting wolves at coyotes while flying on the back of a person?
That’s nice but this letter came from a couple of wildlife photographers and it was directed at the Governor and not the appropriate agency. It lacks credibility.
My family lived in Alaska a short time and it it hard to underestimate the popularity of hunting up there. Because food can be very expensive, many people use hunting to supplement their family’s groceries. Eskimos were especially into moose hunting in the area we lived. The state government places the concerns of hunters very high on its agenda.
. . . is exactly the image I had in my mind when I saw the thread’s subject. 