The bear lovers are not going to stop. Bryan Reiley’s Aug. 16 commentary was the latest example of their efforts to badmouth the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s predator control programs. What was especially interesting about this commentary is that it was written by a former GMU 17 Area Biologist, responsible in part for managing the Mulchatna caribou herd. Supposedly, we were hearing from an expert.
Maybe not. Prior to moving to Alaska, Reiley worked in Arkansas, Arizona, New York and North Carolina, where one of his primary research subjects was black bears. He moved to Alaska in 2021, where he immediately became the GMU 17 area biologist. One year later, in 2022, he was replaced by a different biologist.
As another former Fish and Game wildlife biologist who spent many of his 25 years with ADF& G studying the population dynamics, behavior and habitat use of two Alaska caribou herds, I say that most of Reiley’s overall message is incorrect.
Fish and Game predator control programs have been in use since statehood. Such efforts have a proven record of fostering caribou, moose and Dall sheep population maintenance and growth. And at no time during such efforts has any associated predator population been endangered.
Lastly, note that managing all the predator and prey populations in a state the size of Alaska requires a huge amount of staff, equipment and time, which translates to huge amounts of money.
Fish and Game has had no choice but to prioritize its research on all kinds of questions, including calf survival, forage ecology, and the effects of disease. The information learned from such studies on one population can often be applied to the management of other populations of the same species. There are numerous wildlife questions that will continue to be addressed and studied as Fish and Game continues down the research road into Alaska’s future.
— Jim Lieb
Palmer
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