GMU2 Wolf Harvest Quota Set at 45
October 12, 2018
ADF&G and the USFS currently manage wolves on Prince of Wales and associated islands, collectively known as GMU 2, for an annual harvest not to exceed the Guideline Harvest Level (GHL) in ADF&G regulation: 20 percent of the most recent unit-wide population estimate. Our primary goal for managing wolves in GMU 2 is to ensure a population that provides opportunity for a sustainable harvest. While legal harvest is only one of several factors influencing wolf numbers in GMU 2, it is the one under managers’ control.
Because dense forest cover makes estimating wolf numbers from aerial surveys impractical, ADF&G, with support from the USFS, estimates wolf abundance in GMU 2 using a DNA mark-recapture technique. In 2017, ADF&G used the same large, northcentral Prince of Wales Island study area as in 2014-2016. ADF&G also collaborated with the Hydaburg Cooperative Association (HCA) to establish an additional study area, monitored by HCA staff, adjacent to the southern boundary of the original study area. This collaboration effectively expanded the study area to approximately 80% of Prince of Wales Island and over 60% of the land area of GMU 2. Data collected from October through December 2017 resulted in a GMU 2-wide population estimate of 225 wolves, with high confidence that the actual number of wolves in GMU 2 prior to the autumn 2017 hunting and trapping seasons was within the range, 198 to 264 wolves. This is the most current population estimate. Results of the autumn 2017 survey were similar to those of the autumn 2016 survey, suggesting the rapid population growth from 2015 to 2016 has stabilized. ADF&G and the USFS attribute growth of the population to conservative harvest management since 2015. Based on documented growth of the population since 2014 and the most recent population estimate, the RY2018 GMU 2 harvest quota was set at 45 wolves, the maximum allowed by current regulation. Also, as in previous years, substantiated accounts of unreported, human-caused mortality will be counted toward the harvest quota. Now that the wolf population has grown and appears stable in GMU 2, the January 2019 Alaska Board of Game meeting in Petersburg affords an opportunity to change how GMU 2 wolves are managed. Two proposals to change Unit 2 wolf harvest management have been submitted, including one by ADF&G (Proposal 43). This proposal asks the Board to establish a population objective range for GMU 2 wolves and to allow ADF&G to manage harvest to maintain the population within that range. Proposals affecting the Southeast Region can be viewed on the ADF&G Board’s website at; http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=gameboard.proposalbook. The GMU 2 wolf hunting and trapping seasons for Federally-qualified subsistence users on Federal lands open on Sept. 1 and Nov. 15, respectively. State wolf hunting and trapping seasons in GMU 2 open on Dec. 1. The length of the state seasons will depend on the number of wolves taken during the Federal hunting and trapping seasons prior to Dec. 1. The State and Federal seasons will be closed when managers believe harvest is approaching 45 wolves.
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Editing by Mary Kauffman, SitNews
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