Letters / Anchorage Daily News / April 9, 2009

It is very disturbing to read about how the Board of Game and the ADF&G are permitting the gassing of wolf pups in their dens. This procedure violates traditional Native knowledge and values.

My father, Keywehak Hendrickson, was a master subsistence provider for my family and community on Nunivak Island. His way was to respect all animals, especially those with young. He would be totally disgusted with using poison gas to kill wolves in the den.

Killing wolves is not the answer. Only the natural checks and balances found in nature will promote the long-term health and abundance of our big game populations.

Out-of-state trophy hunters compete for our limited food resources and drive the game from our villages. They target our breeder stock, which also has serious impacts on our wild game numbers.

We need more rural subsistence hunters on the Board of Game to protect the true subsistence hunter. To blame the wolf for the lack of meat in our villages is misleading the people of Alaska.

Gilbert Keywehak, Anchorage