Court upholds predator control programs

Four years ago, Defenders of Wildlife and the Alaska Wildlife Alliance sued the state, contending that intense predator control of wolves and bears violated a section of the constitution requiring wildlife to be managed for sustained yield.

"We conclude that the (state game) board has both a constitutional and statutory duty to apply principles of sustained yield when it establishes predator control place," wrote Justice Morgan Christen in the decision. "But appellants did not meet their burden that the 2006 plans fail to comply."

The justices said sustained yield principles applied to prey, such as moose and caribou, as well as to predators, such as wolves and bears.

But the constitution permits the state "to give preference to populations of moose and caribou over populations of wolves and bears through the use of intensive management practices," Christen wrote on behalf of the court.

Crucial to the decision was a clause in the constitution stipulating that "wildlife ... shall be utilized, developed and maintained on the sustained yield principle, subject to preferences among beneficial uses."

Christen wrote that the "subject to preferences" qualifier "suggests that the legislature and the (state game) board have some discretion to establish management priorities for Alaska's wildlife."

At the same time, the court rejected the state Board of Game argument that applying the sustained-yield principle to wolf and bear populations in predator-control areas is discretionary and simply a matter of state policy.

"It is the board's constitutional and statutory duty to apply principles of sustained yield when it adopts predator control plans," Christen wrote. "This is not a policy question subject to the board's discretion."

Gov. Sean Parnell welcomed the ruling.

"This is an important ruling," Parnell said. "The court's ruling upholds the state's predator control programs as consistent with both the constitution and the law."

Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.