Letters to the Editor

Letter: Predator control opponents may twist words and facts

On June 17, Johnny Johnson responded to my letter addressing Rep. Andy Josephson's letter castigating ADF&G for its predator control program in GMU 19A. Mr. Johnson apparently believes that large mammal ecosystems should not be managed by humans, but allowed to function completely on their own. I have no problem with him feeling this way.

The problem that I have is when "anti's" such as Mr. Johnson attempt to support their belief by claiming that predator-prey management cannot be good science, or by twisting the words of science such as Mr. Johnson does when he applauds the text "Where the Wild Things Were."

Recognizing the value of large predators is in no way a reasonable basis for claiming that Alaska's predator-prey programs are wrong. Alaska still has the vast majority of its wildlife habitat intact and, as a result, healthy predator and prey populations.

What Alaska also has is a constitution that does not allow the state to willingly allow populations to cycle drastically up and down as these surely would if not managed.

— Jim Lieb

Palmer

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