John Schandelmeier should observe Alaska game managers with a sharper eye ("Does Alaska have a board of games?" 6-3). So what if Ahtna Natives got 30 extra moose without going through the "process." That's poetic justice since Alaska's wildlife is unconstitutionally managed for recreational over-hunting. The system is rigged to favor game guides and the recreational wildlife-killing industries. "Subsistence" is just a game management slogan to fool naïve Alaskans.
The "process" is not "open;" is hardly "a delicate mix of biology and allocation;" and the jiggered "regulations" are not always "adhered to under all circumstances" anyway.
Vic Van Ballenberghe ("Alaska's predator control programs are neither ethical nor sensible" — ADN 4-19) attempted to jog Mr. Schandelmeier from his timid view that Alaska's predator-killing rampage is "sensible." Slaughtering wolves and bears in Alaska serves to blame game shortages on wild predators; reassures hunters the state is "doing something;" and, as Mr. Ballenberghe (an actual wildlife biologist) says, is "neither ethical nor sensible." The slogan is: "It's working!" So where is the promised "abundance …"?
— Rudy Wittshirk
Willow