Wolf Buffers: A Brief History

Denali's Toklat and Margaret wolf packs have been among the most watched wild animals in the world. Efforts to protect these animals as they venture outside of Denali are not new, but have been especially newsworthy since 2000.

In March 2000, DCC urged the Alaska Board of Game to establish buffer zones in areas outside the park where the Toklat and Sanctuary wolf packs were known to range. Unable to decide whether to institute buffer zones, the BOG appointed a Citizens Advisory Committee to examine the issue and report back at their fall meeting. The members of this committee, Marty Carress, Carl Jack, George Matz, Justin Ripley, Kneeland Taylor, Mike Tinker and Lori Quackenbush (nonvoting member) met three times. Although overall consensus did not occur, members Matz, Taylor and Ripley came up with three recommendations.
First, that a controlled use area should be established to provide protection for the Toklat/East Fork and Sanctuary wolves similar to the one advocated by DCC in March 2000; second, that hunting of wolves should be prohibited in that area, and third, that targeting of wolves and coyotes by trappers within the controlled use area should be prohibited.

Map below shows the original wolf buffer adopted in November 2000 as the
smaller area just above the northern boundary of Denali National Park and Preserve.

In response to the Citizens Advisory report, the BOG established a small, nineteen square mile buffer zone at their November 2000 meeting. This buffer, within the Wolf Townships pictured at the left, came up for reconsideration at the March 2001 BOG meeting as Proposal 11, brought forth by the Department of Fish and Game. DCC commented in favor of this proposal (click here to view comments)

A larger map of lands included in the
wolf buffer zone in spring 2001 by Proposal 11

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Despite the fact that the Middle Nenana Fish and Game Advisory Committee opposed Proposal 11, it was adopted by the Board of Game at their May 2001 meeting in Fairbanks. This buffer, depicted above and to the right, remained in place until the Fall 2002 meeting of the Board of Game.

In Fall 2002, the Board if Game considered three proposals by the Alaska Wildlife Alliance to enlarge the Denali Wolf buffers. DCC again submitted comments. Proposal 53 was a continuation of the Toklat Buffer, with the addition of state lands north of the Stampede road up to the Denali Park boundary. Proposal 54 advocated increasing the size of the toklat buffer to include all lands in the Wolf Townships as far east as the Savage River. Proposal 55 advocated creating a buffer zone east of the park to include the range of the Mt. Margaret and Sanctuary wolf packs. To see a record of these decisions, click here.

DCC advocated for enlarging the toklat buffer as delineated in Proposal 54, but took no other positions on the wolf buffers (to see our comments, click here). After much consideration, the Board of Game adopted Proposal 53 and an amended Proposal 55 with the eastern boundary moved to the intertie line.

Existing wolf buffers adopted in spring 2002 - will they last ?

Proposals 156-159 could rescind buffers in 2004
The political realities during the administration of Governor Frank Murkowski are that intensive management for maximum sustained yield is the dominant precept for wildlife management on state lands adjacent to Denali. Predator control, not only of wolves but also more recently of bears, has become popular in other areas of the state.

The existing buffers may be rescinded at the Board of Game meeting in Fairbanks from Feb 26- March 10, 2004. Four separate proposals are under consideration that would accomplish this goals, Proposals 156-159. To read the text of these proposals go the the Proposal Booklet at the link below. To visit the Denali Citizens Council comments to the Board of Game, click here.

The National Park Service position on wolf buffers has always been to state that wolves at Denali National Park are healthy, that packs replace lost members, most of whom are not lost because of human predation and that hunting and trapping buffers appears are not biologically necessary.

The Mid Nenana River Fish and Game Advisory Committee met January 30 and February 6, 2004 in Healy at the Tri Valley Community Center to discuss the Board of Game proposal book recently published.

The Committee heard public comments from DCC President Nancy Bale and Community Organizer Sue Deyoe, detailing results of a survey on the Wolf Buffer Zones currently in place in the Stampede and railbelt areas next the Park boundary. Survey results revealed that DCC members and local residents supported the wolf buffers as established. The buffers remain controversial and at present there is a proposal from the Middle Nenana Committee, the Fairbanks Advisory Committee, the Mat-Su Advisory Committee and the Alaska Trappers Association advocating their removal. The Committee will consider those proposals next week.

On January 30th the Middle Nenana Advisory Committee reconsidered Proposal 172, a No Trapping Zone proposal for McKinley Village, and voted not to endorse this proposal to the Board of Game, in light of an appeal from a local trapper. No other proposals were discussed on this evening. To read statewide proposals, log on to http://www.boards.adfg.state.ak.us/gameinfo/meetinfo/gprop.php. Proposals for Game Management Units 20A and 20C, the purview of the Mid-Nenana Committee, are listed under the Fairbanks link.

The Committee also heard a report on Unit 20A from Biologist Don Young. It was his finding that moose numbers in Game Management Unit 20A are greater than ideal, as evidenced by the condition of their browse. In addition, the observed ratio of bulls to cows is too low. Young asserted that maximum moose harvest in Unit 20A and a re-balancing of the cow-bull ratio could be achieved by a harvest consisting of 60% bulls, 20% cows and 20% calves next season. On February 6th, the Committee approved Proposal 124, which would establish this antlerless hunt, although members of the committee were reluctant to authorize antlerless hunts, especially for calves.

Spring 2004 - Board of Game retains wolf buffers
The Board of Game, reaching the end of its spring deliberations, decided to retain the wolf buffers just outside Denali National Park. The buffers will look like the map above, except that the area east of the Denali Park with be decreased in size. When a map becomes available, we will post it. To read the article in the Anchorage Daily News, click here.