The Alaska Board of Game voted to allow trapping of the less than two dozen wolverines believed to remain in the entire 1,900 square miles of state Game Management Unit 14C, which includes portions of Chugach State Park. The reasoning, as eloquently put by board member Bob Bell, was that since wolverines are secretive and scarce and almost impossible to see in the wild, their value is nil, whereas they do have value for trappers. So, according to the board, speaking on behalf of the citizens of Alaska, the only worthwhile wolverine is a dead wolverine.
Trappers Association president Lynn Keogh, in the board questionnaire inquiring as to who is likely to suffer with the killing of the few remaining wolverines, summarily answered, "No one." Perhaps, however, there are some persons in this state who care about and value the idea that there are left, in the wild, a few creatures not beholden to people such as those who populate our Board of Game.
-- Crandon Randell / Anchorage | 
