AK SJR25

Urges Congress to reject S. 1535 and H.R. 3381, the Protect America's Wildlife Act of 2009, which would restrict aerial hunting to federal and state wildlife agency employees only.

States the proposed federal legislation would inhibit Alaska's ability to use civilian contractors in aerial predator control programs, specifically for managing wolf populations.

Notes Alaska's aerial wolf control program increased southern Alaska Peninsula caribou herd calf survival from less than 1 percent to 40 percent, raising herd numbers from 500 to 700-750.

Asserts intensive wolf and bear management occurs on less than 10 percent of Alaska's land and is based on peer-reviewed science, with hunters harvesting only 4-5 percent of moose and caribou while predation accounts for 70-80 percent of deaths.

Contends wildlife management decisions are best made by individual states under the Tenth Amendment rather than by the federal government.