[The following editorial appears in New Blood #14 and Wavedancers #2. --MK]
Have you had occasion to watch the 1956 science fiction movie Forbidden Planet recently? Considering when it was made, and given the general level of s-f films from that era, it's an amazing piece of work, and still enjoyable three and a half decades later. (Two points if you know what Shakespeare play it was modeled after.)
One of the spookiest scenes in the movie, for my money, occurs just after the invisible ID monster's first fatal attack on the spacers' camp. The captain gets the news, he and the ship's doctor leave Dr. Morbius' library and then Morbius, with eerie water-drop electronic music in the background, says, "It's started again." You don't then know what "it" is, but from the stricken look on Morbius's face, you know it's bad.
In the October 1993 issue of Dog Fancy magazine (thanks to ELFQUEST reader Anita Morezzi of Flushing, New York for sending this to my attention) there is an article headlined "Breaking Its Promise, Alaska Orders Wolf Hunt."
It's started again.
Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last fifteen years, you know that here at Warp Graphics we are dedicated supporters of any movement or legislation that allows wolves and humans to coexist in harmony and dignity. We don't consider ourselves bleeding-heart tree-huggers, nor do we buy for one second the sometimes hysterical arguments that, left unchecked, wolves will overrun field and farm and put the cattle ranchers out of business.
But we do hate duplicity, and it looks like the State of Alaska, aided and abetted by the United States House of Representatives, has dealt from the bottom of the deck once more.
The Dog Fancy article is written by Betsy Sikora Siino, and leads off as follows:
"FREE MEAT!
"As a member of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, we thought that would get your attention.
"So began a House of Representatives memo that was intercepted this summer by a prominent animal welfare organization. And just what is the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus? It is a little-publicized group of 158 members of Congress who are in favor of weakening the Endangered Species Act, lifting the ban on hunting in national parks and controlling Alaska's wolves through mass slaughter."
According to the article, certain members of the Alaska state government are of the opinion that there are too many wolves, which threatens the viability of caribou and moose populations (an argument, by the way, which has never been shown to be valid). You may recall that just about a year ago there was a similar move on Alaska's part to "control" the wolf population, allegedly to provide tourists with more dramatic views of caribou herds for those Kodak moments. When word of this "lupicide" got out, there followed a broad-based tourism boycott, and the state changed its mind, promising no wolf hunt this year. Then, in June, when tourists' plans were generally locked in - badda boom, badda bing! - the state reissued the wolf hunt plan and Alaska's Board of Game hastily approved it. Some of the plan's features:
- 150 wolves in an area south of Fairbanks are to be killed (unfortunately, will already have been killed by the time you read this) by hunters who may use aircraft - which, by the way, violates the federal Airborne Hunting Act.
- A reinstatement of hunting of wolves in other parts of the state.
- An extension of the wolf trapping season.
- The refusal to approve a 10-mile no-hunting zone around Denali National Park.
"In other words," the article states, "Alaska has declared all-out war on the wolf, and it is doing so with the blessings of a powerful caucus in the United States Congress."
It's started again. But just as there was a countermeasure to the ID monster in Forbidden Planet, there are things that you can do to derail this ill-considered and selfish move on the part of those who would silence the cry of the wolf. It will take some effort, but the good works always do.
- House of Representatives Bill HR-1391 calls for a strengthening of the federal Airborne Hunting Act. Get on the stick and write to your elected Congresspeople. Tell them you support this Bill. (By the way, when you do write, ask whether or not your elected officials are members of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus. If they are, let them know how you feel about what they're doing.)
- Write to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt (1849 C Street N.W., Washington, DC 20240) and Bureau of Land Management director Jim Baca (18th & C Streets N.W., Washington, DC 20240) and let these gentlemen know where you stand on the issue of wolves and humans and coexistence.
- Alaska Governor Walter J. Hickel (P.O. Box 110001, Juneau, AK 99811-0001), Alaska Wildlife Conservation Director David Kelleyhouse (P.O. Box 25526, Juneau, AK 99802-5526) and Alaska Director of Tourism Conn Murrey (P.O. Box 110801, Juneau, AK 99811-0801) would all love to hear from you. Let them know, politely and firmly, how you feel. Heck, as far as we're concerned, feel free to photocopy appropriate pages from ELFQUEST to bolster your arguments. It's the Way!
Let's face it. It can be an unfair world, especially where politics and money mingle. The wolf hunters have a powerful congressional caucus and the cojones to make light of the issue by offering "free meat." But our side has numbers - and as far as we're concerned, one hell of a lot more spirit. It's up to all of us to make those numbers - and the votes and tourism dollars they represent - known.
Richard A Pini