U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski has inquired into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services’ plan to eliminate caribou from Adak that may be moving to another small Aleutian island.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided in April to send hunters to Kagalaska in an effort to prevent caribou from spreading as an invasive species.
She said in a face to face meeting with the service’s Director Dan Ashe she requested a report of how much tax payer money it would cost and was told it would be tens of thousands of dollars annually.
Sen. Murkowski: “I asked Mr. Ashe why they felt it was necessary to spend this money and he said well we just need to make sure that they’re not there and if they are there we need to remove them.”
Although the service agreed to send the taken caribou, which may or may not be on Kagalaska, to the people of Adak, Sen. Murkowski asked why they did not open up the island for those people to hunt.
Sen. Murkowski: “Why not contract out to the tribe? Why do we have to have federal employees come out from Anchorage and participate in this tax payer funded hunt?”
She said Director Ashe has agreed to reconsider those actions.