by National Park Service “law” enforcement for boat registration infractions.
On the previous handcuffing incident, the man’s name is Tim Henry. He was working on his boat which was on the Yukon River bank and he was with his wife and child. As many here in Alaska, he simply does not like the NPS and refused to talk to them. That means silence, ignoring, no name calling or profanity, nothing. In the same manner many Norwegians dealt with the German occupation forces.
He was cuffed in front of his family and left that way for HOURS, while the same rangers involved in the Wilde incident attempted to verify his identity. He was never charged or suspected for any crime or regulatory infraction.
Keep in mind the entire population of Eagle is approximately 150, Circle about 120 and they are about 150 river miles apart. Tim’s incident occurred about 60 miles downriver from Eagle. There are no other communities in between, and everyone KNOWS everyone.
The Wilde story is more dramatic. Jim’s wife was close to him in the boat, and by using a shotgun the ranger endangered her life as well as Jim’s. Although an LEO “law enforcement officer”, the ranger did not know what type (buck shot or slugs) of shells were in the shotgun. Consider the NPS boat was rolling in the water created by the disturbance from the two boats motion causing unsure footing for the ranger.
The Yukon is a very wide, fast and powerful river. The water is full of silt, and when overboard the tendency is for your clothes to fill with silt and drag you under. Fighting the current is impossible, and once under the surface it is impossible to see anything (logs, debris, human bodies, whatever).
Jim’s wife is a European Holocaust survivor, and when on the stand testified she dealt with the same type of mental trauma as during the Nazi occupation of her native country. Jim, who is elderly, was thrown to the muddy bank upon reaching the shore before being cuffed. He was hauled off to Circle, and his elderly wife and family friend were left at the Slaven’s Cabin for days with no boat or means to leave.
On the way to Circle, Jim had to navigate the NPS boat as the “rangers” were unfamiliar with the multitude of sloughs and backwaters that commence downriver as the Yukon enters the Yukon Flats region. They passed a boat on the bank and did not stop to aid the people who requested by waving at them. Apparently escorting their 71 year old “criminal” was too important than lending aid to boaters.
Another interesting fact is that the NPS boat jet unit equipped outboard exceeded the manufacturer?s recommendations. There is simply too much power for the frame and the NPS boat would not pass a Coast Guard inspection.
In Alaska the offense of an expired or lack of a boat registration is commonly around a $100 citation. The citation could simply have been dropped in the mail. I understand our Governor would rather the Alaska State Troopers deal with these types of infractions.
The fact that the NPS rangers were in Canada raises an interesting issue. NPS “LEOs” carry loaded sidearms, which is a serious criminal act upon entering Canada. They were not on official business, responding to a call for aid from Canadian authorities. This was an extracurricular tax payer money buying the fuel trip. Dawson City is about 105 river miles above Eagle, the Canadian Border about 12 miles upriver from Eagle.
At least the USFWS in Virginia did not cuff and arrest Skylar’s Mom. Now that would have taught the family a lesson in wantonly violating federal law.

Links to a couple of pertinent articles.

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/feds-defend-aiming-shotgun-elderly-alaskans-yukon-river

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/park-service-tries-tame-wilde-arrest-blowback

although emotional rhetoric “feels” good, I would like to see in addition:
1) Meaningful legal action against both “rogue” rangers and their supervisors.
2) Alaska Region specified budget cuts to in fact reduce the amount of resources available to the NPS and minimize it’s opportunities for mischief.
3) Meaningful prosecution of the RS 2477Public Access rights of way across federal lands in Alaska.
The use of deadly force, as defined by Alaska Law, as used against the Wilde party occurred about 80 miles below Eagle within Alaska. The NPS trespass into Canada occurred previously, as recorded by their gps unit. The Canadian Fisheries maintains a fish camp to monitor salmon returns about 8 miles upriver from the border. The folks there are friendly, and they often hire local fur trappers for off season employment.
Another issue with the Yukon Charley unit of the park system is their interference with Alaska predator control programs. Moose and caribou populations are enhanced by reducing wolf numbers by helicopter harvest and trapping and snaring, and reducing bear populations by liberal harvest seasons.
All wildlife belongs to the state of Alaska. It is in our interest to enhance ungulate populations for the use of subsistence, general and sport hunters. Predator control is very effective. In fact the major role of the USFWS in Alaska used to be predation control of a variety of species during the 1940 to 1960s. Subsequent to their efforts, Alaska became known for large populations of all wildlife, including predators due to the increase in the entire biomass of wildlife.
The NPS concentrates on wolf “management”. I have seen their data charts showing the ideal number of wolves to inhabit what is known as the Yukon Charley (YUCH). The problem is that the NPS has no idea of overall moose densities or calf survival rates within the YUCH. Of course the YUCH spans several drainages and portions of drainages on both banks of the Yukon, with a variety of habitat, some more suitable for moose browse than other portions.
Aside from moose, the Fortymile caribou herd seasonally moves through portions of the YUCH which must be factored in for wolf sustenance. Some wolf packs concentrate on moose predation and others on caribou. These packs range widely across the artificial boundaries of the YUCH. When they are on adjacent state or private lands, they become fair game for predator control teams, and they belong to the state of Alaska.
When the caribou move and the resident moose population (there is seasonal migration for moose, mostly restricted to the bulls moving into the higher willow belts during the summer and winter and moving down to the river drainages during the rut. Cows and calves tend to summer in the bottoms near water for escape terrain, and then into the hills during the winter months) is depressed, wolves tend to move and combined with this is inter pack violence and often cannibalism.
By not allowing predator control on federal lands, these park units become predator pits, either devoid of, or with limited moose populations. These same wolves now move onto the richer state lands and help themselves.
Although details can be argued by preservationists, these are facts. For the NPS to create hard numbers for what a “healthy” wolf population in a given geographical area should be, without examining the quantity and quality of food resources available to them is nonsense.
Federal land policy should not be designed to thwart state policies on adjacent lands. And in any case, data submitted by federal agencies and deemed scientific, should in fact be scientific.

system a few years ago, in certain areas in unit 20E adjacent to the YUCH. There is no legal barrier for non-profits such as SCI Chapters, Trappers Association, or even the creation of an association to purchase wolves at higher than market prices, creating a “bounty”. As long as private donors interested in enhancing wildlife populations rather than state funds are used.
The problem pertains to the need to cover large geographic areas during small windows of ideal weather and snow conditions for anything to be close to effective. Land based trappers can work their areas, and private plane operators can jump around to hot spots, and depending on circumstances make small dents in the wolf population.
An effective scientific based plan must remove set numbers of animals for a set amount of time. It is arguably one of the most effective uses of wildlife funds used by ADF&G. 80% of wildlife funds come from non-residents through the sharing of federal Robertson/Pittman funds and the sale of license and tags. Enhancing opportunity for all hunters is a direct result of predator control.
We have a sordid history of Knowles era biologists who simply made excuses to continue no action for wildlife under pressure from animal rights/preservationists groups mostly based in the states. When the Board of Game removed the “buffer” zone around Denali NP, and the state got serious again (commencing under Palin and continuing with Parnell) to ignore the threatened boycotts and go ahead with predator control many areas have seen a rebound in ungulates and the animals rights groups were proved to be paper tigers.
If you are hunting the road system you will have a hard time. It is telling that the moose density in Sweden, which is on the same latitude and similar to the Interior is many times higher than here.