Four SNRAS students tackle senior theses

From left, Brian Robertson, Mitch Chandler, Teslyn Visscher and Cherish Yuke presented senior thesis proposals.

Four SNRAS students presented proposals for their senior theses on Nov. 4.

Mitch Chandler’s subject is “Public Perceptions of Cow Moose Hunting in Alaska.” In the 1950s Alaska reduced its wolf population through aerial hunting and poison. Consequently, moose numbers increased but hunters’ groups did not believe the change was due to the drop in predators.

“There was controversy between management groups and hunters trusting the population,” Chandler said. Then in the 1970s the moose population declined quickly. From 1975 to 1996 only bull hunting was allowed and the hunting season expanded from 10 days to 25 days.

In Area 20A a 2004 study found 16,800 moose in 13,044 square-kilometer area. The bull/cow ratio was 30:100. In the 1980s the Alaska Department of Fish and Game tried antlerless hunts but public opposition was too strong. Cow hunts were reinstated from 1996 to 2001 and in 2004-2005 there were unlimited permits and 200 cows were harvested. Those hunts attracted 42 percent non-local hunters. “The locals soured to cow hunts,” Chandler said.

Chandler interviewed former guide Myron Stokes who said he used to see bulls with 50-inch and wider racks and now it is hard to find a bull at all.

Chandler intends to conduct a survey to understand if and why the stakeholders of Unit 20A are opposed to cow hunts. “My hypothesis is that locals are not opposed to cow hunts but they soured to them due to the 2004-2005 hunts.”

He plans to mail the survey to hunters in January and compile the results next spring.

Brian Robertson’s topic is “Early Season Fire Barriers in Interior Alaska: How Effective Are Hardwood Stands?”

Interior Alaska contains 60 percent of the state’s land area, with 24 percent of those 219,861,000 acres covered in hardwood. “The general consensus is that hardwood acts as natural fire barriers,” Robertson said. “And that they provide a safety zone for firefighters, but they are more susceptible to burning during early fire season before greenup.”

No other study has looked into the susceptibility of hardwood stands, Robertson said. “My objective is to determine if the difference in hardwood fires is susceptible between early and normal season wildfires,” he said.

He will study Alaska Fire Service’s ignition data prior to May 15, with the “out date” May 31. Using ARC GIS, he plans to map the information for five perimeters and stands within the perimeters. The data includes 100 fires from 1980 to present.

“If there is a correlation between early season fires and hardwood susceptibility we might need to change the fire management techniques,” Robertson said.

Teslyn Visscher’s subject is: “A Survey of Commercial Salmon Troll Fishermen in Southeast Alaska: Impacts of Steller Sea Lion Interaction.”

“This hits home for me,” Visscher said, “as I grew up in a commercial trolling family.” Visscher has worked as a deckhand for her father and as a wildlife technician for Alaska Department of Fish and Game. She explained that trolling is not to be confused with trawling, that trolling is purely hook and line fishing.

The sea lion population in the western portion of their range decreased 80 percent from 1970 to 1989. In 1990 they were listed as a threatened species. In 1997 the eastern population was listed as threatened and the western population as endangered. The western population is stable (slightly declining) now and the eastern has increased 3.1 percent per year since the 1970s. “No conclusions have been reached,” Visscher said.

Alaska’s waters are home to 70 percent of the sea lion population.

“The main issue is depredation by the Steller sea lion following boats and plucking fish,” Visscher said. “The fishermen are frustrated; they lose gear and time from interactions and depredation.” She said in a 2000 to 2007 Alaska Department of Fish and Game study there were 386 Steller sea lion entanglements in marine debris.

Visscher will design, develop and pilot test a survey for 100 commercial troll fishermen in Southeast Alaska, inquiring about the economic impact to fishermen, the frequency of entanglements, Steller sea lion behavior and geographic data. “The survey design is going to be critical,” she said.

She hopes to mail the survey by Feb. 15 and present the results by fall of 2012. “This is critical information for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and has potential to influence future mitigation and management efforts,” Visscher said.

Cherish Yuke’s project is: “Growth in Weaned Reindeer Calves in Response to Dietary Supplement.”

Captive reindeer calves typically are weaned in late spring or early summer whereas in free-ranging reindeer, weaning is concluded in early autumn near the onset of the rutting season (Gjøstein, et al. 2004). Supplementation may provide extra nutrition after weaning.

Calves, (n=19) were blocked by sex and weight and randomly assigned to a control (standard milled ration) or treatment group (standard milled ration and supplement of 15% of the diet) and fed ad lib for six weeks.

Four distinct pens were established; control males (n=5), treatment males (n=6), control females (n=4) and treatment females (n=4). Calves were weighed at the start of the trial and will be weighed once a week until the trial ends. Samples of the control and treatment rations will be collected and dried at 60˚ C and 100˚ C, respectively for 48 hours. The 60˚ C control and treatment rations will then be grinded and sent to a laboratory in Palmer for nutritional analysis. Weights of the amount fed and weigh back are taken each day to estimate dry matter intake per animal per pen. Samples will be collected from the fed diet and wet weigh back, weighed and dried at 100˚ C for 48 hours to standardize intake rates on a percent dry matter basis.

This study can have important implications because if supplementation does increase weight gain and indirectly over-winter survival of calves follows, overall herd productivity and profitability may increase. In this manner, the herd owner can use individual growth rate and body weight information to select for faster growing and larger body sized animals (Finstad and Prichard 2000).