Alexander Archipelago Wolves

PROTECTing an isolated POPULATION UNDER THREAT

About alexander archipelago wolves

Alexander Archipelago wolves (also known as coastal or island wolves) are a subspecies of gray wolves that are smaller and darker than other wolves, with coarser and shorter fur. Their range stretches from coastal British Columbia up to Southeast Alaska. In Alaska, Alexander Archipelago wolves can be found from Yakutat Bay to Dixon Entrance, and on larger islands except for Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof. Relying heavily on old-growth forests for habitat, the wolves are mostly found in the Tongass National Forest, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest, where they hunt Sitka black-tailed deer and feed on salmon.

Currently, there are two hypotheses for the origin of Alexander Archipelago wolves. For many years, scientists believed they descended from grey wolves in the lower 48 states that moved northward along the coast from the Pacific Northwest after the Wisconsin glaciation, approximately 11,000 years ago. However, recent genetic evidence indicates they may have descended from grey wolves that crossed the Bering Land Bridge, which existed between Alaska and Siberia until 12,000 years ago, and moved east and south into Alaska and Canada. 

the issue

The wolf population in Southeast is estimated to number fewer than 1,000 animals. This population is further subdivided into mainland and island populations, increasing the risks of maintaining viability for some population segments.

Due to the isolated and naturally fragmented geography of Southeast Alaska, Alexander Archipelago wolves are potentially more sensitive to human activity and habitat disturbance than elsewhere in the state.

Two types of threats have been identified for Alexander Archipelago wolves in Alaska: logging and road building, and legal and illegal hunting and trapping.

1. LOGGING and Road building

The wolves’ main source of food, the Sitka black-tailed deer, relies on old-growth forests to sustain healthy populations. Large-scale logging of old-growth forests significantly reduces the deer’s habitat, subsequently reducing their population. As the deer population diminishes, Alexander Archipelago wolves lose a key portion of their diet.

Road building, which comes hand in hand with logging and other resource extraction, also threatens wolves in Southeast. Road building not only further fragments critical deer and wolf habitat, it also increases human access to wolf denning areas, which can lead to more harvesting.

About 296,000 acres have been logged on Prince of Wales and adjacent Islands, most of which are Alexander Archipelago wolf habitat. While the Roadless Rule currently protects the Tongass National Forest from large-scale logging and road building, it is uncertain if the protections will be upheld in the future.

2. Legal and Illegal Hunting

The biggest threat to Alexander Archipelago wolves is both legal and illegal hunting. AWA expects this threat to grow as the deer population continues to decline in Southeast, creating more pressure from hunters and trappers to reduce wolf numbers.

One example of how big a threat hunting and trapping can be to Alexander Archipelago wolves is Prince of Wales Island. In 2015, Archipelago wolf numbers on Prince of Wales reached a historic low, when the population estimates were a mere 89 wolves. Many groups petitioned that Alexander Archipelago wolves be listed under the Endangered Species Act in 2014, but the listing was denied. More stringent trapping quotas were introduced, and by 2018 the wolf population on Prince of Wales had rebounded to an estimated 170 wolves.

In the fall of 2019, the State of Alaska, which manages wolf trapping on Prince of Wales, estimated that the 2018 wolf population was about 170 wolves. They proceeded to open a two-month season with no limit on the number of wolves a trapper could kill, no limit on the number of trappers who could trap that season, and no limit on the number of wolves that could be killed throughout the season.

The results of this hands-off approach were astounding. In March, after the trapping season closed, the Division of Wildlife Conservation released a report announcing that 165 of the 170-202 wolves estimated on the island were killed during the season.

What AWA IS Doing and How you can help

In response to the egregious trapping season in 2019, Alaska Wildlife Alliance filed two emergency petitions to close wolf trapping on Price of Wales until the species recovered. Both were denied. We then filed a lawsuit against the State of Alaska for mismanaging wolf trapping on Prince of Wales. We finally went to trial in the Alaska Supreme Court in 2022, and the case has been ongoing.

National nonprofits also filed another petition to list these wolves under the Endangered Species Act, which was denied in August 2023. The US Fish and Wildlife Service concluded that Alexander Archipelago wolves are not threatened with extinction in the foreseeable future, however, they also noted the possible extirpation or local extinction for wolves in the Prince of Wales Island complex within 30 years. That area is home to 30 percent of Alaska’s Alexander Archipelago wolf population and is the most heavily logged landscape in the Tongass National Forest.

AWA plans to continue standing up for the Alexander Archipelago wolves. For more information on our work, check out our new articles below.

To help us support a viable population of Alexander Archipelago wolves in Alaska, consider donating!

Alexander Archipelago Wolf Resources

• AWA Publication Alexander Archipelago Wolves. The information found on this web page, plus links to additional resources.

• Alexander Archipelago Wolf: A Conservation Assessment Person et al 1996.

• A must-read for background information on the AA Wolf situation: Statement of David K. Person Regarding the Big Thorne Project, Prince of Wales Island, 2013.

• Going Coastal: Shared Evolutionary History between Coastal British Columbia and Southeast Alaska Wolves, Weckworth et al 2010 PDF format. (325KB)