Hunting and trapping are more effective than aerial culls when managing the Yukon's wolf population, says a new government conservation plan.

This, according to Karen Clyde, co-chair of the wolf management review committee, means a larger focus on local hunting and trapping.

"One of the clearest things we heard from the public, is that (shooting wolves from the air) doesn't engage the community,” Clyde told a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

"Government programs that are large and expensive and don't have long-term effects, their time has kind of passed.”

This comes after almost 200 wolves were shot from helicopters in the mid-1990s through Aishihik Caribou and Moose Recovery Program.

Two other aerial control programs in the 1980s – the Finlayson and the Coast Mountains – were completed in the territory prior to this, too. In total, 849 wolves were killed between 1982 and 1997.

According to Bob Hayes, a former government biologist and author of Wolves of the Yukon, after the shooting stops, the wolf population returns to its original size, or grows larger.

Clyde said the three main reasons the committee doesn't recommend aerial shootings anymore is cost, lack of long-term effects and lack of public engagement in the process.

The Recommended Yukon Wolf Conservation and Management plan is the work of a six-person committee: three from the Yukon government and three from the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board. The report had not been updated since its original 1992 version.

The plan is based on 26 recommendations and seven goals, which vary from using wolf harvesting as a management tool to recognizing the tourism value of wolves.

Harvey Jessup, the co-chair of the committee, said this plan is simply an update to reflect current values.

"The '92 plan was built around a very urgent issue,” said Jessup. "There was no issue like this, this time around. It was simply a matter of reviewing an 18-year-old plan.”

Jessup said the big message is to make sure the Yukon public is participating in managing wildlife resources.

The review committee has been working on this plan for a year. This past spring, they held two workshops (one with First Nations and one with boards and councils) and held 14 community meetings across the territories. The committee also received 42 written comments.

As for how the plan promotes hunting and trapping as a way of wolf management, Jessup said giving people "greater access, the right tools, and assistance when required” is necessary.

Clyde conceded there needs to be more discussion around trapping incentives.

"People do say it's not profitable to trap,” she said.

Currently, there are two trapping incentive programs, one with the Teslin Tlingit Council and one through the Yukon Outfitters Association.

A lot of what the committee heard at the public meetings, though, was what it called "beyond the scope” of what is considered wolf management.

To address these concerns, the committee wrote a letter to the government which accompanied the recommended plan.

Cost, the letter says, is a significant barrier to wolf trapping. Low fur prices over the past 25 years, combined with the rising price of fuel for snowmachines and other operating costs, make trapping wolves an expensive enterprise, it said.

In the winter of 2009-10, licensed trappers harvested 221 pelts, fetching an average price of $195 each, according to government records. In the past 25 years, the value of pelts peaked at $244 in 1996-97.

The committee found the lack of government support for trapping a large concern at the public meetings.

Another issue raised was lack of access to traplines. Demand for traplines from trained trappers, the committee explained, exceeds availability.

Most renewable resource councils have developed trapline use guidelines, but have expressed frustration around legal issues and concerns over loss of traditional family harvesting and gathering areas, the letter said.

Trapline assignment, then, gets relegated to the back burner.

Public comments on the recommended plan will be accepted until Aug. 31. The committee will present its plan to the Minister of Environment shortly thereafter.

The Yukon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan can be downloaded at www.yukonwolfplan.ca.