The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund has a new ad attacking Gov. Palin’s wildlife management policies in Alaska. In particular, the ad focuses on her support of aerial hunting of wolves and bounties on wolf kills. What the ad doesn’t mention is that the wolf hunting program is an effort aimed at keeping the wolf population down in order to protect Alaska’s caribou and moose populations (in particular the former). A large and healthy caribou population is important both for the state’s hunters and subsistence populations that rely on caribou for food. The Defenders ad makes it seem like they’re just against this type of hunting, when in reality they’d like to end wolf hunting altogether. Defenders helped bankroll a ballot initiative that would have effectively banned aerial hunting of wolves, but Alaska voters rejected it at the polls.