Unalaska, AK – The State of Alaska has expressed disappointment with a recent decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not to pursue a predator control program on Unimak Island. Officials from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are "appalled" that Fish and Wildlife has rejected the idea of a wolf hunt at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in order to protect the island's dwindling caribou herd.

Corey Rossi is the director of the Division of Wildlife Conservation, and he says that state is not sure how it will react to this decision.

"That puts the interesting predicament, it puts the caribou in an interesting predicament, and it puts the folks that rely on the caribou in an interesting situation," says Rossi. "So we're going to have to figure out what we're going to do next. We're looking at a wide range of options."

Last June, the state filed a lawsuit in an effort to hunt seven wolves on the island - a plan that was ultimately blocked by a federal judge. Rossi says that the state has not yet determined whether it will once again pursue legal action.