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AK Board Of Game Meeting In Bethel To Vote On Arctic/Western Region Hunting and Trapping Proposals

National Park Service

The Alaska Board of Game is meeting at the Bethel Cultural Center this week to vote on hunting and trapping regulations for Alaska’s Arctic and Western Region. The meeting begins with a work session on Thursday and will be followed by a four-day regulatory meeting from Friday through Monday. The management units under consideration are Units 18, 22, 23, and 26A.

Some of the big proposals affecting Unit 18 in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta are as follows:

A proposal to set seasons and bag limits for Emperor geese.

A proposal requiring hunters to salvage the meat from the breast, back, thighs, and legs of all game birds, no matter the size. Currently those standards apply only to large birds like crane, swan, and geese. 

A proposal to expand bear baiting from black bears only to include brown bears.

A proposal allowing residents to continue only needing a hunting license to harvest brown bears within the unit.

A proposal that reauthorizes the antlerless moose hunting seasons in the Unit 18 Remainder. That’s the area including the Yukon River from the old village of Paimiut and all communities north and west of Kwigillingok and Kongiganak.

A proposal extending September moose hunting in the Kuskokwim area is also up for consideration.

A proposal opening a winter nonresident hunting season for moose in the Unit 18 Remainder.

A proposed nonresident draw hunt for caribou in Units 18 and 19 to protect the reduced caribou population.

A proposal prohibiting nonresident hunting of moose and caribou if they’re ever placed under intensive management like predator control in the Arctic/Western Region.

A proposal to update the Mulchatna Caribou Herd management plan.

And a proposal opening a winter moose hunt for the Goodnews River Drainage. This would open just the portion of Unit 18 around Goodnews Bay and Platinum to resident winter moose hunting, keeping the rest of the unit closed during that time.

Thursday’s work session convenes at 9 a.m. Agenda topics include reviewing a policy to request agenda changes, setting the 2017/2018 meeting schedule, and agency reports and updates such as hunting and trapping license fee increases. The session will also review an agreement between the Federal Subsistence Board and the State of Alaska on guidelines coordinating subsistence management on Federal public lands.

The work session is open to the public. No oral testimony will be heard, but comments can be submitted during the meeting by hand if 20 copies are provided.

The next day, the regulatory meeting begins Friday at 8:30 a.m. with presentations from Alaska Fish and Game. Presentations include a musk ox summary, a migratory bird management overview, and an update on the Western Arctic Caribou Herd. Public testimony will follow.

Saturday’s meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. and will continue with public testimony. The deadline for signing up to speak is 10 a.m. that morning. Everyone who signs up will be heard and the board will begin deliberating game proposals once the testimony ends.

Deliberations will continue through Sunday and Monday. Both days begin at 9 a.m.

All the meeting documents can be found here. You can live stream the meeting audio online here.

Anna Rose MacArthur served as KYUK's News Director from 2015-2022.