Alaska Board Of Game Proposals For Discussion Include Big Game Season And Bag Limits

The following is courtesy of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Board Of Game:

The Alaska Board of Game proposes to adopt regulation changes in Title 5 of the Alaska Administrative Code, dealing with the use and taking of game. Regulations subject to board action are in 5 AAC 84, 85, 92, 98, and 99 for the Southeast and Southcentral Regions. The board will also address additional topics for other Game Management Units and statewide provisions including statewide reauthorization of antlerless moose hunts and brown bear tag fee exemptions as described below:

The following subject matter areas to be addressed for the Southeast and Southcentral Region, Game Management Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14C, and 15 are:

A. TRAPPING SEASONS AND BAG LIMITS for furbearers, including: Marten, beaver, coyote, otter, wolverine, wolf, and lynx.

B. HUNTING SEASONS AND BAG LIMITS for all species, including: Moose, caribou, deer, black bear, brown bear, elk, goat, Dall sheep, wolf, small game including waterfowl, migratory game birds, ptarmigan, and grouse. In addition, the potential Tier I or Tier II subsistence hunting for each population; and the reauthorization of antlerless moose hunts.

C. LICENSES, HARVEST TICKETS, HARVEST REPORTS, TAGS, FEES, AND PERMITS, including: Discretionary and required permit hunting and trapping conditions and procedures including limits on registration permits; permits for hunting black bear with the use of bait or scent lures; and special provisions for Dall sheep, mountain goat, moose, and brown bear drawing permit hunts.

D. METHODS AND MEANS for taking big game, game, fur animals, AND FURBEARERS, including: Lawful methods of taking big game and game including restrictions for taking big game from boats, with the use of motorized vehicles, and with the use of dogs to retrieve dead or wounded game; lawful methods of taking furbearers and fur animals including requirements for trap identification, signage, breakaway mechanisms, minimum size for jaw spread; and restrictions for trapping near trails, trailheads, roads, and dwellings.

E. POSSESSION, TRANSPORTATION AND THE USE OF GAME, including: Salvage requirements for deer; sealing requirements for moose, bear, and wolf; and evidence of sex and identity including moose antlers in Units 1 and 3.

F. GENERAL PROVISIONS, including: Harvest guideline levels for wolves, and requirements for hunter safety education.

G. RESTRICTED AREAS, including: Areas closed to hunting and trapping including Mitchell Bay, Petersburg Creek Drainage on Kupreanof Island, and the Petersburg Road System; proposed areas closed for trapping in the Chugach State Park, Glacier Creek drainage, near roads, trails, beaches, structures, and campgrounds; controlled use areas including the Lower Kenai Controlled Use Area; management areas including Douglas Island, Anchorage, Chugach State Park, Eagle River, and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Management Areas; and state game refuges including the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge.

H. INTENSIVE MANAGEMENT AND PREDATOR CONTROL IMPLEMENTATION PLANS including: Prey populations and populations having a positive finding as identified big game prey populations, and the Unit 15C Intensive Management Plan.

I. ADDITIONAL TOPICS: The board will address the following topics, as a result from action during the November 17, 2022 board meeting, or in the case of antlerless moose hunts and brown bear tag fees, must be authorized annually. For the Southeast Region meeting, January 20 – 24, 2023: Seasons and bag limits for wolf in Unit 2 (Proposal 202). For the Southcentral Region meeting, March 17-22, 2023: Annual reauthorization of antlerless moose hunts and brown bear tag fee exemptions; seasons and bag limits for sheep in Units 19C (Proposal 204) and 14C (Proposal 208); seasons and bag limits for moose including Units 14C and 19C (Proposals 200, 203, 205, 209 and 210); reauthorization of the Unit 21E Intensive Management Plan (Proposal 206); and establishing a Tier II hunt in regulation for the Nelchina caribou herd in Unit 13 (Proposal 207).

The board may make changes to the hunting and trapping regulations as may be required to ensure the subsistence priority in AS 16.05.258, including reexamining customary and traditional use findings and determinations for amounts reasonably necessary for subsistence use.

The board will also consider non-regulatory items during this meeting such as findings, letters, and delegations. Miscellaneous actions occur typically at the end of the meeting under miscellaneous business, but action may occur earlier in the meeting.

The proposed regulation changes are available on the Board of Game meeting websites at www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=gameboard.meetinginfo or by contacting the ADF&G Boards Support Section Office at (907) 465-4110. Additional meeting information such as the roadmap, agency reports, and advisory committee and public comments will be added to the website as they become available. 

Anyone interested in, or affected by, the subject matter contained in this legal notice should make written or oral comments to have their views considered by the board. You may comment on the proposed regulation changes, including the potential costs to the private persons of complying with the proposed changes, by submitting written comments by the announced deadlines listed below, limited to no more than 100 single-sided or 50 double-sided pages.

New this cycle, Boards Support will utilize an online form at www.boardofgame.adfg.alaska.gov, that will allow comments to be uploaded as a file or entered manually. With the new online form in place, Boards Support will no longer accept comments via email. Written comments are encouraged to be submitted online. Additionally, comments will be accepted if sent by mail to ADF&G, Boards Support Section, at P.O. Box 115526, Juneau, AK 99811-5526 or by fax to (907) 465-6094

Comments must include a first and last name, community of residence, and the proposal number/s for which the comments pertain. Comments without this information will not be part of the board meeting workbook, indexed, or cross referenced with proposals, but they will be compiled and posted on the meeting information website. Written comments that are submitted are public records and are subject to public inspection.

The deadlines for receiving comments are January 6, 2023 for the Southeast Region meeting, and March 3, 2023 for the Southcentral Region meeting. Once the  meetings begin, comments will be accepted online as record copies, by hand delivery at the meeting, or via fax to (907) 465-6094. Comments submitted during the meetings are limited to ten single-sided or five double-sided pages in length from any one individual or group.

As a practical matter, comments submitted after the board begins deliberations on relevant proposals are likely to receive less consideration than comments submitted earlier. Additionally, groups of people submitting numerous, form-like comments containing similar language during the meeting is not advisable, and Boards staff will be unable to process and distribute the comments to the board  during the meeting. These types of comments will be grouped together or summarized for the board in a single submission.

The Board of Game shall consider all factual, substantive, and relevant comments in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, Alaska Statute 44.62.210. Comments having disparaging statements or personal attacks or information, will be withheld or redacted.

The public hearing portion of the meetings is scheduled for the beginning of each meeting following staff reports and will continue until everyone who has signed up and is present when called has been given the opportunity to be heard. However, state advisory committee representatives and federal regional advisory council representatives may elect to provide testimony at a later portion of the meeting. Additional public hearings may be held throughout the meeting just before consideration and adoption of proposed changes in the regulations. The board will take oral testimony only from those who register before the cut-off time which will be announced by the board chair prior to the meeting. The length of oral testimony may be limited to three to five minutes or less for members of  the public and 10 to 15 minutes or less for fish and game advisory committee and federal regional advisory council representatives. Everyone interested in, or affected by, the subject matter contained in this legal notice should make written or oral comments if they wish to have their views considered by the board.

Tentative Board of Game Meeting Dates & Locations

Southeast Region Meeting

January 20-24, 2023

The Landing Hotel 

3434 Tongass Avenue

Ketchikan, AK  99901

Southcentral Region Meeting 

March 17-22, 2023

The Soldotna Sports Center

538 Arena Drive 

Soldotna, AK  99669

Any changes to meeting location, dates or times, or rescheduling of topics or subject matter will be announced by news release and posted on the board’s website. Please watch for these announcements or call (907) 465-4110. Please carefully review the PROPOSAL INDEX and the additional proposal listing on the above-mentioned website for all specific proposal issues to be addressed by the board.

Anyone interested in or affected by subsistence and general hunting or trapping regulations is hereby informed that, by publishing this legal notice, the Board of Game may consider any or all of the subject areas covered by this notice. THE BOARD IS NOT LIMITED BY THE SPECIFIC LANGUAGE OR CONFINES OF THE ACTUAL PROPOSALS THAT HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED BY THE PUBLIC OR STAFF. Pursuant to AS 44.62.200, the board may review the full range of activities appropriate to any of the subjects listed in this notice. After the public hearing, the Board of Game may adopt these or other provisions dealing with the same subject without further notice, or amend, reject, supplement, or decide to take no action on them. The language of the final regulations may be different from that of the proposed regulations. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO COMMENT DURING THE TIME ALLOWED IF YOUR INTERESTS COULD BE AFFECTED.

If you are a person with a disability who may need special accommodations in order to participate in this process, please contact ADF&G, Boards Support Section at (907) 465-4110 no later than two weeks prior to the beginning of the meeting to ensure that any necessary accommodations can be provided.

Statutory Authority:   AS 16.05, AS 16.30.

Statutes Being Implemented, Interpreted, or Made Specific: AS 16.05.255; AS 16.05.256;

AS 16.05.258; AS 16.05.270; AS 16.05.315; AS 16.05.330; AS 16.05.340; AS 16.05.346; AS 16.05.405; AS 16.05.407; AS 16.05.780; AS 16.05.783; and AS 16.30.010 – .030.

Fiscal Information: The proposed regulation changes are not expected to require an increased appropriation.