Anchorage Judge Rules State’s Brown Bear Eradication System Is Unconstitutional

From the Alaska Beacon: An Anchorage judge said Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s system for eradicating brown bears in the hopes of boosting caribou numbers is unconstitutional and lacks due process. Here’s more from the report:

Judge Andrew Guidi’s 10-page decision means at least a temporary end to the state’s controversial bear-killing program, which was intended to aid the struggling Mulchatna caribou herd.

“Unless they want to seek a stay of this decision, they’ve got to stop killing bears,” said attorney Joe Geldhof, who represented the Alaska Wildlife Alliance in a lawsuit that prompted Friday’s decision.

The Alliance sued the state in 2023 to challenge the application of Alaska’s “intensive management” project in Southwest Alaska.

Originally designed to kill wolves in order to boost the populations of prey species that hunters pursue, the program was expanded in 2022 to cover bears that have been preying on the Mulchatna caribou herd.