outcomes of key wildlife management proposals at the 2023 Southeast Board of Game meeting
Quick summary: The Board of Game not only rejected AWA’s proposals for Alexander Archipelago wolves, but expanded the wolf hunting season by ~2 months. These wolves are currently being petitioned for Endangered Species Act listing, and are at the center of AWA’s lawsuit against the State of Alaska. The Board also voted to dismantle the Douglas Island Management Area. This decision removes decades-long protections for wolves and opens Douglas Island to more liberalized trapping. Finally, the Board rejected the proposal from a Wrangell resident for trap setbacks from multiuse trails. Since 2011, the Board has rejected 100% of trap setback proposals (19) from communities across Alaska.
Despite these disappointing decisions, we did have some victories. AWA’s comments helped prevent liberalized bear brown bear hunting in southeast Alaska, including in the Mitchell Bay Closed Area.
This chart above summarizes the percentage of proposals detailed below that went in AWA’s favor (“good for wildlife”), against AWA’s recommendations (“bad for wildlife”), or had no action.
Click here to listen to Alaska Wildlife Alliance testimony (Carol Damberg, AWA President)
Click here to read AWA’s written comments to the Board of Game
Click here to listen to the full meeting audio
Click here to see the Board’s decisions on all wildlife proposals
Click here to see ADF&G’s summary of wolf research in Southeast Alaska
ADF&G Report on the History of Wolf Management in Unit 2
News coverage of the meeting: Ketchikan Daily News ; Alaska Public Media
Additional important proposals
Proposal 3: Proposal to remove the requirements for residents to seal black bear skulls harvested in units 1-4. AWA opposed this proposal. Victory! Proposal failed 0-7.
Proposal 4: Proposal to change the resident bag limit for brown bear to unit 1 to one bear every two years. AWA opposed this proposal. Victory! Proposal failed 0-7.
Proposal 12: Proposal to open the Mitchell Bay Closed Area to Brown Bear Hunting in Unit 4. ADF&G was neutral. Back in 1932 the island was almost closed as a bear sanctuary. Mitchel Bay Closed area was created in 1991 for bear viewing/economic development. Federal subsistence Board voted to retain closure to reduce safety issues. Victory! Proposal failed 0-7.
Proposal 22: Proposal to eliminate the restriction for using motorized vehicles from the RM038 moose hunt in Unit 1B. Does not require Board action as this is a permit condition. Proposal received no action.
Proposal 23: Proposal to allow the use of electric bikes for the RM038 moose hunt in Unit 1B. AWA opposed this proposal. No Action taken as this does not fall under the authority of the Board. The US Forest Service has restrictions on motorized vehicles and also on electric bikes. The Department can make the decision on the conditions of the permit and likely would allow use of electric bikes while the USFS may continue to ban use on federal lands.
Proposal 27: Proposal to require 100-yard trapping setbacks along hiking trails and drivable surfaces on Wrangell Island in Unit 3 (this would make it illegal to trap within 100 yards of the known 47 federal state and borough trails). AWA supported this proposal. Unfortunately, the proposal failed 0-7.
Proposal 33: Proposal to allow the harvest of brown bears to increase from 1 every four years to 1 every regulatory year for resident hunters only. Victory! Proposal failed 0-7.
Proposal 41: Proposal to eliminate the Douglas Island Management area in Unit 1. AWA opposed this proposal. This proposal dealt with the take of wolves on this island. The current management plan requires trappers to register and report a wolf kill within 48 hours. The management area also limits the take of wolves based on deer metrics. At 2014 Board meetings there were 50 letters in support of keeping the management area. In 2019 the wolf harvest went from 3 to 5. The deer population is down slightly but hunting success is still above the management triggers identified in the plan. The department has no estimate of the number of wolves on the island. Since 2019, when the regulation was passed to allow 5 wolves to be harvested, there has only been 1 wolf harvested (that has been reported) on the island. Unfortunately, this proposal passed 4-3. The protections for wolves and recreators on Douglas Island, which have been in place since 2001, were removed.
Proposal 46: Proposal to lengthen the hunting season for Alexander Archipelago wolves (currently being petitioned for Endangered Species Act listing) in Unit 2 to open Sept 1. AWA opposed this proposal. Unfortunately, the proposal passed 7-0.
