Alaska Wildlife Alliance attended the Statewide Board of Game Meeting as a voice for Alaska’s wildlife, giving testimony, mobilizing public comment on proposals, and watching deliberations. Overall, AWA submitted comments on 16 proposals. Read on for the results.
This morning at the Board of Game meeting, the ADFG requested an emergency regulation to reinstate Mulchatna bear control, which was recently found to violate due process and the sustained yield principle.
Today is a historic day for Alaska’s bears! Judge Guidi of the Superior Court of Alaska ruled in favor of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, finding that the Mulchatna Bear Control program—in which the State has aerially gunned nearly 200 brown bears —was unlawfully adopted.
Between January 10 and 17, 2025, the Central and Southwest Board of Game Meeting will be held in Wasilla at the Best Western on Lake Lucille. While the main public comment period for proposals has already passed, there is a public comment period in the first few days of the meeting, where oral testimonies and written comments may be given.
The Board of Game Proposals for the Statewide Meeting have been released and AWA is carefully combing through them so that we can best represent the needs of Alaska’s wildlife at the Statewide BOG meeting in March. The public comment period is open until March 7, and we could use your voice to help safeguard Alaskan wildlife.
“When it comes to types of trapping that clearly infringe on the ability of other groups to safely use outdoor public spaces, decisions should be made in a collaborative process that involves representation from a more diverse range of affected groups. Parents of young children, skiers, hunters, hikers, search and rescue volunteers, mushers and others deserve to have a seat at this table.”
There are no trapping regulations in the state of Alaska- it’s time for the Alaska Board of Game to make the change. Read on to learn more about this issue.
“The BOG received almost 500 written comments in support of setbacks and only 36 comments against them, and still these handful of trails were rejected. We ‘compromised’ at a 95%-5% split (losing 95% of the initial request) and, with almost no discussion, they brushed that aside. The vote signaled to me that the Board of Game is not interested in public participation, nor is it interested in carrying out the agreements of a stakeholder group they themselves developed and organized. If they don’t listen to literally hundreds of commenters who don’t meet their worldview, or the stakeholders they called together to negotiate, who do they listen to?”
Read on to learn more about AWA’s failed Proposal 199 that requested 50-yard trap setbacks from select multi-use trails in the Matanuska-Susitna region.
Read more to learn about Alaska Wildlife Alliance’s involvement in assisting to file a legal petition to induce the National Marine Fisheries Service to explore whether allowing a certain number of incidental deaths of critically endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales in connection to oil and gas development in the region should be tolerated.
Check out this op ed that our very own Executive Director, Nicole Schmitt, wrote for the Alaska Landmine. Nicole wrote on our proposal to establish 50-yard trap setbacks on over 200 trails in the Mat-Su Valley in an effort to help reduce conflict between user groups on multi-use trails.
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