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.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
‘The surprisingly high number of bears killed in the Mulchatna program is “especially egregious” given those findings, said Carol Damberg, board president of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance. "They’re ignoring their own biology ... they’re not following the science,” Damberg said Thursday. “If they were, they wouldn’t be doing this.”’
“We believe that the Fish and Wildlife Service is obligated to protect Kenai brown bears on the refuge and this opinion recognizes the agency’s authority to do just that,” said Nicole Schmitt, executive director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance. “At a time when so many of Alaska’s wildlife protections are being rolled back, this ruling comes as a sigh of relief for all those who enjoy the Refuge and its wildlife.”
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