NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGES IN THE REGULATIONS
OF THE ALASKA 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 Western, Arctic, and Interior areas of Alaska. The board will also address 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 are to be addressed for the Western Arctic/Western Region (Game Management Units 18, 22, 23, and 26A) and the Interior and Eastern Arctic Region (Game Management Units 12, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26B, and 26C):
A. TRAPPING SEASONS AND BAG LIMITS for furbearers, including wolf, muskrat, beaver, lynx, marten, wolverine, and black bear.
B. HUNTING SEASONS AND BAG LIMITS for all species including moose, muskox, caribou, black bear, brown bear, Dall sheep, wolf, wolverine, and small game including ptarmigan. In addition, the potential for identifying general, Tier I or Tier II 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 trophy destruction of musk ox horns, proxy hunting for bison, moose, and caribou, special provisions for moose, caribou, and Dall sheep drawing permit hunts; and permits for hunting bear with the use of bait or scent lures.
D. METHODS AND MEANS FOR TAKING BIG GAME, GAME, FUR ANIMALS, AND FURBEARERS, including lawful and unlawful methods of taking big game, game, and furbearers including the taking of bears with the use of bucket snares; taking moose with minimum sized calibers for rifles and ammunition; taking beaver with underwater traps or snares; and taking furbearers with the use of night vision goggles and forward-looking infrared devices.
E. POSSESSION, TRANSPORTATION, AND USE OF GAME including salvage and sealing requirements, and destruction of trophy value of game required in specific areas.
F. RESTRICTED AREAS including areas closed to hunting and trapping including closed areas for taking wolves near Denali National Park and caribou along the Steese Highway; Management Areas including Eastern Brooks Range Management Area; and Controlled Use Areas including the Anaktuvuk Pass, Wood River, and the Holitna-Hoholitna Controlled Use Areas.
G. INTENSIVE MANAGEMENT, NON-INTENSIVE MANAGEMENT, AND PREDATOR CONTROL IMPLEMENTATION PLANS including prey populations and populations having a positive finding as identified big game prey populations, predation control areas implementation plans including reauthorizing existing programs, establishing new programs, and allowing the aerial take of predators. Additionally, establishing a non-intensive management predator control plan within the Tok Management Area to benefit Dall sheep.
H. CUSTOMARY AND TRADITIONAL USES OF GAME POPULATIONS AND AMOUNTS REASONABLY NECESSARY FOR SUBSISTENCE including moose in Units 19 and 22.
I. ADDITIONAL TOPICS: The board will address the following topics which were approved through the agenda change request process, inadvertently omitted or scheduled incorrectly, or in the case of antlerless moose hunts and brown bear tag fees, must be authorized annually. For the Western Arctic/Western region meeting, January 26 – 29, 2024: Seasons and bag limits for musk ox in Unit 23 (Proposal 209) and brown bear tag fee reauthorizations for Units 18, 22, 23 and 26A (Proposal 190). For the Interior and Eastern Arctic region meeting, March 15 – 22, 2024: Seasons, bag limits, and permit conditions for goat in Unit 1A (Proposal 211); Game Management Unit boundary for Units 20A and 20C (Proposal 210); seasons and bag limits for moose in Unit 19E (Proposal 208), and the legal bag limit for Dall sheep for all Interior and Eastern Arctic Region Units (Proposal 207).
The board will also take action on non-regulatory items during the meetings such as resolutions, 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 information website at www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=gameboard.meetinginfo or from the ADF&G Boards Support Section Office at (907) 465-4110. Additional information will be added to each meeting website as it becomes available for each meeting.
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.
Written comments can be submitted to the Board of Game online at www.boardofgame.adfg.alaska.gov, by fax to (907) 465-6094; or mailed to the Alaska Board of Game, ADF&G Boards Support Section at P.O. Box 115526, Juneau, AK 99811-5526.
Comments must include a first and last name, community of residence, and the proposal numbers 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 12, 2024, for the Western Arctic/Western Region meeting, and March 1, 2024, for the Interior and Eastern Arctic 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 will be withheld or redacted.
The public hearing portion of the meetings is scheduled at 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 may elect to provide testimony at a later portion of the meetings. Additional public hearings may be held throughout the meetings 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 announced by the board chair at the meeting. The length of oral statements may be limited to three to five minutes, or less for the public and 10 to 15 minutes or less for fish and game advisory committee and regional advisory council representatives. Everyone interested in, or affected by, the subject matter contained in this legal notice should provide written or oral comments if they wish to have their views considered by the board.
Tentative BOARD OF GAME Meeting DATES & LOCATIONS
Western Arctic/Western Region Meeting
January 26-29, 2024
National Guard Armory
605 3rd Avenue, Kotzebue, Alaska
Interior and Eastern Arctic Region Meeting
March 15-22, 2024
Pike’s Waterfront Lodge
1850 Hoselton Drive, Fairbanks, Alaska
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) 465-4046. Please carefully review the PROPOSAL INDEX and the additional proposals on the above-mentioned websites 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 hearings, 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) 465-4046 no later than two weeks prior to the beginning of each 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 16.05.330; 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.
DATE: December 7, 2023 /s/
Kristy Tibbles, Executive Director
Alaska Board of Game
465-6098
ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS NOTICE INFORMATION
(AS 44.62.190(g))
- Adopting agency: Alaska Board of Game
- General subject of regulation: Hunting and trapping regulations for the Western, Arctic and Interior Regions, statewide reauthorizations for antlerless moose hunts and brown tag fees, and miscellaneous topics for other game management units.
- Citation of regulations: 5 AAC 84, 85, 92, 98, and 99
- Department of Law file number (if any):
- Reason for the proposed action:
( ) compliance with federal law
( ) compliance with new or changed state statute
( ) compliance with court order
( ) development of program standards
(X) Other: Regularly scheduled topics and other miscellaneous provisions for the Board of Game Western Arctic/Western Region & the Interior and Eastern Arctic Regions. Implement, interpret, or make specific the provisions of AS 16.05-16.30.
- Appropriation/Allocation: Natural Resources and all RDUs
- Cost of implementation to the state agency and available funding: It is not possible to estimate costs. However, this action is not expected to require an increased appropriation.
- The name of the contact person for the regulations:
Name: Kristy Tibbles
Title: Executive Director, Board Game
Address: Boards Support Section
Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game PO Box 115526
Juneau, AK 99811-5526
Telephone: (907) 465-6098
E-mail: kristy.tibbles@alaska.gov
- The origin of the proposed action:
X staff of state agency
X federal government
X general public
Date: December 7, 2023 Prepared by: /s/
Kristy Tibbles, Executive Director
Alaska Board of Game
465-6098