Alaska Board of Game Meeting scheduled in Soldotna, March 17-22, 2023

The Alaska Board of Game (board) will meet in Soldotna March 17-22, 2023 to consider over 150 proposals requesting changes related to hunting and trapping regulations for Game Management Units (GMUs) 6, 7, 8, 14C, and 15. These GMUs include the areas of Cordova, Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island, and Anchorage. The board will also address proposals for other regions including reauthorizations for antlerless moose hunts and brown bear tag fees, and moose and sheep hunting in Unit 19.

The meeting will be held at the Soldotna Sports Complex located at 538 Arena Drive Soldotna. All portions of the meetings are open to the public and a live audio stream will be provided on the board website at www.boardofgame.adfg.alaska.gov.  

The board encourages the public to provide comments to assist in its decision-making process on the regulatory proposals. For a full listing of proposals including new proposals added by the board during the November 2022 and January 2023 board meetings, visit the meeting website at:

www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=gameboard.meetinginfo&date=03-17-2023&meeting=kenai.  Topics and proposal numbers for those recently added to the schedule are as follows:

• Seasons and bag limits for sheep in Units 19C (Proposal 204) and 14C (Proposal 208);
• Seasons and bag limits for moose including Units 14C and 19C (Proposals 200, 203, 205, 210 and 211);
• Seasons and bag limits for elk in Unit 19 (Proposals 209);
• Reauthorization of the Unit 21E Intensive Management Plan (Proposal 206); and
• Establishing a Tier II hunt in regulation for the Nelchina caribou herd in Unit 13 (Proposal 207).

Written Comments

Written comments on all proposals, except for proposals 209, 210 and 211, are encouraged to be submitted by March 3, 2023. Written comments on Proposals 209, 210 and 211 will be accepted through March 15, because they were recently added to the board meeting agenda.

Written comments must include the first and last name of the submitter, community of residence, and the proposal number(s) for which the comments pertain and must not exceed 100 single-sided or 50 double-sided pages. Comments submitted with this information by the dates above will be indexed, cross-referenced with proposals, and made available online and to board members before the start of the meeting.

Written comments on proposals submitted by March 3, and March 16 for Proposals 209-211, can be submitted/uploaded online at:  www.boardofgame.adfg.alaska.gov; faxed to 907-465-6094, or mailed to ADF&G Boards Support Section, P.O. Box 115526, Juneau, AK  99801.

Written comments on all proposals may be submitted during the meeting as record copies, with a limitation of 10 single-sided pages. Individuals who cannot attend the meeting may submit comments through the meeting website provided above, or via fax to (907) 465-6094. As a practical matter, comments submitted after the board begins deliberations are likely to receive less consideration than comments submitted earlier.

Oral Testimony

In-person oral public testimony will be taken beginning Friday afternoon, March 17, following oral reports. Remote testimony will be allowed only for state fish and game advisory committees (ACs) and federal regional advisory councils (RACs). 

Anyone wishing to testify before the board, including AC and RAC representatives, must sign up before 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 18. Public testimony will continue until all who have signed up have received the opportunity to be heard.

The length of oral testimony may be limited to three to five minutes for members of the public and 10 to 15 minutes for fish and game advisory committee, and federal regional advisory council representatives.

Deliberations on proposals will begin following public testimony and will continue through the remainder of the meeting, and typically follow the order as provided in the proposal book. Approximatively two weeks prior to the  meeting, the tentative order for deliberating on proposals will be posted on the  meeting website as the “roadmap”.

All meeting material including the proposals, agenda, meeting notice, public and advisory committee comments, and Department of Fish and Game reports and comments on proposals, can be viewed online at www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=gameboard.meetinginfo as it becomes available before and during the meeting. 

The Department of Fish and Game and the Board of Game are pleased these meetings are open to the public. However, the COVID-19 virus still poses a serious risk to certain segments of the population, and could potentially halt the meeting. To help minimize the spread of COVID-19, any person who is experiencing flu-like symptoms is encouraged to stream the meeting online.

For more information about the board meeting process, please contact Kristy Tibbles at 465-6098, or via email at Kristy.tibbles@alaska.gov. 

Media Contact: Kristy Tibbles, 907-465-6098, Kristy.tibbles@alaska.gov