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 Southeast and Southcentral Regions. The board will also address additional 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 to be addressed for the Southeast and Southcentral Region, Game Management Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14C, and 15 are:
A. TRAPPING SEASONS AND BAG LIMITS for furbearers, including: Mink, beaver, fox, fisher, otter, wolf, lynx, and cougar/mountain lion.
B. HUNTING SEASONS AND BAG LIMITS for all species, including: Moose, caribou, deer, black bear, brown bear, elk, goat, Dall sheep, wolf, lynx, cougar/mountain lion, small game including waterfowl, migratory game birds, ptarmigan, and grouse. In addition, restrictions to bag limits including skull size and sex for brown bear, and wounded animals, and the potential Tier I or Tier II subsistence 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 requirements for nonresidents hunting elk, mountain goat and brown bear to be accompanied by a guide; special provisions for Dall sheep, mountain goat, moose, and brown bear drawing permit hunts including resident and nonresident permit allocation, and brown bear permit application requirements for nonresidents. Additionally, permits for hunting black bear with the use of bait or scent lures including same day airborne take of bear, restrictions near roads, and definitions for “permanent dwelling,” “publicly maintained trail/road”, and “developed recreational facility.”
D. METHODS AND MEANS for taking big game, game, fur animals, AND FURBEARERS, including: Lawful methods of taking big game and game including restrictions for taking big game between civil twilights , from boats, and the same day airborne take of goats; lawful methods of taking furbearers and fur animals including trap identification, signage, breakaway mechanisms, minimum size for jaw spread, use of night vision and cameras or other wireless communication devices, and restrictions for trapping near trails, trailheads, beaches, roads, and dwellings.
E. POSSESSION, TRANSPORTATION AND THE USE OF GAME, including: Salvage requirements for black bear, sealing requirements for beaver, and evidence of sex and identity for moose.
F. GENERAL PROVISIONS, including: Harvest guideline levels for wolves, requirements for trapping education, and requirements for hunter orientation and safety education.
G. RESTRICTED AREAS, including: Areas closed to hunting and trapping including the Petersburg, Sitka, Thane, and Juneau Road Systems, Blind Slough, Anchorage River and Deep Creek drainages; proposed areas closed for trapping near roads, trails, beaches, structures, and campgrounds; controlled use areas including the Northeast Chichagof and Lower Kenai Controlled Use Area; and management areas including the Petersburg Management Area.
H. INTENSIVE MANAGEMENT AND PREDATOR CONTROL IMPLEMENTATION PLANS including: Prey populations and populations having a positive finding as identified big game prey populations including sheep in Units 7, 14, and 15, and deer in Unit 2; and predator control of wolves to benefit deer in Unit 2.
I. ADDITIONAL TOPICS: The board will address methods for taking beaver statewide (Proposal 272) at the Southeast Region meeting, January 23-27, 2026, and annual reauthorization of antlerless moose hunts and brown bear tag fee exemptions for other game management units (Proposals 249 – 261) at the Southcentral Region meeting, March 20-25, 2026.
The board may make changes to the hunting and trapping regulations as may be required to ensure the subsistence priority in AS 16.05.258, including reexamining customary and traditional use findings and determinations for amounts reasonably necessary for subsistence use.
The board will also consider non-regulatory items during this meeting such as 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 websites at https://adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=gameboard.meetinginfo or by contacting the ADF&G Boards Support Section Office at (907) 465-4110. Additional meeting information such as the roadmap, agency reports, and advisory committee and public comments will be added to the website as they become available.
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 https://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 indexed or included in the board meeting workbook, 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 9, 2026, for the Southeast Region meeting, and March 6, 2026, for the Southcentral 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 or information, will be withheld or redacted.
The public hearing portion of the meetings is scheduled for 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 and federal regional advisory council representatives may elect to provide testimony at a later portion of the meeting. Additional public hearings may be held throughout the meeting 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 which will be announced by the board chair prior to the meeting. The length of oral testimony may be limited to three to five minutes or less for members of the public and 10 to 15 minutes or less for fish and game advisory committee and federal regional advisory council representatives. Everyone interested in, or affected by, the subject matter contained in this legal notice should make written or oral comments if they wish to have their views considered by the board.
Tentative Board of Game Meeting Dates & Locations
Southeast Region Meeting
January 23-27, 2026
The James & Elsie Nolan Center
296 Campbell Drive
Wrangell, AK
Southcentral Region Meeting
March 20-25, 2026
Kodiak Marketplace
111 Rezanof Drive
Kodiak, AK
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) 465-4110. Please carefully review the PROPOSAL INDEX and the additional proposal listing on the above-mentioned website 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 hearing, 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) 465-4110 no later than two weeks prior to the beginning of the meeting to ensure that any necessary accommodations can be provided.
The ADF&G, Boards Support Section keeps a list of individuals and organizations interested in receiving emails for regulatory changes and board activities. Those on the list will automatically be emailed a copy of all of the board’s notices of proposed regulation changes. To be added to the list, visit the website at https://boardofgame.adfg.alaska.gov or contact ADF&G Boards Support Section at (907) 465-4110.
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 16.05.315; 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 5, 2025 / S /
Kristy Tibbles, Executive Director
ADF&G Boards Support Section
(907) 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 Southeast and Southcentral Regions, and other miscellaneous provisions.
- Citation of regulations: 5 AAC 84, 85, 92, 98, and 99
- Department of Law file numbers (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 Southeast and Southcentral Regions. Implement, interpret, or make specific the provisions of AS 16.05-16.30.
6. Appropriation/Allocation: Natural Resources and all RDUs; OMB Component Number 2048.
7. 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.
8. The name of the contact person for the regulations:
Name: Kristy Tibbles
Title: Executive Director, Board of 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
9. The origin of the proposed action:
X staff of state agency
X federal government
X general public
10. Date: December 5, 2025, Prepared by: /S/
Kristy Tibbles, Executive Director
ADF&G Boards Support Section
(907) 465-6098