Alaska Administrative Code
Title 5 - Fish and Game
Part 3 - Game
Chapter 92 - Statewide Provisions
Article 5 - Intensive Management and Predator Control
5 AAC 92.112 - Intensive Management Plans II
Universal Citation: 5 AK Admin Code 92.112
Current through November 28, 2024
(a) Plans established. Intensive management plans for the following areas are established in this section:
(1) Southern
Alaska Peninsula Predation Management Area;
(2) repealed 6/23/2022;
(b) Southern Alaska Peninsula Predation Management Area. Notwithstanding any other provisions in this title, and based on the following information contained in this subsection, the commissioner or the commissioner's designee may conduct a wolf population reduction or wolf population regulation program on the Alaska Peninsula in Unit 9(D). The control area includes all drainages of the Alaska Peninsula west of a line from the southernmost head of Port Moller Bay to the head of American Bay, encompassing approximately 3,819 square miles. The control program for this area is as follows:
(1) this is a continuing
control program that was first established by the Board of Game (board) in 2008
for wolf control; it is designed to increase the Southern Alaska Peninsula
Caribou Herd (SAPCH) on the mainland portion of Unit 9(D) to aid in achieving
intensive management (IM) objectives;
(2) caribou and wolf objectives are as
follows:
(A) the IM population objective for
the SAPCH as established in
5
AAC 92.108 is 1,500 - 4,000 caribou;
(B) the caribou harvest objective for the
SAPCH as established in
5
AAC 92.108 is 150 - 200 caribou in combination with
harvest from the Unimak caribou herd (UCH);
(C) the management objective for Unit 9
wolves is to maintain a wolf population that will sustain a three-year average
annual harvest of at least 50 wolves; and
(D) the brown bear population objective for
Unit 9 is to maintain a high- Density bear population with a sex and age
structure that can sustain a harvest composed of 60 percent males, with 50
males eight years of age or older during combined fall and spring
seasons;
(3) board
findings concerning populations and human use are as follows:
(A) the board has designated the SAPCH as
important for providing high levels of human consumptive use;
(B) the board established objectives for
population size and annual sustained harvest of caribou in Unit 9(D) consistent
with multiple use and principles of sound conservation and management of
habitat and all wildlife species in the area;
(C) the population and harvest is currently
below IM objectives for the SAPCH; however harvest is below objectives because
of low hunter participation;
(D)
wolves are a major predator of caribou in the range of the SAPCH and were an
important factor in population and harvest levels falling below IM objectives
during the mid 2000°s;
(E) a
reduction of predation was successful in achieving IM objectives in the late fl
2000°s, setting a precedent for future actions;
(F) nutrition is not considered to be the
primary factor limiting caribou population growth;
(G) future reduction in predation is likely
to be effective and feasible using recognized and prudent active management
techniques and based on scientific information;
(H) future reduction in predation is likely
to be effective given land ownership patterns; and
(I) future reduction in predation is in the
best interests of subsistence users and is recognized under the state's
intensive management law as an area where caribou are to be managed for high
levels of human consumptive use;
(4) authorized methods and means are as
follows:
(A) hunting and trapping of wolves
by the public in treatment areas during the term of the management program will
occur as provided in the hunting and trapping regulations set out elsewhere in
this title, including the use of motorized vehicles as provided in
5
AAC 92.080;
(B) the commissioner may issue public aerial
shooting permits, public land-and-shoot permits, or ground-based shooting
permits, or allow agents of the state or department employees to conduct
aerial, land-and-shoot, or ground-based shooting as a method of wolf removal
under AS
16.05.783, including the use of any type of
aircraft;
(C) the commissioner may
authorize the use of state employees or agents or state owned, privately owned,
or chartered equipment, including helicopters, as a method of wolf removal
under AS
16.05.783;
(5) time frame is as follows:
(A) through June 30, 2031, the commissioner
may authorize the removal of wolves in the Southern Alaska Peninsola Predation
Management Area to aid in population growth or improve harvest of the SAPCH;
and
(B) annually, the department
shall, to the extent practicable, provide to the board a report of program
activities conducted during the preceding 12 months, including implementation
activities, the status of caribou and wolf populations, and recommendations for
changes, if necessary, to achieve the objectives of the plan;
(6) The commissioner will review,
modify, or suspend program activities as follows:
(A) when the mid-point of the IM population
or harvest objectives for the SAPCH is achieved;
(B) if, after three years, the harvest of
wolves is not sufficient to make progress towards the IM population objectives
for wolves;
(C) if, after three
years, there is no detectable increase in the total number of caribou in the
control area;
(D) if, after three
years, bull-to-cow ratios show no appreciable increase or remain below 20 bulls
per 100 cows;
(E) if, after three
years, fall calf-to-cow ratios show no appreciable increase or can be sustained
at 25 or more calves per 100 cows;
(F) if, after three years, any measure
consistent with significant levels of nutritional stress in the caribou
population are identified; or
(G)
when the caribou population and harvest objectives within the SAPCH Predation
Management Area have been met.
(c) repealed 6/23/2022.
Authority:AS 16.05.255
AS 16.05.270
AS 16.05.783
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