An Act Relating to Hunting on the Same Day Airborne

Updated: May 15, 1999

Sound Wildlife management dictates that predation pressure on a low or declining prey population is reduced far before the situation becomes an emergency. The current statutory language precludes this option. This means that the Board of Game and Department of Fish and Game cannot respond quickly to precipitous declines or to long-term declines in important prey populations, caused by weather or any other reason, even if consequences for thousands of Alaskans would be severe.

The current statute would preclude taking immediate action without board approval of a control program. In 1994 the department had to take immediate action to medicate or remove two louse-infected wolves that left the Kenai Peninsula in order to prevent the spread of lice to other parts of the state. While uncommon, such situations do occur and aerial shooting should remain a clear option.

The current wording of AS 16.05.783 has the appearance of allowing the Board of Game to authorize a wolf control program using aerial shooting, but the language chosen would make that nearly impossible without legal challenge. The use of the terms "adequate data", "no feasible solution" and "biological emergency" in AS 16.05.783(a)(1) are problematic from both biological and legal points of view. Rather than establishing workable standards for determining when predation control is appropriate, the language creates ambiguity in that regard, which will lead to endless legal challenges.

This bill would preserve the original stated intent of the 1996 ballot measure, but would more clearly provide the board and department the latitude to employ aerial shooting for management purposes. Management actions should not be considered "hunting" when performed by department personnel or persons acting as agents of the state.

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