Last week, the Alaska Board of Game reinstated a controversial predator control program that allows for the killing of wild bears this spring, in an effort to boost the struggling Mulchatna caribou herd. The emergency regulation came just 13 days after a judge struck down the original regulation, ruling it unconstitutional.
Since 2011, the state has used intensive management predator control measures—including aerial wolf hunting—to support the Mulchatna Caribou Herd’s growth. In 2022, the program expanded to include bears, leading to the removal of 175 brown bears and five black bears over the past two years.
Opponents, including Alaska Wildlife Alliance who brought the lawsuit to court, argue that the state failed to follow public process rules when it added bears to the program. They also questioned whether there is enough science to justify the removals.
On March 14, Superior Court Judge Andrew Guidi ruled that the Board of Game had violated the state’s public process requirements. He said the board did not give adequate public notice before approving bear removals, and that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game failed to demonstrate the program met the state constitution’s sustained-yield mandate.
The ruling halted predator control efforts in the Mulchatna region.
In response, ADF&G petitioned the Board of Game to reauthorize the program under emergency status, arguing that immediate action was necessary to improve calf survival this season. Emergency regulations bypass standard public comment requirements and are effective for 120 days.
The board unanimously agreed that the situation qualified as an emergency and voted 5–2 to move directly into a hearing rather than delaying for further public input.
During the hearing, ADF&G biologist for the Dillingham area, John Landsiedel, testified that the program is showing signs of success.
“The caribou calves have shown a positive response to this treatment with the two highest calf-to-cow ratios in the west Mulchatna since at least 1999,” Landsiedel said.
Landsiedel also sought to demonstrate that the program is not harming the overall bear population. He cited reports of increased bear numbers and past surveys showing healthy populations.
“The removal of these predators during a limited time frame and within a limited area will have negligible effects on predator populations at the unit level,” Landsiedel said. “This focused removal area represents less than 2% of the greater area used by the west Mulchatna.”
The Mulchatna herd once numbered around 200,000 in the late 1990s. Today, it’s estimated at just 15,000. The caribou hunt has been closed since 2021, and the subsistence needs in 48 communities have gone unmet since 2004, according to the department.
Following the hearing, the board approved the emergency regulation in a 6–1 vote.
Board member Stosh Hoffman of Bethel was one of the yes votes. He commented on the need to restore the herd for subsistence users.
“Right now we have a herd that is shut down where a large number of people can’t put caribou in their freeze and it’s not going to grow if they don't have calf survival,” Hoffman said. “We are in tough times out here, a lot of things are changing. The salmon is in big decline. Our moose population- everyone knows it's going to tip over real soon like new moose populations tend to do.”
Hoffman also noted a perceived rise in bear populations in his comments.
“These villages now are moving their fish camps to towns, which they normally didn't do. Otherwise if they don't do that, the bears are going to take their fish that they were drying to eat,” Hoffman said. “Those are actual things that are happening recently since the bear program was put in place.”
Board member John Wood cast the lone dissenting vote, saying he wasn’t given enough time to review the materials.
“I'm just not comfortable, in fact I'm very uncomfortable with the process being followed,” Wood said. “But it's nothing that the department could have done otherwise. The lawsuit came out when the lawsuit came out and they reacted pretty darn quickly, just not quick enough for me to make a decision.”
Nicole Schmitt, executive director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, said the board’s emergency action further sidelined public involvement. She says she was shocked by the decision.
“We were expecting that the board would call a meeting together and have a public comment period. Something like that. We were not expecting this,” Schmitt said. “It was just so outside of the realm of what is normal or what we could conceive as a next step. I mean, it's just so defiant to the court order and so I think everyone’s been scrambling to understand how this happened.”
Schmitt says the board failed to address the core issues raised in court and still hasn’t provided adequate data to justify the bear removals. She says that there’s been no conclusive research showing bear predation is a primary factor in the caribou’s decline—or what impact the removals may have on the bear population.
“That has never been presented in 2022 and it was not presented last week. And that, fundamentally, was what the court ruled the board needed to do,” Schmitt said.
Schmitt says her organization is considering further legal options.
With the board’s approval, ADF&G plans to move forward with predator control efforts in mid-May and continue into early June, depending on weather conditions.
