The Alaska Board of Game Central and Southwest region stretches all the way from the Aleutian Islands to the Canadian border. This is the region that is up for the next series of rule changes by the Alaska Board of Game. For the next week, until Feb. 15, the Board will meet at the Best Western in Wasilla. The Board says this is a collective effort to improve the hunting rules of the region.
"It's an opportunity for the department to work with the board members and the public so we can discuss some of the issues that are the most important to most Alaskans," Alaska Department of Fish and Game Deputy Commissioner Craig Fleener said.
There are a lot of important topics, but the two that receive the most attention are predator control and subsistence.
"When you compare cost of living expenses and you have to depend on diesel and fossil fuels to heat your home, the cost of living is astronomical," Dillingham resident Frank Woods said. "When people depend on resources to feed their families and when you start taking that away, that's a cause for a lot of concern."
Both subsistence and predator control can be controversial topics, but the Alaska Board of Game says it has one single priority when it makes the final decision.
"Our first interest is to protect the resource," Alaska Board of Game Chairman Ted Spraker said. "I mean, that's our number one concern, is to make sure we provide for healthy populations of game. This is the most public process of any place in the country. Anyone can put a proposal in that doesn't come from the Department of Fish and Game or the Board or any group."
To see a complete list of all proposed regulation changes please click here.
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