Effort fails to limit non-resident bear hunting permits

KODIAK, Alaska – The Alaska Board of Game has voted against proposed changes to bear hunting regulations, including a measure to reserve at least 90 per cent of Kodiak brown bear permits for Alaska residents.

The board struck down all but four of 18 proposals for changes to the rules during a meeting in Anchorage, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Monday.

Several rejected proposals would have limited permits for non-Alaska residents, according to board member Larry Van Daele. About two-thirds of the bear permits are allocated to the state’s residents.

Non-resident hunters must hire bear guides at costs ranging from $10,000 and $22,000, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.

The proposed permit restrictions on non-resident hunters would have hurt the Kodiak economy, Van Daele said.

“It would have essentially wiped out the guiding business,” he said.

Some of the changes were proposed by the group Resident Hunters of Alaska.

The group formed because of “resident hunter dismay at how our current Alaska Board of Game has been managing the allocation of our game” and a perception that the state board favours the big game guide industry, according to the group’s website.

The board also passed three proposals for hunting mountain goats, which state biologists said are increasing in the Kodiak region.

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Information from: Kodiak (Alaska) Daily Mirror, http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com