Alaska Administrative Code › Title 5 - Fish and Game › Part 3 - Game › Chapter 92 - Statewide Provisions › Article 5 - Intensive Management and Predator Control › 5 AAC 92.126 - Non-Intensive Management Predator Control Plans

Current through May 31, 2024
(a) Non-intensive
				  management plans are established under this section in areas described in this
				  section.
(b)
Unit 26(B) Musk
				  Oxen Recovery 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 selective, lethal,
				  brown bear removal to allow recovery of the musk oxen population in Unit 26(B):
(1) the Unit 26(B) Musk Oxen Recovery Area is
				  established and consists of all lands within Unit 26(B); this recovery program
				  does not apply to any National Park Service or National Wildlife Refuge lands
				  unless approved by the federal agencies;
(2) musk oxen and brown bear objectives are
				  as follows:
(A) Unit 26(B) musk oxen are not
				  managed intensively for high levels of human harvest, but are managed to
				  provide hunting opportunities; the population objective is a minimum of 300
				  musk oxen that are one year old or older during April surveys; achieving this
				  objective will allow re-establishment of a hunting season and also enhance and
				  maintain viewing opportunity; the harvest objective is 3 - 9 musk oxen
				  annually, once the population reaches 300 musk oxen and a harvestable surplus
				  is available;
(B) the brown bear
				  population objective for Unit 26(B) is to maintain the current estimated
				  population of 200 - 320 bears, while annually removing up to 20 brown bears
				  identified as threatening or killing musk oxen; limiting the number of bears
				  that can be removed will assure that brown bears persist as part of the natural
				  ecosystem and will assure continued brown bear hunting and viewing
				  opportunities;
(3)
				  findings of the Board of Game (board) concerning populations and human use are
				  as follows:
(A) the Unit 26(B) musk oxen
				  population and harvest objectives have not been achieved, based on the
				  following:
(i) the musk oxen population size
				  was estimated at 190 musk oxen in April 2011; musk oxen numbers in Unit 26(B)
				  increased during 1990 - 1995 from 122 to 330 musk oxen; some of this increase
				  in population was the result of immigration from Unit 26(C); during the
				  mid-to-late 1990s, numbers stabilized at around 265 - 300 musk oxen through
				  2003; subsequently, the population declined to 216 musk oxen by 2006, and
				  during 2007 - 2011, the population in Unit 26(B) slightly declined and
				  stabilized at its current, reduced population size;
(ii) the hunting season for musk oxen in Unit
				  26(B) has been closed since regulatory year 2006 - 2007; the first hunting
				  season in Unit 26(B) was in 1990; during 1990 - 1997, all hunting was by Tier
				  II permit; in regulatory year 1998 - 1999, the board determined that the amount
				  necessary for subsistence was 20 musk oxen in Unit 26(A) and Unit 26(B), west
				  of the Dalton Highway Management Corridor and established a Tier II hunt; the
				  board also determined that the amount necessary for subsistence was four musk
				  oxen in Unit 26(B), east of the Dalton Highway Management Corridor and
				  established a Tier I registration hunt for residents only; a drawing permit
				  hunt was also established for residents only; three permits were issued
				  annually for bull musk oxen in Unit 26(B), east of the Dalton Highway, and the
				  harvest of up to five musk oxen were authorized by the board; beginning in
				  regulatory year 2005 - 2006, permits were not issued for the drawing and Tier I
				  registration hunts, east of the Dalton Highway in Unit 26(B); this was in
				  response to the sharp decline in musk oxen numbers following 2003; however, the
				  Tier II subsistence hunt west of the Dalton Highway remained open until
				  regulatory year 2006 - 2007, when no permits to hunt musk oxen were issued for
				  any of the hunts;
(B)
				  predation by brown bears was identified as a primary source of mortality on
				  musk oxen and is an important cause of the failure to achieve the population
				  and harvest objectives, based on the following:
(i) during 2007 - 2011, brown bear predation
				  was identified as the primary source of mortality; 62 percent of the documented
				  total adult musk oxen mortality (
n
=73) was attributed to
				  brown bear predation, which accounted for an average of nine adult musk oxen
				  deaths annually; during the same time period, 58 percent of documented calf
				  mortality (
n
=45) was caused by brown bear predation; this
				  resulted in an annual average of five calves known to be preyed on by brown
				  bears; over the five years, a total of 74 calves were classified as "missing";
				  their fates were unknown and not included in the above calculations;
(ii) during 2007 - 2011, the habitat appeared
				  capable of supporting a larger musk oxen population; captured musk oxen were
				  generally in good condition, and birth rates were sufficient to provide for
				  population growth, but growth was not realized because of poor survival;
				  concentrations of some trace nutrients in musk oxen body tissues were believed
				  to be suboptimal for survival; an imbalance of trace minerals, particularly low
				  copper and selenium with elevated concentrations of zinc and iron, can
				  negatively affect immune systems and make musk oxen more susceptible to
				  diseases and potentially more vulnerable to predation; thus, it is possible
				  that habitat limitations may have been obscured by high mortality due to
				  predation; controlling predation will help answer this question;
(C) reducing predation can
				  reasonably be expected to aid in achieving the objectives, based on the
				  following:
(i) during 2004 - 2011, the
				  population remained relatively stable at around 200 musk oxen; evidence
				  indicates that the number of yearlings being recruited annually approximately
				  equaled the number of adult musk oxen dying annually; if survival rates of
				  either adult musk oxen or calves increase, then the musk oxen population would
				  be expected to increase; reducing predation on adults and calves should change
				  survival rates of one or both; during 1987 - 1995, the annual rate of increase
				  for the entire population was seven percent; this time period should be
				  representative of what population growth rate Unit 26(B) musk oxen could
				  experience if bear predation is reduced and habitat is not limiting; therefore,
				  in a best case scenario, it would take approximately seven years for the musk
				  oxen population to reach 300 musk oxen;
(ii) when the musk oxen population increases
				  to 300 musk oxen one year old or older during April surveys, a hunt will be
				  established if a harvestable surplus is available;
(D) reducing predation is likely to be
				  effective and feasible using recognized and prudent active management
				  techniques and based on scientific information; selectively removing brown
				  bears to reduce predation is an experimental approach, based on the hypothesis
				  that relatively few individual bears commonly kill musk oxen; brown bear
				  radiotracking data collected during 1991 - 2007 indicated that several
				  radiocollared adult males were responsible for multiple musk oxen predation
				  events in early spring in a given year or over several years; this suggests
				  that targeting individual bears should be effective, especially for reducing
				  the incidence of multiple kills in spring; most of the predation was caused by
				  male bears before the time when females emerge from dens;
(E) reducing predation is likely to be
				  effective given land ownership patterns, based on the following:
(i) most of Unit 26(B) is state land; the
				  land ownership pattern is 69 percent state land, 29 percent federal land, and 2
				  percent private land; of the 29 percent federal lands, 12 percent is Bureau of
				  Land Management, and these lands are available for bear control; total land
				  available for bear control is 72 - 74 percent of the unit;
(ii) only two of the 8 - 15 total musk oxen
				  groups in Unit 26(B) occasionally occur on federal lands within the Arctic
				  National Wildlife Refuge;
(F) reducing predation is in the best
				  interests of subsistence users because no harvest is currently taking place; an
				  increase in the population that results in sustainable harvest will benefit all
				  residents;
(4)
				  permissible methods and means are as follows:
(A) hunting of brown bears by the public in
				  Unit 26(B) during the term of the program may occur as provided in the hunting
				  regulations set out elsewhere in this title; however, hunting will be
				  restricted as necessary to maintain the current estimated population of 200 -
				  320 bears;
(B) notwithstanding any
				  other provisions in this title, the commissioner may allow agents of the state
				  accompanied by department employees, or department employees, to conduct
				  aerial, land and shoot, or ground-based lethal removal of any sex and age of
				  brown bear using state-owned, privately-owned, or chartered equipment,
				  including helicopters, under
				  AS
				  16.05.783;
(5) the anticipated time frame for update and
				  reevaluation are as follows:
(A) through June
				  30, 2018, the commissioner may authorize removal of bears in the Unit 26(B)
				  Musk Oxen Recovery Area;
(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 the musk oxen and brown bear
				  populations, and recommendations for changes, if necessary to achieve the
				  objectives of the plan;
(C) the
				  program will be reviewed and modified or suspended if there is no evidence of
				  improved survival or a detectable increase in the Unit 26(B) musk oxen
				  population after three years of bear removal.