00 SENATE BILL NO. 267 01 "An Act relating to management of game." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 16.05.020 is amended to read: 04  Sec. 16.05.020. Functions of commissioner. The commissioner shall 05  (1) supervise and control the department, and may appoint and employ 06 division heads, enforcement agents, and the technical, clerical, and other assistants 07 necessary for the general administration of the department; 08  (2) manage, protect, maintain, improve, and extend the fish [, GAME] 09 and aquatic plant resources of the state in the interest of the economy and general 10 well-being of the state; 11  (3)  manage, protect, maintain, improve, and extend the game 12 resources, other than big game resources, of the state in the interest of the 13 economy and general well-being of the state; 14  (4) manage, protect, maintain, improve, extend, and enhance the 01 big game resources of the state to achieve an abundance of game for human 02 utilization in accordance with scientific principles of biological resource 03 management; 04  (5) have necessary power to accomplish the foregoing , including, but 05 not limited to, the power to delegate authority to subordinate officers and employees 06 of the department. 07 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.050 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 08  (c) The commissioner shall accord a high priority to the implementation of 09 programs and regulations adopted by the Board of Game under AS 16.05.255(e) - (h) 10 and shall allocate fiscal and staff resources of the department as necessary to 11 implement those programs and regulations in a timely and effective manner. 12 * Sec. 3. AS 16.05.255(a) is amended to read: 13  (a) The Board of Game may adopt regulations  under [IT CONSIDERS 14 ADVISABLE IN ACCORDANCE WITH] AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 15  that the board considers necessary  for  the management of game in accordance 16 with scientific principles of biological resource management by 17  (1) setting apart game reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the 18 water or on the land of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval 19 of the legislature; 20  (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of 21 game; 22  (3) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit, 23 capture, taking, and transport of game, including regulations, consistent with resource 24 conservation and development goals, establishing means and methods that may be 25 employed by persons with physical disabilities; 26  (4) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex, age, and size 27 limitations on the taking of game; 28  (5) classifying game as game birds, song birds, big game animals, fur 29 bearing animals, predators, or other categories; 30  (6)  establishing methods, means, and harvest levels necessary to 31 control predation and competition among game in the state; 01  (7)  providing for watershed and habitat improvement, and 02 management, conservation, protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of 03 game; 04  (8) prohibiting the live capture, possession, transport, or release of 05 native or exotic game or their eggs; 06  (9) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of game 07 licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations between 08 registration areas and game management units or subunits is allowed; 09  (10) regulating sport hunting and subsistence hunting as needed for the 10 conservation, development, and utilization of game; 11  (11)  authorizing the taking  of game to ensure public safety. 12 * Sec. 4. AS 16.05.255(f) is amended to read: 13  (f) The Board of Game may not significantly reduce the taking of an identified 14 big game prey population by adopting regulations relating to restrictions on harvest or 15 access to the population, or to management of the population by customary 16 adjustments in seasons, bag limits, open and closed areas, methods and means, or by 17 other customary means authorized under (a) of this section, unless the board has 18 adopted regulations [, OR HAS SCHEDULED FOR ADOPTION AT THE NEXT 19 REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING OF THE BOARD REGULATIONS,] that 20 provide for intensive management to increase the take of the population for human 21 harvest consistent with (e) of this section. This subsection does not apply if the board 22  (1) determines that intensive management would be 23  (A) ineffective, based on scientific information; 24  (B) inappropriate due to land ownership patterns; or 25  (C) against the best interest of subsistence uses; or 26  (2) declares that a biological emergency exists and takes immediate 27 action to protect or maintain the big game prey population in conjunction with the 28 scheduling for adoption of those regulations that are necessary to implement (e) of this 29 section. 30 * Sec. 5. AS 16.05.255(g) is amended to read: 31  (g) The Board of Game shall establish [POPULATION AND HARVEST 01 GOALS AND] seasons for  taking [INTENSIVE MANAGEMENT OF] identified big 02 game prey populations  that are consistent with intensive management programs to 03 achieve a high level of human harvest  of the populations . 04 * Sec. 6. AS 16.05.255(h)(2) is amended to read: 05  (2) "high level of human harvest" means the allocation of a sufficient 06 portion of the harvestable surplus of a game population to achieve a  very high 07 probability of success for human harvest of the game population based on biological 08 capabilities of the population and considering hunter demand; 09 * Sec. 7. AS 16.05.783(a) is amended to read: 10  (a) A person may not shoot or assist in shooting a free-ranging wolf, 11 wolverine, fox, or lynx the same day that a person has been airborne. However, the 12 Board of Game may authorize a predator control program involving shooting from the 13 air if 14  (1) the commissioner [OF FISH AND GAME] acting under a request 15 from the Board of Game makes written findings [BASED ON PREY POPULATION 16 OBJECTIVES SET BY THE BOARD UNDER AS 16.05.255(g)] that 17  (A) predation is an important factor contributing to a low or 18 declining prey population that is inconsistent with a game management program 19 authorized by the  board [BOARD OF GAME], and that a reduction of 20 predation can reasonably be expected to result in aiding an increase in the prey 21 population or in arresting the decline of the prey population; or 22  (B) a disease or parasite of a predator population 23  (i) is threatening the normal biological condition of the 24 predator population; or 25  (ii) if left untreated, would spread to other populations; 26 and 27  (2) the commissioner determines that airborne or same day airborne 28 shooting is necessary to accomplish a game management program authorized by the 29  board [BOARD OF GAME].