JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A judge ruled Wednesday that Alaska wildlife law enforcement officers can resume shooting black and brown bears — including using helicopters — as part of a plan to help restore caribou herds that were once an important food source for Alaska Native hunters.
Two conservation groups, the Alaska Wildlife Federation and the Center for Biological Diversity, are trying to halt the program while a lawsuit challenging its legality is underway. But Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman said the groups had failed to prove the state had no reasonable basis for approving the plan.
The timing of the ruling is important: The Mulchatna caribou herd in southwestern Alaska is expected to start calving soon. Babies are particularly vulnerable to being eaten by bears or wolves.
State officials consider the bear cull program important to helping the caribou herd recover. The herd once provided about 4,770 caribou each year to subsistence hunters from dozens of communities, with a peak population of about 190,000.
But reindeer numbers began to decline in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and numbered about 13,000 in 2019. Last year’s population was estimated at about 16,280, according to the state Department of Fish and Game. Hunting is prohibited from 2021.
The state killed 180 bears, mostly brown bears, from 2023 to 2024 and killed 11 more bears last year, according to the conservation group’s lawsuit. The groups argue that the Alaska Game Commission authorized the reinstatement of the program last year without providing key data on the bears’ numbers and sustainability.
Cooper Freeman, director of the Alaska Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement that the groups want to see the caribou herds thrive, “but the state has given absolutely no indication that uncontrolled bear hunting will help us achieve that goal.”
“We need to stop this shameful waste of the nation’s limited resources and protect all of our wildlife based on science,” Freeman said.
State prosecutors said officials “took a hard look” at factors related to bear populations in adopting the plan.
“The bear population has remained low but has shown a positive response since 2023, when bear removals began during the calving season,” they wrote in a court filing.
Alaska Department of Law spokesman Sam Curtis said in an email that he welcomed Zeman’s decision “to allow this management plan to continue during the upcoming caribou calving season, a critical time for the caribou herd’s recovery.” The department represents the Board of Directors and the Department of Fish and Game.
“Based on the scientific record, it makes sense to continue this program,” Curtis said.
Alaska trustee attorneys representing conservation groups are reviewing the ruling and “will consider all available options,” spokesperson Madison Grosvenor said in an email.
The program has been the subject of ongoing litigation. Last year, in a case previously brought by the Alaska Wildlife Federation, a judge found flaws in the bill’s adoption process and concluded the state lacked data on bear sustainability.
The emergency regulations imposed by the state were later repealed. The board then announced a public process surrounding plans to reauthorize the program, which took place last July.
