Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
January 2005

Alaska’s Trophy Blacktail Deer

Although Alaska is home to bigger, more dangerous and more glamorous big game, Sitka blacktail deer hold a special place in the hearts of some hunters.

Two islands 700 miles apart consistently produce Alaska's biggest deer - Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska and Kodiak Island in Southwest. Most Sitka blacktail average in the 90 to 120 pound range, but big deer on Prince of Wales and Kodiak are much larger, reaching weights between 175 and 200 pounds.

Blacktail are closely ...   Trophy Deer ArticleContinued

McNeil River State Game Sanctuary:
A Bear Viewing Success Story

I stepped out of the wooden outhouse, exhaled and gingerly closed the door. The inside of the door is plastered with cartoons about bears. Comic strips clipped from newspapers depicting bears and garbage, bear safety, bears and habitat – all things “bears.” This is appropriate for an outhouse in the campground at McNeil River State Game Sanctuary in Southwest Alaska, one of the state's (if not the world's) premier bear viewing areas. It is a wild place with few amenities, where bears go about daily ...   McNeil River Bears ArticleContinued

Snorkeling for Atlantic Salmon
Stalking invasive species in Alaska waters

Face down in the freezing water of a remote Alaska salmon stream, Bob Piorkowski was hunting an unwanted invader - Atlantic salmon. Bundled into a bulky dry suit and buffeted by the current, Piorkowski passed over tens of thousands of native fish and was happy to come up empty handed.

As the coordinator of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Invasive Species Program, Piorkowski has monitored Atlantic salmon sightings in Alaskan waters for years. He's now taken it one step further, ...   Frigid Snorkeling ArticleContinued

School Begins on the Banks of the Kuskokwim

(Erik Anderson is an Aquatic Education Specialist for the Alaska Department of Fish & Game's Division of Sport Fish. One of the more enviable aspects of his job is traveling around Interior, Northern, and Western Alaska teaching about topics such as watersheds, plankton, aquatic invertebrates, and fish. Erik teaches students about the natural environment so that as stewards of Alaska, they will be responsible users of our valuable fish and wildlife resources.)

In early September, I was ...   Kuskokwim Kids Fish ArticleContinued

Research Ideas Range from Whales to Warblers

Bowhead whales and boreal owls are among the wide range of research projects proposed for the upcoming year through the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Wildlife Diversity program.

The federally funded program encourages cooperative partnerships between scientists and agencies and aims to add to knowledge about nongame wildlife in Alaska. The money comes from the federal State Wildlife Grant program, signed into law in fiscal year 2002.

Biologist Mary Rabe, the program coordinator ...   Nongame research ArticleContinued

A New Look at Alaska’s Salmon Fishing Industry

In an effort to improve Alaska's commercial salmon industry, the Board of Fisheries recently formed a group to provide suggestions and options for restructuring the state's commercial salmon fishing.

The Salmon Industry Restructuring Panel is charged with examining options, identifying research and information needs, and reviewing models on the range of alternatives for Alaska's commercial salmon fisheries. The panel is composed of harvesters, processors, hatchery operators, along with ...   Salmon industry ArticleContinued

Funding Game Management
Editorial

For many, an opportunity to visit Alaska to hunt or sport fish is a life-long dream. For those of us lucky enough to live here, hunting, trapping and sport fishing is a way of life. Nowhere else in the world are ungulate populations such as moose, caribou and sheep so healthy and salmon runs so plentiful. Together, our fish and wildlife resources make Alaska a world-class destination for hunting, trapping and sport fishing.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) wants to preserve ...   Funding Management ArticleContinued