Written by: Matthew Kertesz
With caribou in Alaska’s Mulchatna region facing steep population decline, the state government has adopted a controversial plan that has raised ethical concerns, as well as questions about the plan’s efficacy.[1] The plan surrounds a predator control program that empowers state authorities to aerially gun down bears and wolves from helicopters.[2] The state’s plan, which was approved under an Intensive Management law that was passed in the 1990s, was adopted despite a consensus of wildlife experts and biologists opposing the program and providing evidence that such programs are wholly ineffective.[3] According to Alaskan wildlife experts, the initiative has resulted in the needless death of hundreds of the areas precious bear and wolf population.[4]
There is no question that the Mulchatna caribou have faced a steep and concerning population loss that must be addressed and taken seriously. Since the late 1990s, the population has decreased from 200,000 caribou to just around 13,000 in 2019.[5] With the population on the decline, the State took action. However, a consensus of scientists assert that the predator control programs do not contribute to a solution and instead have the potential to further exacerbate the situation.[6]
Tragically, hundreds of bears and wolves have been gunned down as a result of this program.[7] At the same time, the caribou population has continued to decline at steep rates.[8]
The program has received recent attention due to the state’s attempt to extend it to federal lands. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (“ADFG”) submitted a plan, which received no public comment, that would “kill every bear, regardless of age or sex, within a nearly 3,000 square mile ‘control area’ each year.”[9]
Although the ADFG estimated that only 15-25 bears would be killed, in just four weeks between May and June 2023, the program’s first cull resulted in the death of 99 bears and 5 wolves.[10] Subsequently, the Alaska Wildlife Alliance (“AWA”) filed a lawsuit, challenging the state’s adoption of the program.[11] In their lawsuit, the AWA argued that the state unlawfully adopted the predator control program on federal lands, and did so “without public, biological, or fiscal review.”[12] In the meantime, the program continued in 2024, resulting in the deaths of another 81 bears and 14 wolves. In 2024 the cull alone cost Alaska $507,743 in operational costs.[13]
On March 3, 2025, the AWA’s case challenging the program was heard by the Alaska Superior Court.[14] On March 14, the court ruled against the program, finding that it was “unlawfully adopted and, therefore, void and without legal effect.”[15] The court agreed with the AWA’s argument that the ADFG violated Due Process by failing to provide the public with a “meaningful opportunity to be heard” regarding the proposal.[16] Furthermore, the court held that the ADFG failed to “consider all the important, relevant and material factors relating to the sustainability of a replenishable public wildlife resource prior to adoption of a regulatory proposal impacting a replenishable public resource.”[17]
However, just a week later, the ADFG successfully petitioned Alaska’s Statewide Board of Game to adopt an emergency regulation to reinstate the program.[18] According to the AWA:
“By framing this bear control program as an ‘emergency’ ADFG hopes to bypass the concerns of the Superior Court, which found that the Board of Game ‘did not have adequate, relevant population studies or any genuine data about bear sustainability in the area of the control program prior to adopting a proposal that would have an obvious impact on a constitutionally protected public resources’.”[19]
On April 10, the AWA petitioned the court for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the state from proceeding with the 2025 cull under their emergency regulation. The AWA argued that the emergency regulation continues to violate Due Process, violates the state’s sustainability requirements, and that the state failed to “establish a factual basis for an emergency.”[20]
There is no question that the Mulchatna caribou’s population decline is a pressing issue that requires the state’s attention. However, it is vital that the state adopt lawful and effective initiatives that won’t needlessly endanger Alaska’s iconic wildlife. The future of Alaskan wildlife, including the Mulchatna caribou, depends on the adoption of strategies rooted in scientific evidence and public participation.
[1] Mulchatna Bears Update, Ak. Wildlife Alliance, https://www.akwildlife.org/mulchatna-predator-control (last visited April 30, 2025).
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id. (stating that a reduction of “predators doesn’t lead to an increase in ungulates. Further, wolves and bears are known to prey on weaker animals, which may have helped keep brucellosis levels down in the Mulchatna herd.”)
[7] Mulchatna Bears Update, Ak. Wildlife Alliance, https://www.akwildlife.org/mulchatna-predator-control (last visited April 30, 2025).
[8] Mulchatna Caribou Trails, Ak. Dept. of Fish and Game (Summer 2021), https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/hunting/caribouhunting/pdfs/mulchatna_newsletter_summer_2021.pdf
[9] Mulchatna Bears Update, supra note 1.
[10] Id.
[11] Justice for Mulchatna Bears, Ak. Wildlife Alliance, https://www.akwildlife.org/news/mulchatnawin (last visited April 30, 2025).
[12] Id.
[13] Mulchatna Bears Update, supra note 1.
[14] Justice for Mulchatna Bears, supra note 11.
[15] Id.
[16] Id.
[17] Id.
[18] Petition for Emergency Regulations for Intensive Management of Mulchatna Caribou Herd, Ak. Dept. of Fish and Game (March 2025), https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/regprocess/gameboard/pdfs/2024-2025/swr/rcs/rc009_ADFG_Petition_for_Emergency_Regulations_for_Intensive_Management_of_Mulchatna_Caribou_Herd.pdf.
[19] Justice for Mulchatna Bears, supra note 11.
[20] AWA Files for Legal Action Against the State for Reopening the 2025 Mulchatna Bear Control Via Emergency Regulation, Ak. Wildlife Alliance, https://www.akwildlife.org/news/2025/mulchatnalegalaction