Intensive Management in Alaska
Overview
Harvesting wild game is extremely important to many Alaskan families. Participating in the hunt and sharing the bounty of economical, wild-grown meat are long-standing traditions.
The Alaska Legislature recognized the importance of wild game meat to Alaskans when it passed the Intensive Management Law in 1994. This law requires the Alaska Board of Game to identify moose, caribou, and deer populations that are especially important food sources for Alaskans and to insure that these populations remain large enough to allow for adequate and sustained harvest.
If the selected moose, caribou, or deer populations drop below what the Board of Game (Board) determines is needed to meet people's needs, the Board directs the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) to undertake intensive management of that population. Intensive management is a process that starts with investigating the causes of low moose, caribou, or deer numbers, and then involves steps to increase their numbers. This can include restricting hunting seasons and bag limits, improving habitat, and predation control.
ADF&G is committed to maintaining healthy populations of all our resources, including moose, caribou, deer, wolves, and bears. The department will continue to manage Alaska's wildlife populations with the health of all wildlife, sustainable harvests, and conservation as our guiding principles.
Understanding Predator Management
Wolves and bears are very effective and efficient predators on caribou, moose, deer, and other wildlife. In most of Alaska, humans also rely on the same species for food. Predators often kill more than 80 percent of the moose and caribou that die during an average year, while humans take less than 10 percent. In much of the state, predation holds prey populations at levels far below what could be supported by the habitat in the area. Predation is an important part of the ecosystem, and all ADF&G management programs, including control programs, are designed to sustain predator populations in the future.
General Information
- Intensive Management – Stories of Success (PDF 522 kB)
- Intensive Management Protocol, December 2011 (PDF 893 kB)
- Predation Management Summary, 2007–2009 (PDF 66 kB)
- Presentation by Dr. Kim Titus, "Predator and Prey Management in Alaska: It's Complicated," September 25, 2009, at the University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, Alaska
- Presentation by Dr. Kim Titus to the Alaska Forum on the Environment, February 2009 (PDF 523 kB)
- Presentation by Mark McNay to the Alaska Board of Game, May 2006 (PDF 949 kB)
- Overview of Relationships Between Bears, Wolves, and Moose in Alaska
- Historic Perspective on Wolf Management
- Predator Control Regulations: A must-read for persons wishing to participate in any of Alaska's predator control programs
- Understanding Intensive Management and Predator Control in Alaska: Narrated Slide Presentation
Press Releases
- 03-21-2025: ADF&G Petitions the Alaska Board of Game for Emergency Regulations to Continue Predator Control to Benefit Mulchatna Caribou (PDF 164 kB) in Southwest Alaska
- 03-15-2025: State Disappointed by Court Decision to Halt Predator Control to Benefit Mulchatna (PDF 230 kB)
- 06-06-2023: ADF&G Concludes Predator Control for the Year to Benefit Mulchatna Caribou (PDF 227 kB)
- 05-05-2015: Agencies Team Up to Create, Maintain Habitat for Moose and Other Wildlife
- 05-29-2014: Unit 19A Predator Control Program Provides Meat for Western Interior Villages (PDF 132 kB)
- 08-09-2013: ADF&G Announces Multifaceted Effort to Rebuild Kenai Peninsula Moose Populations (PDF 122 kB)
- 03-05-2012: Bear Control Program Approved on Middle Kuskokwim River (PDF 89 kB)
- 12-20-2011: ADF&G Releases Intensive Management Protocol (PDF 99 kB)
- 03-11-2011: Brown Bear Control Program Approved in Unit 16B (PDF 78 kB)
- 05-20-2010: State Wildlife Managers: Immediate action Required to Protect Unimak Island Caribou Herd (PDF 80 kB)
- 04-15-2010: ADF&G Responds to National Park Service Closure Announcement (PDF 81 kB)
- 03-18-2010: Update: Upper Yukon Tanana Wolf Control Program (PDF 109 kB)
- 02-03-2010: Decline of Unimak Caribou Concerns State Wildlife Managers (PDF 81 kB)
- 09-04-2009: Black Bear Foot-Snaring Program (PDF 28 kB)
- 07-02-2009: Southern Alaska Peninsula Caribou Herd Calf Survival Increases (PDF 80 kB)
- 07-02-2009: Status of Intensive Management Programs Reported (PDF 86 kB)
- 03-16-2009: Fish and Game Staff to Conduct Predator Control in Eastern Alaska (PDF 23 kB)
- 03-09-2009: Board of Game Makes Changes to Southcentral Intensive Management (PDF 80 kB)