Waterfowl Hunting in Alaska

Mendenhall Wetlands
State Game Refuge
Waterfowl Hunting Zone
Designations and Implementation

Management Policies and Guidelines
Division of Wildlife Conservation

Intent

The intent of these management guidelines is to establish the procedures and protocols for addressing and managing waterfowl hunting within zones on the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge (MWSGR). These guidelines will be utilized when categorizing information on incidents or complaints received by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ), or federal regulatory agencies, and in determining what, if any, action should be taken. This document is intended to be a guide for actions taken by ADF&G in response to hunting related incidents occurring within the boundaries of the MWSGR. MWSGR managers are encouraged to review and modify this policy following any regulatory changes applicable to the MWSGR, any relevant ordinance changes by the CBJ, and routinely as a function of area management responsibility reviews. This policy may be modified by MWSGR managers with the approval of the Division of Wildlife Conservation's (DWC) Region I Supervisor, and in consultation with local sportsmen's and advisory groups.

Scope

The MWSGR Zone management policies and guidelines will only provide guidance on actions taken within zones 1-11 (Appendix I) of the refuge during authorized waterfowl hunting seasons, as described in Alaska Administrative Code 5 AAC 92.520. Incidents to be included in this policy include, but are not limited to: Fatal Human Injuries, Non-Fatal Human Injuries, Real Property Damage, Trespass, Wildlife Violations, and General Complaints. Courses of action taken by ADF&G to be included in these policies and guidelines include Educational Campaigns, Zone Closures, and Zone openings.. General refuge information is not addressed in these policies and guidelines. General information will be disseminated through PSA protocols.

Incident Tracking

Incidents and complaints will be tracked and archived by DWC staff in the Douglas office. Tracking will be achieved by recording the incident and/or complaint on the MWSGR Complaint Form (Appendix II). Reports and complaints forwarded to ADF&G by other agencies shall be recorded and archived in the same manner on MWSGR Complaint Forms. Every effort will be made to maintain communication with the Alaska Alaska Wildlife Troopers (AWT), U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Law Enforcement (USFWS-LE), Juneau Police Department (JPD), and CBJ to obtain relevant incident information.

Incident Description and Definitions

Fatal Human Injury

Human death that is determined, through law enforcement investigation, to be caused by negligence or accident during the course of waterfowl hunting. Natural causes of death are not included as hunting-related fatal human injuries.

Non Fatal Human Injury

Any injury, regardless of degree, that is determined through law enforcement investigation, to be caused by accident or negligence during the course of waterfowl hunting.

Real Property Damage

Damage to a home, land, vehicle, boat, outbuilding, or the like that is caused by firearms, bullets, pellets, person, or a person's vehicle, pet, or other property. Real property damage must be substantiated by law enforcement (AWT, USFWS-LE, JPD) or ADF&G personnel.

Trespass

The unlawful entry onto legally owned property by any person without verbal or written permission of the owner or the owner's designee. Enforcement of trespassing laws on private land bordering the MWSGR is a function of CBJ enforcement agencies.

Wildlife Violation

Wildlife statute or regulatory infractions occurring on the MWSGR during the course of waterfowl hunting activities. Wildlife violations are investigated, and regulations enforced, under existing statute and regulations by state and federal wildlife enforcement agencies.

General Complaints

Complaints received by ADF&G that include non-fatal injuries, property damage, or trespass. Complaints may include objections to hunting in general, hunting near residential areas, hunting safety, or ethics concerns. General complaints differ from incidents described above in that the complaints encompass widespread topics and issues, rather than specific incidents.

Course of Action Description

Courses of action will be determined by MWSGR managers with guidance provided by this document. Courses of action will be based on the severity of incidents or complaints, the chronological history of incident(s) or complaints, the ability to identify responsible parties, agency substantiation of incidents or complaints, and the estimated timeline for resolution. Every effort will be made by MWSGR managers to gather incident and complaint evidence and/or information, either directly or through cooperation with other agencies, before determining courses of action.

Zone Closure

The act of closing an identified zone through discretionary permit authority due to incident(s) described above. Zones will remain closed until managers believe the issue has been addressed. The duration of a zone closure is at the discretion of the MWSGR manager but shall be approved by DWC's Region I Supervisor if longer than two weeks. Zone closures will be announced to the public through established information dissemination procedures. Guidance for Zone closures is included in Appendix III.

Zone Reopening

The act of reopening zones through discretionary permit authority when complaints and/or incidents have been resolved or a sufficient amount of time has passed for MWSGR managers to inform the public about the existing status of zones and possible future actions in those zones. Zones may be reopened after completion of refuge-related law enforcement investigations on the MWSGR during waterfowl hunting seasons. Zone reopening will be announced to the public through established information dissemination procedures. Guidance for Zone opening is included in Appendix III.

Education Campaign

When determined by MWSGR managers that a MWSGR incident or complaint can be best addressed through education, informational venues (i.e., news releases, flyers, letters) will be used to generally describe the incident or complaint, the concern the incident or complaint has raised, and the corrective action(s) taken. Incidents or complaints requiring multiple education campaigns, without resolution, may lead to zone closures (Appendix III).

These guidelines are approved and shall be implemented as of August 17, 2007 in the management of the MWSGR.

Doug Larsen
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Division of Wildlife Conservation
Region 1 Supervisor

Ryan Scott
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Division of Wildlife Conservation
MWSGR Manager

Appendix I

MWSGR Zone Map

Appendix III

MWSGR Complaint Form (PDF 14 kB)

Course of Action Guidance

Fatal Human Injury

  1. Fatality must have occurred on MWSGR and determined by law enforcement personnel to have occurred due to waterfowl hunting activity.
  2. Zone in which fatality occurred is closed to waterfowl hunting immediately.
  3. Zone may be reopened upon completion of law enforcement investigation.
  4. Zone closures longer than two weeks require approval by DWC's Region I supervisor.
  5. Educational campaign will be implemented and focused on safe hunting practices if fatality is determined to be a hunting-related accident.

Non-Fatal Human Injury

  1. Injury must have occurred on MWSGR and determined by law enforcement personnel to have occurred due to waterfowl hunting activity.
  2. Zone in which injury occurred is closed immediately.
  3. Zone may be reopened upon completion of law enforcement investigation.
  4. Zone closure will not extend beyond two weeks without approval from DWC's Region I Supervisor.
  5. Educational campaign will be implemented and focused on safe hunting practices if injury is determined to be related to waterfowl hunting.

Real Property Damage

  1. Real property damage must be substantiated by ADF&G personnel either directly, or through cooperative efforts with other agencies.
  2. ADF&G personnel must determine or be reasonably confident that damage is the result of waterfowl hunting activity on the MWSGR.
  3. If responsible parties are identified, information will be forwarded to proper enforcement agencies.
  4. Zones will not be closed if responsible party is identified, information is forwarded to enforcement agencies, and additional incidents or real property damage does not occur at the same location during the waterfowl season.
  5. Zone closures will be implemented if more than one substantiated real property damage incident occurs at the same location or to the same property owner during a waterfowl hunting season.
  6. Zone closures may be implemented if more than one substantiated real property damage incident of a previously recorded type or method occurs during a waterfowl hunting season.
  7. Zone closures will not extend beyond two weeks without approval from DWC's Region I Supervisor.
  8. An education campaign will be used to inform the public of the incident, the current and future status of the zone, and safe hunting practices.
  9. Zones may be reopened if similar incidents do not reoccur and, in the judgment of MWSGR managers, additional incident information is not available or forthcoming.

Trespass

  1. Zones will not be affected by trespass complaints. Trespass complaints received by ADF&G will be forwarded to the Juneau Police Department.
  2. An education campaign will be used to remind hunters of pertinent MWSGR land ownership.

Wildlife Violations

  1. Zones will not be closed due to wildlife violations. Wildlife violations are addressed in established regulatory processes. Wildlife violation information will be forwarded to the appropriate enforcement agency.
  2. An educational campaign may be used to inform the public of the incident, and pertinent MWSGR regulatory information.

General Complaints

  1. Zones will not be closed due to general complaints. Complaints will be categorized as general when the information does not conform to any of the incident descriptions previously listed.
  2. ADF&G personnel will record general complaints and, if the information received is applicable to other described incidents, managers may refer to the appropriate incident and course of action descriptions for further guidance.
  3. If, in the judgment of MWSGR managers, multiple complaints of a similar nature are received, an educational campaign will be implemented to provide the appropriate hunting safety and refuge regulatory information.