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SPECIFIC MANAGEMENT POLICIES 



Recreational Uses 



In Alaska, hunting to obtain skins for trophies is presently the most important 

 consumptive use of polar bears. One of the goals of management will be to pro- 

 vide maximum opportunity for recreational hunting of high esthetic quality. 

 Various management techniques as follows will be used to achieve this objective. 



1. Seasons will be long to provide hunting opportunity to a maximum number 

 of persons and to keep concentrations of hunters at a minimum. 



2. Cubs and females with cubs will continue to be protected. 



3. Hunting will be from the ground, ice or water only, and use of aircraft to 

 assist in taking bears will not be allowed. There are several reasons for 

 eliminating the use of aircraft. Tracking bears and then driving them to hunters 

 by plane, as is commonly done when aircraft are used for hunting, is esthetically 

 unacceptable as a hunting method. Also, the demand for polar bear skins is so 

 great, that when aircraft hunting is allowed, it is profitable for aircraft opera- 

 tors to kill bears for commercial sale of skins. This illegal hunting, when 

 done in conjunction with a legitimate use of aircraft for hunting, is extremely 

 diflBcult and perhaps impossible to control. Polar bears taken in this manner are 

 not accounted for in harvest statistics, and the number taken could be large 

 enough to substantially reduce the bear population. Public pressure against 

 airplane hunting could weaken local management control to the disadvantage 

 of coastal Alaskan residents. It would be unfortunate if Alaska lost control 

 of bears along its coast. 



Observation and photography of polar bears is a limited recreational use 

 which could become more popular in the future. The Department will encourage 

 this use and provide the public with information relating to it. 

 Economic Use 



Although residents along Alaska's coast depend on wildlife as a major source 

 of food, polar bears are taken so infrequently that they are a minor subsistence 

 item. The Department's policy will be to regard true subsistence hunting of polar 

 bears a legitimate resource use of minor importance. 



The Department does not consider the harvest of polar bears for the sale of 

 hides a valid or wise use and will accordingly oppose and recommend against 

 such hunting. 



The Department believes that economic benefit could accrue to coastal villages 

 by sport hunters employing residents of the villages as guides for polar bear 

 hunting and will encourage such activity. 

 Seienlific and Educational Uses 



The Department recognizes the continuing need for studies of polar bear 

 biology and ecology and realizes that some of these studies may best be conducted 

 by cooperating agencies and/or individuals. The Department will request de- 

 scriptions of proposed studies in order to keep abreast of polar bear research 

 within the State and to insure that the best interests of the people of the State 

 are being considered. 



The Deparment recognizes that the general public has an interest in polar 

 bear life historv and management, and will prepare informational articles for 

 public distribution. This interest and the concurrent demand for documentary 

 articles and films prepared by professional writers and photographers will be 

 encouraged to the extent that cooperation will not interfere with Department 

 programs, and provided that articles and films can be reviewed and edited by 

 the Department before release to the public. 



Tlie Department may issue permits for the capture, holding, and export of 

 wild polar bears but only for the purposes of scientific study and public educa- 

 tion and enjoyment. 



Excerpt From Statement Prepared for Board of Fish and Game, 



February 1971 



The Department would also like to inform the Board and the public that it 

 favors elimination of aircraft hunting for polar bears after 1972 and will make 

 specific recommendations prior to the appropriate Board meeting. The rationale 

 for elimination of aircraft hunting follows. 



Polar bears are large carnivores sparsely distributed in a limited habitat. 

 They should be managed for high quality recreation and not for commercial 

 interests. Airplane hunting does not do this. Most bears are taken with the 



