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The State of Alaska is moving forward with a program to kill brown bears across a 40,000-square-mile swath of land in southwest Alaska. The plan to shoot bears from helicopters aims to improve declining numbers of the Mulchatna Caribou Herd. Several local tribes and the Alaska Federation of Natives support the plan. Caribou are a subsistence food source. The herd peaked at over 200,000 in the 1990s, but plummeted to 12,000 by 2022. Conservationists oppose the bear control measures, arguing it lacks scientific evidence that it achieves what officials say it goes. We’ll explore the complexities of predator management in Alaska.
GUESTS
Janet Bavilla (Yup’ik), subsistence hunter and Platinum Traditional Village council member
Doug Vincent-Lang, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Break 1 Music: Bear Beats (song) Cheevers Toppah (artist) True Melodies (album)
Break 2 Music: Trick Song (song) Battle River (artist) Hard Times (album)
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