Alaska Politics Blog : Wildlife politics

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Erika Bolstad

Erika Bolstad covers Alaska issues, including the congressional delegation, from Washington, D.C., for McClatchy Newspapers. Before joining the bureau in 2007, she spent seven years as a reporter at the Miami Herald, where she covered politics, government and the state legislature. E-mail Erika at ebolstad@adn.com.

Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He's worked for the ADN in Anchorage and Juneau, covered the legislature for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and covered Washington state politics for the Tacoma News Tribune. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers rural affairs, general assignments and politics for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously wrote for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com and also find him on our rural Alaska blog, The Village.

Don Hunter

Don Hunter covers Anchorage city government and politics. He is a longtime ADN reporter and editor and wrote for the Anchorage Times. E-mail Don at dhunter@adn.com

David Hulen

David Hulen, the ADN's state and local news editor, is responsible for political coverage. He has been an editor and reporter at the ADN for more than 20 years. E-mail David at dhulen@adn.com

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Wildlife politics

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Posted: February 26, 2009 - 10:16 pm

Comments (0) |

Update: You can stream audio from the meeting live here.

From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage --

The explosive predator-control debate is about to hit town, with a marathon Board of Game meeting launching Friday morning in Anchorage.

Hunting rules, including shooting wolves and bears to boost moose and caribou populations, are on the agenda. One proposal would allow hunters to fly by helicopter to reach bear-baiting stations while another would ban sport hunting for brown bears in parts of the Katmai Perserve. (Katmai's a magnet for outraged debate. It's where Timothy Treadwell and his companion were killed, and where video of a legal but apparently easy bear hunt in the area drew a fresh round of arguing in 2007.)

Along with your classic Alaska urban-versus-rural tension, both sides of predator control debate argue money is at stake, including cash spent by tourists who want to see animals and by hunters who want to bag them. This kind of thing was politically electric even before Palin ran for vice president and Ashley Judd blasted her in a Defenders of Wildlife video, so we'll see how the testimony plays out over the next few days.

Also on the agenda: A proposal to expand grizzly bear hunting in Chugach State Park to reduce bear problems in Anchorage.

The meeting's being held at the new Dena'ina convention center downtown. Public testimony could start before lunch, and last through the weekend. Anyone can sign up to speak. After that, the board gets down to debating the more than 200 proposals.

Here's the order they'll be considered in.

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