Campfire Conversations 6: SCI Alaska Executive Director Louis Cusak on Fed’s Proposal to Close 43 Million Acres of Alaskan Wilderness to Caribou and Moose Hunters

What this episode covers

New Secretary of Interior Deb Halaand wouldn’t promise a “No Net Loss” approach to hunting access or hunter rights. It became abundantly clear why last week when the The Regional Advisory Council (RAC) requested the Federal Subsistence Board (FSB) close 43 million acres of Alaskan hunting units 23 and 26A to non residents and non native subsistence caribou and moose hunters. I don’t know about you, but that land belongs to you and it belongs to me and so there better be some sound science behind the proposal. Louis joins me to discuss what (if there is any) science supports this plan. We break down the current caribou population and the wild ass claim that increased hunter air traffic is disrupting the caribou’s natural migration. Infuriating stuff once you look at the numbers. Louis and his wife depend on Alaska’s rich big game hunting tradition to feed their family for the year. Caribou taken in unit 23, one of the areas that would now be closed to Alaskan residents like the Cusak’s as well as you and I. Moose and caribou are the primary protein source for many families just like the Cusaks.

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