In the name of public safety, officials with Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game announced that caribou hunting in the eastern Interior will be limited this year.
The area in question is a stretch of land along the Taylor and Top of the World Highways which would prohibit caribou hunting within one hundred feet along both sides of the road during the upcoming state hunt for Forty Mile caribou.
The no-harvest corridor covers the entire length of Top of the World Highway and along the Taylor Highway from milepost 75.5 to mile 115.4.
Citing both safety and conservation issues, spokeswoman Doreen Parker McNeil with Fish and Game believes it is necessary to keep everyone safe.
”Members of the public, as well as some law enforcement officials, have voiced a lot of concerns about hunters shooting from and across the highway, particularly on or near curves in the road and in areas with houses and campgrounds,” McNeil told KTOO. “We’ve had a lot of reports documenting hunters shooting into groups of caribou from the edge of the highway and that results in wounding loss.”