Board of Game proposals would cut Western Arctic caribou limits further as the herd declines

Hunters and communities that depend on the Western Arctic Caribou Herd have until Jan. 9 to weigh in on proposals that would further limit caribou hunting, as the herd keeps shrinking.

The Alaska Board of Game released its proposal book for the 2026-27 cycle on Friday. The board will take up proposals for Northwest and Western Alaska, including the herd's core range, Jan. 23-26 at the National Guard Armory in Kotzebue.

A July 2025 photo census counted about 121,000 caribou in the herd, down from about 152,000 in 2023, a loss of roughly 31,000 animals in two years. The herd numbered about 490,000 in 2003. It has crashed before, falling from about 250,000 in 1970 to about 75,000 in 1976. In December 2025, the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group, which includes hunters, community representatives and others with a stake in the herd, rated the herd "Critical, Declining" because the population had fallen below 130,000 and fewer than 80 percent of adult cows were surviving each year. Subsistence hunters have taken an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 caribou from the herd a year since 2000.

Hunters are already under tighter rules. In May, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed the state cow caribou season by emergency order in Units 22, 23 and southwest 26A, saying limits adopted in 2024 had not slowed the decline. Resident hunters there are now limited to 15 bulls each for the season that runs through June 30, 2027. On federal public lands, the Federal Subsistence Board also eliminated the cow hunt in June and put off a decision on bull limits until February.

The proposals before the board go further. Seven would cut the annual caribou limit in the herd's range to four or five animals, most of them bulls only. Five would restrict or close nonresident caribou hunting. Four would set up intensive management plans for the herd, which under state law aim to increase game populations for hunters and can include predator control. Another would write a population-based closure for the herd into regulation.

Proposals covering the herd's range farther east, in the Interior, go before the board March 19-26 at Pike's Waterfront Lodge in Fairbanks, with comments due March 5. The board may also add proposals after a Nov. 1 deadline for requests to change its agendas.

Before the meetings, local fish and game advisory committees will meet in public to make recommendations to the board. Written comments can be submitted online at boardofgame.adfg.alaska.gov, by fax to 907-465-6094 or by mail to Boards Support in Juneau. The board does not accept comments by email.