Federal board opens late-fall subsistence moose season in Kenai Peninsula's Unit 7

The Federal Subsistence Board approved a late-fall moose season for rural subsistence hunters on federal public lands in the remainder of Unit 7 on the eastern Kenai Peninsula. The season opened Oct. 20 and runs through Nov. 10, allowing one antlered bull meeting specified antler criteria.

Board members approved the emergency action by email poll Oct. 13 to 15, according to the board vote summary.

The board first adopted the season unanimously at its April 24 meeting, on a proposal submitted by Cooper Landing resident Onie Wilkes. Publication of the new federal regulations was delayed, so the Chugach National Forest's Seward Ranger District asked the board in an Oct. 7 request to put the season in place anyway. The board took the same kind of step in September to carry out an April decision on moose hunting in Unit 25D, as Alaska News reported Sept. 15.

The forest's request said the Unit 7 caribou herd has declined to very low levels, leading to harvest restrictions and low hunter success. It said vehicle and train strikes kill more Unit 7 moose than hunting does.

Since 2020, rural residents who qualify under federal subsistence rules have taken fewer than three moose a year on average in the area, according to the vote summary.

The Office of Subsistence Management recommended against the April proposal, citing limited data, low-density habitat and a possibly declining moose population, according to the proposal analysis. The board's Interagency Staff Committee said in the same analysis that current state data suggests there is not a conservation concern. Board Chair Tony Christianson voted to approve the emergency action "based on ISC recommendation." The Southcentral Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council supported the proposal.

The Seward District Ranger can close the hunt early by emergency action if harvest becomes unsustainably high.

Permits are limited to qualified residents of Cooper Landing, Hope and Moose Pass who have lived in Alaska at least 12 months, according to a Forest Service permitting notice. Residents who missed the July permit events can get a permit by appointment at the Seward Ranger Station.

The final federal wildlife regulations, which include the Unit 7 late-fall season, were published and took effect Oct. 27, a week into the season.