Tok advisory committee begins review of Game Board proposals, most on Fortymile caribou

The Upper Tanana Fortymile Fish and Game Advisory Committee will begin reviewing 2026-2027 Alaska Board of Game proposals Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 7 pm in the Fish and Game conference room in Tok.

The 2026-2027 Alaska Board of Game Proposal Book lists 19 proposals for Game Management Units 12 and 20E, the state's hunting areas around Tok. Twelve of them concern Fortymile caribou hunting. They include a department proposal to add a Tier II subsistence permit hunt for the herd in Units 12, 20(D), 20(E) and 25(C) outside the Fairbanks Nonsubsistence Use Area. The proposal leaves permit numbers, seasons and bag limits for the board to decide.

In its own proposal, the Fortymile Caribou Herd Harvest Management Coalition says the fall RC860 quota fell from 4,500 caribou in 2021 to 395 in 2025.

The committee itself submitted three of the Tok-area proposals: closing the Aug. 24-28 moose seasons in Unit 20E, an intensive management predator control plan for Dall sheep in the Tok Management Area and starting the muskrat trapping season Sept. 15.

Advisory committees do not set regulations. They evaluate proposals and make recommendations to the Alaska Board of Game, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The board takes up Interior and Eastern Arctic proposals March 19-26, 2027, in Fairbanks. Written comments are due March 5.

Tuesday's agenda also includes staff updates, updates on the Fortymile Caribou Herd Harvest Management Plan and the coalition, and the board's Nov. 20 special web conference on proposed hunting and trapping closures along the Ambler Road right of way. The board will not take testimony at that meeting. Written comments on the closures are due by 8 am Nov. 16.

The meeting is open to the public in person or remotely. The full agenda and previous minutes will be posted to the online public notice beforehand.