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F&G seeks comments on services board

The Department of Fish and Game is hosting a public meeting in Fairbanks to explain and solicit comments and recommendations on draft language that would create a Sport Fish Guide Services Board.

The meeting will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Department of Fish and Game offices at 1300 College Road.

An overview of what led to the draft language can be found online at www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us.

For more information, contact Tom Taube, regional management coordinator, at 459-7225.

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Board of Fisheries to meet in Fairbanks

The state Board of Fisheries will host a public hearing in Fairbanks on Oct. 9 to take testimony on proposals to change fishing regulations in the Copper River Basin and Prince William Sound that the panel will be considering during its meeting in Cordova in December.

The proposals could affect personal-use dip netting at Chitina, as well as king salmon fishing in the Gulkana and Klutina rivers.

The meeting will be held at the Alpine Lodge on Dale Road near the Fairbanks International Airport beginning at 7 p.m.

Copies of the proposals are available on the Internet at www.boards.adfg.state.ak.us.

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Five teams have signed up for the Yukon 1000 Canoe and Kayak Race, which is being billed as the longest such race in the world.

Race organizer Peter Coates in Whitehorse said four canoes and one tandem kayak have signed up for the race, which is scheduled to begin July 20 in Whitehorse.

There are teams from Alaska, California, New York and Britain signed up, as well as a mixed team from the Yukon and Wyoming.

The race will go from Whitehorse to the Dalton Highway bridge and is limited to 50 teams. Teams are expected to be entirely self-sufficient and racers will be monitored with the use of spot devices, which are satellite transmitters that send GPS coordinates and a timestamp to race officials.

For more information, check the race Web site at yukon1000.com.

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The preliminary harvest for the fall Fortymile caribou hunt, which was closed on Monday, is 698, almost 50 above the quota of 640 established in a harvest management plan.

The breakdown in harvest for the three fall hunts was 204 on the Steese Highway; 186 in a roadless area; and 308 on the Taylor Highway. The harvest quotas for the three areas were 190, 160 and 290, respectively.

The number of caribou taken during the fall harvest quota will be subtracted from the winter hunt that opens on Dec. 1 and has a quota of 210 caribou. That means the quota for the winter hunt will be somewhere around 150 split between the Steese and Taylor highways.

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Hunters weren’t successful in bagging any moose in this year’s Paralyzed Veterans of America hunt at the Chena Flood Control Project, according to project manager John Schaake.

Four members of the PVA, including two from Alaska, spent five days hunting moose out of blinds on the flood control project. The hunt is a cooperative effort between the PVA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“They saw moose every day,” Schaake said. “Lots of cows but no bulls.”

This year’s hunt, the fifth such hunt organized by the PVA and Army Corps at the flood control project, featured the debut of the Corps new Hunt Master, a boom lift similar to a cherry picker that acts as a raised blind capable of holding two people.

The device, which is towed behind a vehicle or tractor, was donated to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by the PVA two years ago. It finally arrived in North Pole this summer. The lift is worth about $18,000 and weighs 4,500 pounds.

“It’s quite a contraption,” Schaake said. “I think that Hunt Master is going to improve our success. We’ve got a couple places to put it in years to come.”

The Corps is in the process of trying to come up with a plan to make the device available to other mobility impaired hunters, Schaake said.

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As long as the weather permits, the road into Denali National Park and Preserve is still open for private vehicles to the Teklanika River rest stop at Mile 30.

The road will remain open to the rest stop until snow closes it for the season at park headquarters (Mile 3).

Visitors are advised to call ahead for weather and road information, as conditions can change rapidly at this time of the year.

The Denali Visitor Center closed for the season on Sept. 16. The Murie Science and Learning Center now functions as the winter visitor center and is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Vault toilets are available at the Savage River parking area (Mile 15) and at Primrose Ridge (Mile 17). Portable toilets are located at the Teklanika River Rest Stop. Other park facilities west of headquarters, such as campgrounds and restrooms, are closed for the season.

The Bear Loop of the Riley Creek Campground at Mile 0.2 will remain open for camping, but the water has been turned off for the season.

Information is available on the park Web site at www.nps.gov/dena or by calling 683-2294 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.