By Associated Press
Fairbanks residents have shown support for a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal that would ban some bear, wolf and coyote hunts on federal wildlife refuges in Alaska.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that a majority of people who testified at a public hearing in Fairbanks Wednesday were in favor of the federal agency’s predator hunting restrictions.
The rules proposed in January would prohibit brown bear baiting, killing wolves and coyotes during the denning season and targeting bears with snares or traps. The regulations would be implemented on about 77 million acres of federal land in Alaska.
Supporters of the new hunting rules criticized the state government’s predator control policy, while those against the plan cited the effects on subsistence users.
The proposal’s public comment period ends March 8.