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Native America Calling: Alaska bears are the targets of a controversial management program
Monday, June 1, 2026
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Alaska bears are the targets of a controversial management program
The state of Alaska is moving forward with a program to kill brown bears across a 40,000-square-mile swath of land in southwest Alaska.

The plan to shoot bears from helicopters aims to improve declining numbers of the Mulchatna Caribou Herd. Several local tribes and the Alaska Federation of Natives support the plan.

Caribou are a subsistence food source. The herd peaked at over 200,000 in the 1990s, but plummeted to 12,000 by 2022. Conservationists oppose the bear control measures, arguing it lacks scientific evidence that it achieves what officials say it does.

Tune into Native America Calling to explore the complexities of predator management in Alaska.

Brown Bear
A brown bear in Lake Clark National Park in Alaska. Photo: Eric Gorski

Guests on Native America Calling
Janet Bavilla (Yup’ik), subsistence hunter and council member for the Platinum Traditional Village, a federally recognized tribe in Alaska

Doug Vincent-Lang, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game

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