AlaskaSB 9734th Legislature - First Session (2025)SenateWALLET

BIG GAME GUIDE PERMIT PROGRAM

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 3 mixed.

How the state sets concession areas

Starting July 23, 2024, the Board of Game can create concession areas for guided hunts. Anyone may submit a proposal; the Board must give at least 15 days’ public notice and may hear it at the next regional meeting. The Board consults with Fish and Game, Natural Resources, and the Big Game Commercial Services Board, and takes public comment. It approves areas only if they help conservation, aid enforcement, and serve the public interest. When approving an area, the Board sets how many full and limited permits and their authorizations, and may use advisory boards. It cannot combine more than three guide use areas or create more than one concession area inside a single guide use area. The Board picks one unit first as the initial area, and DNR sets up and runs that program. New areas are considered only after the first area has operated for at least three years, and the Big Game Commercial Services Board must coordinate with the other agencies.

New permits and rules for big-game guides

Starting July 23, 2024, you must have a concession-area permit to guide hunts in any designated state area. DNR runs a public process: full permits are scored by set criteria (not highest bid), and limited permits are by random draw. Each permit lasts 10 years, and a guide can hold no more than three. The department sets qualifications, what each permit allows, and reasonable fees after consulting key boards and agencies and looking at fees in other places. The commissioner reviews your professional history and reputation and consults large landowners who own 5,000 or more acres in the unit. Your business and financial application details stay confidential. You may transfer a permit during its term with commissioner approval to a qualified guide if it supports program principles. The commissioner can suspend or revoke permits for violations after written notice and a chance to be heard. The program’s goals include conservation, fewer conflicts, and a healthy guiding industry.

Retroactive start and old rules repealed

The law applies retroactively to July 23, 2024. It repeals AS 08.54.600(a)(9), AS 16.05.262, AS 38.05.022, and sections 46 and 48 of chapter 15, SLA 2024. This resets the legal baseline and may affect permit decisions or enforcement taken since that date.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

SENATE RESOURCES
Affiliation unavailable

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 18 • No: 1

Senate vote • 5/5/2025

PASSED Y18 N1 E1