An opening day crackdown on illegal hunting activities on the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge resulted in 19 citations, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Most of the tickets were for failure to obtain federal or state waterfowl stamps, or failure to sign the stamps as required by law, said Fish and Game spokesman Bruce Bartley.  "There were no citations for possession of lead shot," he added.

Alaska waterfowl hunters were required to switch from lead to non-toxic steel shot for the first time this year. The switch was required to protect waterfowl from lead poisoning. An estimated 1.5 million to 3 million ducks and geese die from lead poisoning each year after accidentally picking up spent lead shot while feeding.

Wildlife officials contacted 118 hunters on the refuge, Bartley said, and the vast majority were well-behaved.  "There was some (illegal) early shooting, but there apparently wasn't as much as in the past," Bartley said. "It certainly wasn't the war zone I'd been led to believe."

State officials have been warning hunters that if the situation on the refuge below the bluffs from Point Woronzof southeast to Potter Creek gets out of hand, waterfowl hunting there may be eliminated.

Homeowners along the bluff have complained about hunters shooting before legal hours, shooting too close to homes and trespassing on private property.

Bartley said most of the hunters Fish and Game talked to were happy to see an enforcement effort aimed at helping put an end to those problems.

Reference:

Anchorage Daily News