The Alaska Wildlife Troopers in Fairbanks are taking applications from individuals to collect moose killed on area roads because there aren’t enough nonprofit charities willing to do the job.
“We’re having problems getting qualified groups to come out and pick up moose,” Lt. Lantz Dahlke, who heads the Fairbanks wildlife trooper detachment.
“A lot of times we’ll call 20 to 25 different persons or groups before we can get someone to respond.”
The Fairbanks troopers began accepting applications from individuals to pick up road kills about two years ago, though the agency never advertised it, Dahlke said.
“It’s a once-a-year deal,” he said. “You come in and fill out an application for a road kill and your name gets put on the list. We’ll call you and if you fail to respond to the road kill you’re off the list until next year and you have to apply again.”
Troopers are responsible for dealing with moose killed on roadways because they are considered state property. Troopers maintain a list of nonprofit and charity organizations — most of which are churches — to call whenever a moose is killed as a result of a collision with a vehicle. If the group that is called refuses, they are moved to the bottom of the list and the next group on the list is called, Dahlke said. Some groups have several contact names listed, and it’s time consuming for dispatchers to make 25 calls before finding someone to respond, he said.
Troopers keep a list of area-specific names of individuals to call for moose killed in areas outside Fairbanks because it’s often hard to get charities to drive that far to salvage a moose, Dahlke said. Troopers began taking applications from Fairbanks-area residents after some people came in asking about the salvage program and requested to be put on the charity list.
“The reason why we did that is we were having so many problems with the (charity) organizations,” he said. “There are times when people don’t want to drive 50 miles out of town, butcher a moose until 3 o’clock in the morning and come back to town and give it to everybody.
“We’ll call these people and they’ll say, ‘What is it?’ If we tell them it’s a yearling calf they’ll say, I don’t want it,’” Dahlke said. “We need some people that are willing to travel and buck up at 2 ‘clock in the morning so when we call them we don’t get a ‘Nah, I’m not interested.’”
Approximately 150 moose are killed on Fairbanks area roads each year, according to assistant area biologist Tom Seaton at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Fairbanks.
Troopers have about 35 charities and nonprofit organizations on its road kill salvage list, Dahlke said. Many of those organizations only need one moose a year and aren’t interested in salvaging more than that, he said.
The salvage program for road-killed moose in Alaska started in 1978. Prior to that, Dahlke said troopers would often get stuck with the job of butchering road kills and ensuring the meat was distributed to deserving recipients, usually a church or rescue mission.
The salvage program has worked well for the most part but troopers have had problems with some charities not salvaging all the edible meat from road-killed moose. If that happens, the charity will be warned or removed from the list, Dahlke said. A few months ago, Dahlke said he wrote a warning letter to a charity that left approximately 100 pounds of meat on a moose.
“We had one group that was just going out and cutting the four quarters off and leaving everything else,” he said.
There have also been questions about how well the meat is sometimes distributed amongst a charity, Dahlke said.
In recent years, troopers have changed some of their policies to make the requirements for salvaging road-killed moose more stringent, Dahlke said. Now, for example, recipients must tell troopers where they are disposing of carcasses so troopers can check to make sure they are being properly salvaged.
The fact that troopers have a hard time getting charities to retrieve road-killed moose surprised Seaton, the Fish and Game biologist. Moose that die and/or are killed and are unfit for human consumption are coveted by trappers to use as bait on their traplines.
Trappers must apply for a permit to get the moose but Seaton said he has no trouble finding takers for the 10 to 15 moose he deals with each year that aren’t edible.
“They’re highly sought after,” Seaton said.
Contact staff writer Tim Mowry at 459-7587.
"oops, that moose just walked right out in front of my one ton. Boy I'm sure glad I put on that heavy bumper/grill guard (*wink)."
If no classes, then a minimum of a handout should go to the applicant.
In recent years, we are seeing people leaving neck and rib meat behind; obviously they have no clue that there's a method and means to the game harvest.
Persons on such a list typically have -no- concrete idea when their 'turn at bat' is coming. They may be on that list for months. Perhaps they are sober, ready, willing and able for several months, then one night their phone rings.. Let's say they are in some sort of family crisis such as birthing a new baby, had one-too-many alcoholic beverages after dinner, smoked a joint at bed-time, are the only paernt home at that hour with young children in the house, etc., and so they (appropriately) decline the offer, instead asking to be rotated through to the next round, as they're indisposed, and responsible enough to correctly say so.
Why should they be removed from the list for a year, amidst legitimate cause to not be available, instead of simply being rotated through again??
That policy seems somewhat counter-productive to the proposed intent, if I may venture such an opinion..
A couple of thoughts though;
$200.00 is probably a roundly-accurate figure for most places within the Borough, as far as tow bills go. The folks on the list, however, may not always have that kind of cash to dispose of.
Those tow truck companies agreeing to take part would probably need to out-fit themselves with a -bunch- of tarps or other simple gear, as they probably don't want to show up at subsequent wrecker calls with entrails, blood, etc., all over their decks.
Folks may be on the list for some time before a call comes in. The dispatcher is still in the position of having to go down that list and make calls until someone takes the responsibility to retrieve the carcass.
Many folks spend far more than $200.00 on a moose hunt each fall, so such a bill is more than reasonable if the person/agency has that kind of cash.
Also, does anyone recall when the local soup line got 'dinged' for serving uninspected wild game meat? Anyone recall the outcome of that nonsense??
I know I'd donated over 30 lbs. of overly-smoked moose hot dogs to them some time before that, and was flabberghasted that social programs that routinely struggle to adequatley feed the impoverished in this area were being hassled for serving wild game to a population that includes a substantial percentage of Alaka Native folks.
Irony, anyone??
In fact it has been done before. I lifted a calf into a pickup when I was a tow truck driver. It was really cold and the guys wanted it in their garage.
I have always wondered why the troopers only allowed nonprofits on the list. Kenai has had individuals on the list since the 80's.
One can only imagine the red tape involved in such an adventure. First they are let out of a secure facility at 3AM and then putting knives in prisoner hands.
how much more expensive is it to tie up the troopers for 2-3 hours dealing with a carcass? That's taking man-hours off the force when they are already strained, borough or state resources to pick up, move and get rid of the carcass (and likely much overtime for calling in a driver at 3 a.m. for a few hours plus transit time), etc.
Spending money on a program like this would cut down overall costs, keep the troopers doing their jobs, and provide resources (food, bait, leather) to the community that can make use of it. That's the rare kind of government spending I can support.
Progressivism is about social progress, aka improving the way things work. It's not inherently a bad word. Misuse of resources and waste is bad, as is corruption and abuse, but none of that defines progressive ideals.
Great idea!
Also, I would think the Rescue Mission could use as much moose as they could get.
"I'd be more likely to support the borough providing..."
Progressive's always have what they consider "good ideas", but in reality they just like to spend other people's money.
I always wanted moose meat for my freezer but am not a hunter myself.