A number of proposed wildlife regulations have been accepted by Environment Minister Currie Dixon.

The changes deal with a variety of matters recommended by the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board in its annual submission regarding proposed changes to regulations.

The 11 proposals were forwarded to the minister in late January following the board's public hearing in December 2012.

The proposed changes deal with a variety of issues: greater flexibility to hunt and manage wolves; the removal of Yukoners' ability to act as special hunting guides on grizzly bear hunts in the southwest; and the recommendation to reject the proposal for a no-bear hunting corridor along the Tagish Road (see story above).

Dixon responded earlier this month, accepting all but one of the board's recommendations. It takes several months to build the recommendations into official regulation changes.

Among the recommendations:

• The board recommended and the minister accepted the proposal by Environment Yukon to remove the ability for Yukoners to act as special guides on grizzly bear hunts in the area west and south of Whitehorse. Special guiding privileges were allowed in several game management sub-zones when they were established as bear-reduction zones more than 20 years ago, but the increased harvest is no longer required.

• The board recommended the minister reject Environment Yukon's proposal to make it illegal for anglers to have barbed hooks on a fishing rod in their boat or next to them on shore while fishing in barbless waters.

The board felt it could lead to charges being laid where no offence was intended or committed.

The board also suggested the matter of making the use of barbless hooks mandatory across the Yukon should be investigated further, given the extensive number of barbless waters that already exist.

The minister agreed, and has asked his department and the board to look at a territory-wide ban on barbed hooks.

• The board recommended and the minister accepted the proposal by Environment Yukon to allow 12- and 13-year-old youth to use the permit hunt authorization and big game seal belonging to an adult who is hunting with them.

• The board recommended and the minister accepted the proposal by Environment Yukon to provide the minister with the ability use an adaptive management mechanism to vary bag limits for wolves, and hunting and trapping seasons for wolves.

The board also recommended and the minister agreed with Environment Yukon's proposal to remove the $10 sealing fee hunters are required to pay for wolves harvested.

• The board recommended and the minister accepted a proposal from Environment Yukon to reduce the fee for an elk seal from $50 to $10, and to review the fee level for all big game seals.

• The board recommended and the minister agreed to reject a proposal from the Alsek Renewable Resource Council to reduce the number of game birds non-resident hunters are allowed to shoot, for reasons of conservation and to prevent waste.

The board suggested if conservation was an issue, it was not a matter affecting just non-resident hunters, and should be looked at more thoroughly as an overall conservation issue, supported by population research.

The minister agreed, and has instructed Environment Yukon to review harvest data and export information, and to report back to the board and resource council.

• The board recommended and the minister accepted the proposal by the Alsek council to add bison to the list of big game animals that can be specially guided.

Licensed Yukon hunters can guide relatives and friends living elsewhere in Canada on certain big game hunts which would normally require the friend or relative to hire a big game outfitter.

The resource council said permitting specially guided bison hunts will increase the harvest, which is the goal of the recently adopted Bison Management Plan.

The management board has begun its next cycle of proposed regulations changes.

The deadline to advance proposed regulations changes for the management board's consideration was April 30.

The board reviews the proposals, and chooses which ones are to move through to a public review process in the fall.

Environment Yukon submitted 10 proposals for the board's consideration, and one was received from the public.

The proposals are not made public until the beginning of the public review process.