In March of 2023, the Homer Fish and Game Advisory Committee submitted a proposal to the Alaska Board of Game to conduct a feasibility study for transporting Sitka Blacktail deer to Unit 15C on the south side of Kachemak Bay. The proposal states that the issue this intends to address is to “increase opportunity for hunting, food security, local economy and wildlife viewing in Unit 15C. The approximate boundaries for Unit 15C are from Kasilof to the Chugach Islands and Kennedy Entrance of Cook Inlet; east to Gore Point and runs north up the Kenai Mountains until approximately parallel to Tustumena Lake. Parallel to Unit 15C on the east side is Kenai Fjords National Park and the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on the north.
The ADFG press release from June 2025 explains that “the goal of the translocation project is to evaluate the success of an introduced deer population, track their expansion and survival in a new area and potentially add another big game species to the Kenai Peninsula for future harvest.”
According to ADFG Technical Bulletin 4, “Game Transplants in Alaska,” updated as a second edition in 2009, Sitka black-tailed deer were originally transplanted from Southeast Alaska during 1916-1923 in Prince William Sound and in 1924 and 1930 to the Kodiak Archipeligo. “Transplants to the Homer Spit in 1923…were (a) total failure,” according to the document.
Cyndi Wardlow explains how the Department expects to begin the transplant process:
“Right now we're looking at moving animals between September and October. We'll be up against finding good weather windows and having success there, as we are with any operation in Alaska, but we're hopeful that this is the first step to establishing a deer population on the Kenai Peninsula. All of those animals will be outfitted with GPS collars so we can track their movement once they're on the landscape, and also track survival or reasons that they don't survive. Those GPS collars will allow us to investigate any animals that do die, so we can determine if it had to do with a habitat related issue or predation or something else entirely. So regardless, there's a lot for us to learn from going forward with this project.”
The ADFG press release states that the initial strategy will be to move 25 animals to the Kenai Peninsula. Wardlow explained that the animals selected for translocation will be 4 does to 1 buck without fawns at the time of capture.
Technical Bulletin 4 is a 172 page document explaining the 100 year history of many animal transplants within the state of Alaska and Wardlow referred to this at the time of our conversation:
The history of transplanting animals, not just deer, but also mountain goats and other species across the state is pretty extensive, and that transplant history is a great resource for anyone who is interested in reading about the times that we've done it before. And sometimes it's great success, and sometimes without as much success, but every time we learn something, and in some cases, like mountain goats in Kodiak or deer and Prince William. Sound, those species have been able to really thrive in those new environments and have really robust populations for people to then use as a resource.
Wardlow said that the Department of Fish and Game has not received many public comments on the transplant but noted that “we do expect deer will not necessarily be going to stay in one place, so we’re open to hearing from anybody who has words of support or concerns that they’d like to share with us.” Comments can be provided to Warlow or to Ryan Scott, director of the division of wildlife conservation. Their contact information can be found through the main department website: adfg.alaska.gov.
