AMBCC Logo

The logo of the Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council (AMBCC) incorporates the drawing of a Yup’ik mask by artist Katie Curtis from Toksook Bay, Alaska. Some people refer to this drawing as “The Goose Mask.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service commissioned this drawing in the late 1990s during the process of creating the AMBCC. An actual mask was not carved. The original drawing is black and white; the colors used here were added in 2009 when new outreach materials were produced for the AMBCC subsistence harvest survey. The choice of colors was based on historical and current Yup’ik artwork. Katie Curtis was consulted during this process and agreed with the use of the colors. The mask depicts a Canada goose surrounded by 8 feathers. The feathers represent the 8 steps to implement a legal, regulated spring subsistence bird hunt:

1) Notify people of the intent to form management bodies;
2) Meet to share ideas;
3) Send out ideas and listen;
4) Choose the form of management bodies;
5) Start rule-making;
6) Recommend rules for Alaska;
7) Link with management in other U.S. flyways; and
8) Link with the nation.

Since its inception, this new regulatory framework has been designed to promote true collaboration among a diversity of stakeholders as cultures intermingle in the history of wildlife management and conservation in Alaska.