Do you like to salvage roadkill? The State of Alaska is trying to make the process easier.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety launched a new virtual roadkill salvage database on Thursday, which the department said will reduce the amount of paperwork and provide automatic updates for regional dispatch centers as part of the state’s roadkill salvage program. Paper forms needed to be mailed or faxed to regional offices prior to the new virtual database.
According to a June 21 DPS press release, the virtual platform will be used across Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Interior Alaska and on the Kenai Peninsula.
The state’s Alaska Roadkill Salvage Program allows eligible people to salvage roadkill animals in their area after Alaska State Troopers or other state law enforcement provide notification. Program participants interested in salvaging the animal must respond within 30 minutes of notification and move the animal off the road entirely. Animals can then be processed for consumption.
People will need to re-enroll in DPS’s new database in order to be notified and to take advantage of salvage opportunities. No changes were made to the program’s eligibility criteria. Any group of two or more people can register as a salvage team and any nonprofit organization can register for opportunities to salvage roadkill, DPS Public information Officer Austin McDaniel said.
McDaniel said Thursday that roadkill savage teams on the Kenai Peninsula consist of citizens, churches and civic organizations, among others.
More information about the new database can be found on DPS’s roadkill webpage at dps.alaska.gov/AWT/roadkill. Eligible salvage teams and nonprofit organizations can also register with the new database online.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
