SRC Withdraws Kennicott and Dan Creek C&T Proposal, Split on Tributary Dipnet Proposal

The Wrangell St Elias National Park Subsistence Resource Commission (SRC), a citizen group meant to advise the Federal Subsistence Board, met on October 9 and 10 in McCarthy. They heard testimony and made recommendations for two federal subsistence fisheries regulatory proposals the Board will consider in February 2027. 

FP27-06: “Add the McCarthy Road to Dan Creek and Kennecott in the Chitina subdistrict of the Upper Copper River District—C&T” was initially proposed by the SRC. The original intent of the proposal was to formally include Dan Creek and Kennecott residents in the Upper Copper River Customary and Traditional Use designation. The committee believed the original McCarthy C&T designation was intended to include those communities, yet federal employees issuing subsistence permits did not have clear instruction as to how to handle them. 

Public testimony and SRC discussion at the meeting led the SRC to ultimately withdraw its own proposal, which means there will be no additional consideration or discussion of it at the February meeting. 

Representatives of local entities, including the Native Village of Chitina, testified that individuals who can provide electric bills for Chitina area properties, but actually reside full time in other places, seem to be hunting and fishing with federal subsistence permits. 

The Ahtna Intertribal Resource Commission (AITRC) formally opposed the proposal, stating it would “weaken the standard for customary and traditional use” in its letter of opposition.

Kennicott and Dan Creek, being off grid, do not have electric bills. However, stakeholders emphasized the issue of non-resident homeowners securing rural hunting and fishing privileges should be resolved prior to any C&T expansion. 

SRC members noted that, should the OSM be presented with a body of negative testimony around this issue, they could vote against the proposal. Would that make it harder for year-round residents who have been receiving federal subsistence permits for years to obtain them? That was not the intent of the proposal.  

Residents do have the opportunity to apply for a federal subsistence permit through “individual customary and traditional use.” This allows for qualified Kennecott and Dan Creek residents to continue to receive permits without formally changing the legal scope of the customary and traditional use area.  

By withdrawing the proposal, the SRC decided to leave well enough alone. 

The SRC also discussed whether to recommend approval of FP27-07: “Prohibit the use of dip nets within 500 yards below and 100 yards above any salmon bearing river or stream tributary confluence within the upper Copper River” proposed by the Southcentral Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council. The intent of this proposal was to protect smaller, unique salmon stocks from being wiped out by targeted dipnetting. 

Ultimately, there were a lot of variables to untangle in this proposal. Would areas where traditional fishing has occurred for generations be impacted by this proposal? How would areas be marked to alert fishers they were in an illegal zone? How would the lines be determined? Would this apply to both sides of the river? 

The SRC was split in its vote on whether to support this proposal. A tie vote means that the motion to support the proposal fails. 

In its letter to the Federal Subsistence Board, the SRC stated, “The Commission was split in wanting to protect the salmon stocks but not negatively impact federally qualified users. Federally qualified users harvest much less salmon from all fisheries (the Glennallen Subdistrict, Chitina Subdistrict, and Batzulnetas Area) combined than state users. However, there was concern about the harvest from boats by dipnets as it can be highly successful. Those who voted for the modified proposal wanted to prevent overharvest from boats, and those who voted against were concerned about restricting federally qualified users and preventing people from feeding their families.”