Allison Sayer - CRR Staff

On January 5, the National Park service announced a proposal to amend regulations for hunting and trapping on national preserves in Alaska. The proposed regulations would only apply to hunting and trapping on Alaska national preserves. Federal Subsistence harvest in national parks and preserves in Alaska would not be affected by the proposed changes.

In 2015, the National Park Service imposed prohibitions on the following in Alaska’s national preserves: Taking any black bear, including cubs and sows with cubs, with artificial light at den sites; harvesting brown bears over bait; taking wolves and coyotes (including pups) during the denning season (between May 1 and August 9); taking swimming caribou; taking caribou from motorboats under power; taking black bears over bait; and, using dogs to hunt black bears. In addition, the 2015 rule prohibited the State of Alaska from performing activities specifically meant to manipulate the size of predator populations on national preserves.

In 2020, these prohibitions were reversed. In the Federal Register, the Daily Journal of the United States Government, the background provided by 2020 administration officials included a 2018 memorandum from then Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke “recognizing states as the first-line authorities for fish and wildlife management and expressing a commitment to defer to states in this regard except as otherwise required by Federal law.”

The proposed 2023 regulation would reverse the 2020 reversal of the 2015 regulations.

In a press release issued on January 5 2023, NPS Alaska Regional Director Sarah Creachbaum said, “This proposed rule would realign our efforts to better manage national preserve lands in Alaska for natural processes, as well as address public safety concerns associated with bear baiting.” The press release also stated, “The new rule would also properly reflect the federal government’s authority to regulate hunting and trapping on national preserves in Alaska.”

The Federal Register entries created by the administrations in 2015, 2020, and 2023 all refer to The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), quoting portions of the lengthy act which appear to support their positions.

The proposed regulation was published in the Federal Register on January 9, 2023, and will be open for public comment until March 10, 2023.

To view the proposed rule and for information on how to submit comments, please visit www.regulations.gov and search for “RIN 1024-AE70”. Starting January 9, 2023, visit https://parkplanning.nps. gov/wildliferule2023.

To view and submit comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment please visit https://parkplanning.nps. gov/wildliferule2023.

Once the public comment period ends, NPS will review the comments and that input will inform the final rule, which will be published in the Federal Register. The final rule would be effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

To learn more go to :

Federal Register Documents 2015: Alaska Hunting and Trapping in National Preserves

Federal Register Documents 2020: Alaska Hunting and Trapping in National Preserves

Federal Register Documents 2023: Alaska Hunting and Trapping in National Preserves

Disclosure: The National Park Service is a Copper River Record Advertiser