Once again the National Park Service is moving to reverse itself on hunting and trapping regulations in national preserves in Alaska, moving to ban controversial sport hunting practices such as using donuts or grease-soaked bread to lure bears within range.

Back in the fall of 2015 the Park Service adopted rules regarding hunting and trapping in those national preserves where sport hunting is allowed. Under those regulations, hunters on national preserves could not:

• Use bait (donuts, grease-soaked bread, etc.) to hunt bears;
• Use artificial light to spotlight dens to kill black bears; and
• Kill bear cubs or sows with cubs.
• Take wolves and coyotes (including pups) during the denning season (between May 1 and August 9)
• Take swimming caribou
• Take caribou from motorboats under power
• Take black bears over bait
• Use dogs to hunt black bears

The National Park Service is proposing a reversal of controversial hunting and trapping regulations for national preserves in Alaska/NPS file

But the Trump administration threw out those regulations. In announcing the change, the Park Service said its new position affirmed "the state of Alaska’s role in wildlife management on Alaska national preserves, consistent with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and Department of the Interior policies guiding the federal-state relationship in the management of fish and wildlife."

That change took effect in 2020.

But last fall a federal judge said the Park Service had erred in relaxing its hunting and trapping regulations, ruling that the agency was wrong in believing it had to "defer to state hunting regulations." U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason also held that the Park Service acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it concluded that Alaska's wildlife management requirements were equivalent to those of the Park Service, and when it ignored its own previous finding that Alaska's regulations failed to address public safety concerns associated with bear baiting. 

On Thursday the Park Service announced a proposal to, basically, reinstate the 2015 regulations.

The proposed regulation would reverse the 2020 Alaska Hunting and Trapping rule, which authorized several controversial sport hunting practices, including bear baiting. The new regulation would reduce visitor use conflicts and concerns over potential safety issues related to bear baiting and would also restore consistency between harvest practices allowed in national preserves and NPS management policies with respect to natural processes, abundances and wildlife behavior, a Park Service release said.

"The new rule would also properly reflect the federal government’s authority to regulate hunting and trapping on national preserves in Alaska," it added. 

“We take seriously our responsibilities under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and the NPS Organic Act, which include mandates for hunting while also conserving and protecting wildlife in our national preserves," said NPS Alaska Regional Director Sarah Creachbaum. “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 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. 

The proposed regulation, to be published in the Federal Register on January 9, will be open for public comment until March 10. 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, you can visit https://parkplanning.nps.gov/wildliferule2023 to find the proposal and leave your comments. 

Once the public comment period ends, the Park Service 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.