In recent weeks, a wide array of key entities, including the state and national sportsmen’s community and members of Alaska’s Congressional Delegation, have highlighted concerns with proposed rules from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) that would severely restrict the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s (ADFG) ability to carry out traditional, effective wildlife management techniques on National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) lands in Alaska. The FWS rule docket, titled “Non-Subsistence Take of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska (proposed rule),” would severely inhibit ADFG’s ability to engage in predator management practices that have historically been used to sustain populations of key big game species critical to subsistence users in Alaska.
Among the chief concerns expressed by the aforementioned parties are that the proposed FWS rules:
“If adopted, these rules would constitute one of the most egregious examples of federal overreach into state management authority in recent memory. While the proposed rule targets Alaska specifically, there would be nothing stopping similar attempts to subvert scientifically-based fish and wildlife management efforts carried out by the respective fish and wildlife management agency for any other state in the U.S. CSF strongly urges FWS to heed the concerns raised by sportsmen’s groups, the Alaska Congressional Delegation and others to rescind or revise the proposed rules and engage in a truly collaborative process that involves real input from all stakeholders,” noted CSF President Jeff Crane.
The deadline for comments on the proposed rules was Thursday, April 7, after which time the FWS will review all submitted comments and determine whether they will alter the proposed rules. A hard date has not yet been established for when FWS may publish the revised rules.
Click here for a letter from the American Wildlife Conservation Partners (AWCP) on the proposed rules.
Click here to view CSF’s letter responding to the FWS’s proposed rules.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
