A Partial Win: Sport hunters are banned from baiting bears in Alaska’s National Preserves, but they’re still allowed to target bears and wolves during hibernation and the denning season.
A new rule by the National Park Service reveals that sport hunting is permitted in the more than 22 million acres of National Preserves in Alaska. Hunting regulations for sport hunters are generally set by the state of Alaska’s Board of Game, which, for more than 20 years, has liberalized hunting methods that target bears and wolves, including baiting brown bears, killing bear cubs or sows with cubs, and killing wolves or coyotes, including pups, during the denning season. While hunting is permitted in National Preserves by Federally Qualified Subsistence users (managed by the Federal Subsistence Board), NPS did not allow sport hunting for hunters outside subsistence areas. Facing constant pressure from the State Board of Game to open Preserves to all hunters, including urban sport hunters, NPS adopted regulations in 2015 to ensure National Preserves are managed consistent with NPS policy and federal law.
However, in 2020 the Trump administration illegally overturned the 2015 rule. In response, Alaska Wildlife Alliance and a dozen other organizations, represented by Trustees for Alaska, sued the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service (NPS), and ultimately prevailed.
NPS revisited and revised its former sport hunting rules and on January 9, 2023, proposed regulations prohibiting the most extreme sport hunting methods on National Preserves. The proposed rule would have prohibited predator control on Preserves, and also prohibited sport hunters from the following:
Using bait (donuts, grease-soaked bread, etc.) to hunt brown bears.
Killing bear cubs or sows with cubs.
Killing of wolves or coyotes, including pups, during the denning season.
After receiving tens of thousands of public comments (including hundreds from AWA members), NPS unveiled their final regulation in June 2024. The new regulations, restore some of the 2015 protections; namely banning brown and black bear baiting in National Preserves, to address public safety concerns.
While we are celebrating the bear baiting ban, we are disappointed that the rule allows sport hunters to target wildlife with machines, artificial light, and dogs, especially given that NPS had already drafted regulations that would have done so (the 2023 proposed regulations).
We believe that the new regulations don’t do enough to protect wildlife on National Preserves. Under the rule, the following sport-hunting actions are still allowed on Alaska’s Preserves
Hunting and killing black bears with cubs using artificial light in their dens during hibernation
Using dogs to hunt black bears
Killing wolves and coyotes, and their pups, during denning season
Killing swimming caribou
Killing caribou from motorboats while under power
The rule also fails to prohibit state-sanctioned sport hunting practices to reduce predators in favor of prey on National Preserves. Predator control programs, like the Mulchatna Predator Control Program, do not align with the purposes of National Preserves and, furthermore, their success is not backed by data.
AWA is continuing to assess if the NPS rule meets the needs of Alaska’s wildlife, particularly bears and wolves. Many Alaskans hunt within the state’s national preserves, and Alaska Wildlife Alliance does not oppose subsistence hunting on these lands. The challenge here is that the Park Service is allowing sport hunters to target predators on public land; this undermines the NPS’s legal obligations to protect and preserve wildlife because these extreme sport hunting practices alter natural predator-prey dynamics.
Click here to learn more aboutAWA's position on hunting using ethical and fair chase practices. Stay tuned for updates.
