FAIRBANKS — The National Park Service wants to formalize a ban on several predator hunting techniques in Alaska’s 10 national preserves.
A rules change up for public comment Thursday night in Fairbanks would formally codify a series of temporary orders that ban practices like hunting brown bears over bait, hunting wolf and coyote pups during denning season and hunting black bears with artificial light.
Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game strongly opposes the rules change.
The state of Alaska and several Alaska Department of Fish and Game advisory committees oppose the park service’s proposal, said Jennifer Yuhas, the Fairbanks-based federal subsistence liaison team leader for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The Alaska Federation of Natives also came out against the changes, she said.
“In some cases, these regulations seek to preempt regulations which were proposed by local rural users who invested their time and resources over multiple years, often traveling to meetings at their own cost to see these regulations approved by both the state and federal boards only now to see those efforts negated by one land management agency,” she said in an email.
She encouraged local residents to attend Thursday’s meeting in Fairbanks, although she said she’s not at all optimistic about the state’s ability to influence the park service’s rules.
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