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NPS To Restrict Some Sport Hunting on Preserve Lands

Park service says the restrictions are in response to Alaska Board of Game liberalizing hunting seasons, methods for wolves, coyotes, and bears.

DILLINGHAM:  The National Park Service isholding hearingsthis month to see how the public feels about a few proposed restrictions to sport hunting on preserve lands in Alaska.

Spokesperson John Quinley says the restrictions come in response to the Alaska Board of Game offering more sport hunting effort aimed at predator control, specifically for bears, wolves, and coyotes.

"We've asked the board to exempt national preserves from these liberalizations of hunting regulations, and on more than one occasion they've suggested that if we wanted restrictions, we should do them ourselves," said Quinley.

The restrictions would:

  • shorten the open season for wolves and coyotes to Aug. 10 - Apr. 30. This would keep the season closed while the pelts are of little value and the wolves have pups at den sites.
  • prohibit the use of bait for the taking of brown bear, a practice previously outlawed and now allowed only in Alaska.
  • prohibit the use of artificial light to hunt brown bear sows and cubs in their dens, a practice now open to all resident hunting license holders.

Some of the state’s now-legal practices go beyond what Congress authorized for sport hunting on National Preserves, according to Quinley.
"In the case of bear baiting, we think that adds to a potential public safety problem. Targeting wolves and coyotes in the summer when their pelts are in poor condition doesn't square up with sport hunting where you would take hides and pelts for cash value. And the black bear issue was in response to a local concern of a traditional, cultural practice of taking black bears in the den. That, we believe, would be better addressed by the local residents as a federal subsistence season."

Quinley stresses that in most cases, the park service has no issue with state regulations for sport hunting on preserve lands. But in these instances, the Board of Game's increased allowances have gone too far.

If adopted, the restrictions will go into effect this spring. The restrictions do not affect subsistence harvest managed under the federal subsistence board.

Public comments are being taken now through March 22. Public meetings are being held throughout the state this week, including Wednesday at Lake Clark and Thursday at Katmai.