Alaska; Hunting and Trapping in National Preserves
Federal Register, Volume 79 Issue 171 (Thursday, September 4, 2014)
Federal Register Volume 79, Number 171 (Thursday, September 4, 2014)
Proposed Rules
Pages 52595-52602
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office www.gpo.gov
FR Doc No: 2014-20881
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
NPS-AKRO-15122; PPAKAKROZ5, PPMPRLE1Y.L00000
RIN 1024-AE21
Alaska; Hunting and Trapping in National Preserves
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The National Park Service proposes to amend its regulations for sport hunting and trapping in National Preserves in Alaska. This proposed rule would not adopt state laws or regulations that authorize taking of wildlife, hunting or trapping activities, or management actions involving predator reduction efforts with the intent or potential to alter or manipulate natural predator-prey dynamics and associated natural ecological processes to increase harvest of ungulates by humans. The rule would maintain long-standing prohibited sport hunting and trapping practices; update procedures for closing an area or restricting an activity in National Park Service areas in Alaska; update obsolete subsistence regulations; prohibit obstructing persons engaged in lawful hunting or trapping; and authorize use of native species as bait for fishing.
DATES: Comments must be received by December 3, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 1024-AE21, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail or hand deliver to: National Park Service, Regional Director, Alaska Regional Office, 240 West 5th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and docket number or RIN for this rulemaking. All comments received will be posted without change to www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. For additional information see ``Public Participation'' under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andee Sears, Regional Law Enforcement Specialist, Alaska Regional Office, 240 West 5th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501. Phone (907) 644-3417. Email: AKRRegulations@nps.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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Background
In enacting the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) (Pub. L. 96-487, Dec. 2 1980; 16 U.S.C. 410hh-410hh5; 3101-
3233) in 1980, Congress' stated purpose was to establish nationally significant areas including National Park System units in Alaska in order to preserve them ``for the benefit, use, education, and inspiration of present and future generations.'' ANILCA Sec. 101(a); 16 U.S.C. 3101(a). Included among the express purposes in ANILCA are preservation of wildlife, wilderness values, and natural undisturbed, unaltered ecosystems while allowing for recreational opportunities, including sport hunting. ANILCA, Sec. 101(a)-(b); 16 U.S.C. 3101(a)-
(b).
The legislative history of ANILCA reinforces the purpose of the National Park System units to maintain natural, undisturbed ecosystems. ``Certain units have been selected because they provide undisturbed natural laboratories--among them the Noatak, Charley, and Bremner River watersheds.'' Alaska National Interest Lands, Report of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Report No. 96-413 at page 137 hereafter Senate Report. Legislative history identifies Gates of the Artic, Denali, Katmai, and Glacier Bay National Parks as ``large sanctuaries where fish and wildlife may roam freely, developing their social structures and evolving over long periods of time as nearly as possible without the changes that extensive human activities would cause.'' Senate Report, at page 137.
The congressional designation of ``National Preserves'' in Alaska was for the specific and sole purpose of allowing sport hunting and commercial trapping, unlike areas designated as national parks. 126 Cong. Rec. H10549 (Nov. 12, 1980) (Statement of Rep. Udall). Section 1313 directs that National Preserves shall be managed ``in the same manner as a national park . . . except that the taking of fish and wildlife for sport purposes and subsistence uses, and trapping shall be allowed in a national preserve.'' Under ANILCA and as used in this document, the term ``subsistence'' refers to subsistence activities by rural Alaska residents authorized by Title VIII of ANILCA, which ANILCA identifies as the priority consumptive use of fish and wildlife on federal public lands. ANILCA, Sec. 804; 16 U.S.C. 3144. Subsistence taking of fish and wildlife in NPS areas is generally regulated by the Department of the Interior. Taking wildlife for sport purposes in National Preserves is generally regulated by the State of Alaska (SOA).
In addressing wildlife harvest, the legislative history provided ``the Secretary shall manage National Park System units in Alaska to assure the optimum functioning of entire ecological systems in undisturbed natural habitats. The standard to be met in regulating the taking of fish and wildlife and trapping, is that the preeminent natural values of the Park System shall be protected in perpetuity, and shall not be jeopardized by human uses.'' 126 Cong. Rec. H10549 (Nov. 12, 1980) (Statement of Rep. Udall).
Activities related to taking wildlife remain subject to other federal laws, including the mandate of the NPS Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 1, et. seq.) ``to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein'' and provide for visitor enjoyment of the same for this and future generations. Policies implementing the NPS Organic Act require the National Park Service (NPS) to protect natural ecosystems and processes, including the natural abundances, diversities, distributions, densities, age-class distributions, populations, habitats, genetics, and behaviors of wildlife. NPS Management Policies 2006 Sec. Sec. 4.1, 4.4.1, 4.4.1.2, 4.4.2. The legislative history of ANILCA reflects that Congress did not intend to modify the NPS Organic Act in this respect: ``the Committee recognizes that the policies and legal authorities of the managing agencies will determine the nature and degree of management programs affecting ecological relationships, population's dynamics, and manipulations of the components of the ecosystem.'' Senate Report, at pages 232-331. Activities to reduce native species for the purpose of increasing numbers of harvested species (i.e. predator control) are not allowed on lands managed by the NPS. NPS Management Policies 2006 Sec. 4.4.3.
The SOA's legal framework for managing wildlife in Alaska is based on sustained yield, which is defined by state statute to mean ``the achievement and maintenance in perpetuity of the ability to support a high level of human harvest of game.'' AS Sec. 16.05.255(k)(5). To that end, the Alaska Board of Game (BOG) ``shall adopt regulations to provide for intensive management programs to restore the abundance or productivity of identified big game prey populations as necessary to achieve human consumptive use goals.'' AS Sec. 16.05.255(e). Allowances that manipulate natural systems and processes to achieve these goals, including actions to reduce or increase wildlife populations for harvest, conflict with laws and policies applicable to NPS areas that require preserving natural wildlife populations. See, e.g., NPS Management Policies 2006 Sec. Sec. 4.1, 4.4.3.
This potential for conflict was recognized by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources prior to the passage of ANILCA, which stated that ``it is contrary to the National Park Service concept to manipulate habitat or populations to achieve maximum utilization of natural resources. Rather, the National Park System concept requires implementation of management policies which strive to maintain natural abundance, behavior, diversity and ecological integrity of native animals as part of their ecosystem, and that concept should be maintained.'' Senate Report, at page 171.
In the last several years, the SOA has adopted an increasing number of liberalized methods of hunting and trapping wildlife and extended seasons to increase opportunities to harvest predator species. Among the predator harvest practices recently authorized on lands in the state, which included several National Preserves:
Hunting black bears, including sows with cubs, with artificial light at den sites;
harvesting brown bears over bait (which often includes dog food, bacon/meat grease, donuts, and other human food sources); and
taking wolves and coyotes (including pups) during the denning season when their pelts have little trophy, economic, or subsistence value.
These practices are not consistent with the NPS implementation of ANILCA's authorization of sport hunting and trapping in National Preserves. To the extent such practices are intended or reasonably likely to manipulate wildlife populations for harvest purposes or alter natural wildlife behaviors, they are not consistent with NPS management policies implementing the NPS Organic Act. Additional liberalizations by the SOA that are inconsistent with NPS management directives and policy are anticipated in the future.
ANILCA Section 1313 (16 U.S.C. 3201) provides ``within national preserves the Secretary may designate zones where and periods when no hunting, fishing, trapping, or entry may be permitted for reasons of public safety, administration, floral and faunal protection, or public use and enjoyment.'' In order to comply with federal law and NPS policy, the NPS has adopted temporary restrictions to prevent the application of the above
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listed predator harvest practices to National Preserves in Alaska (see, e.g., 2013 Superintendent's Compendium for Denali National Park and Preserve). These restrictions protect fauna and provide for public use and enjoyment consistent with ANILCA. While the NPS prefers a state solution to these conflicts, the SOA has been mostly unwilling to accommodate the different management directives for NPS areas. In the last 10 years, the NPS has objected to more than 50 proposals to liberalize predator harvest in areas that included National Preserves and each time the BOG has been unwilling to exclude National Preserves from state regulations designed to manipulate predator/prey dynamics for human consumptive use goals. Had these requests been accommodated, this proposed rule would not be necessary.
In deciding not to treat NPS lands different from state and other lands, the BOG suggested the NPS is responsible for ensuring that taking wildlife complies with federal laws and policies applicable to NPS areas, and that the NPS should use its own authority to ensure National Preserves are managed in a manner consistent with federal law and NPS policy. Statement of BOG Chairman Judkins to Superintendent Dudgeon, BOG Public Meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska (February 27, 2010) (NPS was testifying in opposition to allowing the take of black bear cubs and sows with artificial light in National Preserves). In the absence of state action excluding preserves, this rulemaking is required to make the temporary restrictions permanent. 36 CFR 13.50(d). This rule would also respond to the BOG's suggestion by promulgating NPS regulations to ensure preserves are managed consistent with federal law and policy and prevent historically illegal sport hunting practices from being authorized in National Preserves.
The scope of this rule is limited--sport hunting and trapping are still allowed throughout National Preserves and the vast majority of state hunting regulations are consistent with federal law and policy and would continue to apply in National Preserves. This proposed rule would only affect sport hunting and trapping in National Preserves, which constitute less than 6% of the lands in Alaska open to hunting. The proposed rule would not limit the taking of wildlife for subsistence uses under the federal subsistence regulations.
The Proposed Rule
The proposed rule would separate taking of fish and taking of wildlife into two sections; 13.40 and 13.42, respectively. The proposed rule would make the following substantive changes:
(1) In accordance with NPS policies, taking wildlife, hunting or trapping activities, or management actions involving predator reduction efforts with the intent or potential to alter or manipulate natural predator-prey dynamics and associated natural ecological processes to increase harvest of ungulates by humans would not be allowed on NPS-
managed lands. It would also explain how the NPS would notify the public of specific activities that are not consistent with this section.
(2) Prohibit historically illegal practices for taking wildlife for sport purposes, including the practices recently authorized by the state for taking predators: (i) Taking black bear cubs and sows with artificial light at den sites; (ii) taking brown bears over bait; and (iii) taking wolves and coyotes during the denning season.
(3) Prohibit intentionally obstructing or hindering persons actively engaged in lawful hunting or trapping.
(4) Update procedures for implementing closures or restrictions in park areas, including taking fish and wildlife for sport purposes, to more effectively engage the public.
(5) Update NPS regulations to reflect federal assumption of the management of subsistence hunting and fishing under Title VIII of ANILCA from the SOA in the 1990s.
(6) Allow the use of native species to be used as bait, commonly salmon eggs, for fishing in accordance with non-conflicting state law. This would supercede for park areas in Alaska the Service-wide prohibition on using certain types of bait in 36 CFR 2.3(d)(2).
Prohibiting Methods and Means of Taking Wildlife in National Preserves
Activities or management actions involving predator reduction efforts with the intent or potential to alter or manipulate natural ecosystems or processes (including natural predator/prey dynamics, distributions, densities, age-class distributions, populations, genetics, or behavior of a species) are inconsistent with the laws and policies applicable to NPS areas. The proposed rule would clarify in regulation that these activities are not allowed on NPS lands in Alaska. Under the proposed rule, the regional director would compile a list updated at least annually of activities prohibited by this section of the proposed rule. Notice would be provided in accordance with 36 CFR 13.50(e).
The proposed rule would codify in federal regulations applicable to National Preserves what had been traditional and long-standing prohibited sport hunting and trapping practices, some of which have been recently authorized by the state for taking predators. It would also prohibit the use of electronic devices not specifically approved by the Regional Director, the use of airborne devices controlled remotely and used to spot or locate game with the use of a camera, video, or other sensing device, and eliminate an allowance under adopted state laws that authorizes sport hunters to take caribou while swimming in certain National Preserves.
In 2013, the NPS adopted temporary restrictions on taking brown bears over bait in National Preserves which the proposed rule would make permanent. At that time, the NPS received several comments suggesting that black bear baiting also be prohibited. The NPS specifically seeks comment on whether taking black bears over bait should be allowed in National Preserves.
Unlike the practice of taking brown bears over bait, black bear baiting has been authorized in Alaska for several decades, including in National Preserves. Black bear baiting is authorized by the state pursuant to a permit. State regulations prohibit setting up a bait station within a mile of a home or other dwelling, business, campground and other places. State regulations also prohibit setting up a bait station within a quarter mile of a road or trail. As mentioned above, items that are inexpensive and highly attractive are used to bait bears; commonly old bread, donuts, bacon grease, dog food, and marshmallows, among other things.
Though authorized since the 1980s, the practice of black bear baiting in National Preserves is relatively uncommon. From the harvest data reported to the SOA,
