On July 14, 2017, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that it intended to “initiate a rulemaking process to reconsider” two rules affecting those who hunt on federal lands in Alaska. The two rules prohibited many hunting methods authorized by the State of Alaska. The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Virginia Johnson, directed the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to each commence the process necessary for re-examining the regulations that restrict forms of hunting and hunting related activities on lands that they administer in Alaska.
The rules that will be examined–-a NPS regulation that applies to all national preserves in Alaska and a FWS regulation that applies to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge—are two that SCI challenged earlier this year in federal court in Alaska. SCI’s suit was one of three similar lawsuits. The State of Alaska filed their own suit and the Alaska Professional Hunters Association together with Sportsmen’s Alliance and two individual hunters filed a third suit.
Originally, all three lawsuits challenged the National Park Service regulation and a similar rule, adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that prohibited forms of hunting on all National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska. Only SCI’s suit challenged the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge regulation. SCI and the other plaintiffs dropped their challenges to the broader FWS rule after Congress adopted a resolution that nullified the FWS regulation. Subsequently, the State of Alaska added a claim to their lawsuit to challenge the Kenai NWR regulations. The three lawsuits have all been consolidated.
SCI filed our lawsuit against the NPS and Kenai NWR regulations before the new Administration took office. We have continued this litigation to make sure that the new Department of the Interior gives priority to our concerns about the illegality of the regulations and the need for their reversal.
While we hope for an outcome to the new rulemaking that will benefit SCI members and the Alaska hunting community, the Department’s reconsideration of the NPS and Kenai NWR regulations offers no guarantees that the NPS and/or FWS will withdraw or significantly modify the rules. SCI will participate in the rulemaking process to voice our concerns and ensure that hunting and State wildlife management are appropriately recognized, prioritized and protected. Please continue to read Crosshairs and SCI’s social media for further developments.