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NPSRulemakingNPS-2023-0001

Alaska; Hunting and Trapping in National Preserves

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closed 1219d ago
Defenders of Wildlife filings
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Defenders of Wildlife filed 1 comment on this docket between Mar 28, 2023 and Mar 28, 2023. 19 other organizations filed here. The comment window closed 1219d ago.

What Defenders of Wildlife filed (1)

Mar 28, 2023· Comment from Defenders of Wildlife· NPS-2023-0001-18021

Dear Regional Director Creachbaum, I am writing to support your proposal to restore appropriate wildlife management in Alaska's national preserves. The proposed regulation would essentially restore the Park Service's 2015 regulation that prohibited predator reduction efforts on preserve lands. "Predator reduction efforts" are those intended to increase certain prey populations, such as moose or caribou, by intentionally reducing predator populations through practices such as baiting bears and shooting bears and wolves in their dens. The Trump administration abandoned the 2015 rule in 2019, opting to allow the state of Alaska's aggressive predator reduction efforts to proceed on national preserve lands. As the proposed regulation makes clear, the Park Service is charged with managing wildlife in national preserves for biological integrity and diversity, including maintaining natural predator-prey relationships. Congress did not intend national preserves to serve as game farms where predators are managed to scarcity so that ungulates might achieve unnaturally high abundance. Since the state of Alaska's hunting regulations openly seek to achieve this very result, it was necessary and proper for the Park Service to reject the state's approach on national preserve lands. I applaud the Park Service's return to carrying out its wildlife management mission on national preserves as indicated in the proposed regulation. Sincerely,

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Abstract

The National Park Service (NPS) proposes to amend its regulations for sport hunting and trapping in national preserves in Alaska.

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Alaska; Hunting and Trapping in National Preserves (NPS) — Defenders of Wildlife | OpenPolis