On November 17th, the Federal Subsistence Board will be holding a public hearing on the temporary special action request to close hunting of moose and caribou on the federal public lands of Units 23 and 26A in Alaska. Thanks in part to the efforts of SCI members and advocates, this decision was deferred earlier this year and the season remained open. Now, SCI is fighting for next season and beyond, and we need your help again to stand for hunting access and true conservation in Alaska.
Hunting provides the funding and management needed for sustainable conservation across the country, which is why SCI is fighting for a commitment of No-Net-Loss of public hunting and fishing access from the Biden Administration. Units 23 and 26A in Alaska aren’t small parks; this would be a total loss of 40 Million Acres of hunting access. That is more than the total land area of Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island COMBINED, or an area approximately the size of Georgia. Needless to say, this decision would endanger sound stewardship of our natural resources as hunters are essential to the effective management of public land.
Importantly, this ruling would also go against the requirements for a Wildlife Special Action, which stipulate that there is no significant change in resources and that it is not an unnecessary restriction of hunting. This request is purely part of an anti-hunting agenda as there has been no change in the herds or resources that would merit this closure, and the moose and caribou herds in these units have healthy, thriving populations.
Finally, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game “adamantly OPPOSES this special action request as the rationale given does not meet the requirements for such a closure…for either the conservation of healthy populations of moose and caribou or for the continuation of subsistence uses of such populations.” It should be the right of Alaskans, not bureaucrats in D.C., to manage Alaskan wildlife.
SCI is fighting back against this federal overreach and will always be First for Hunters. Stand with us today!
Take Action!
- First, stand with SCI and sign our No-Net-Loss Petition fighting for the Biden Administration to preserve or increase current hunting and fishing access on federal public lands across the country.
- To get involved on this potential closure in Alaska, participate in the public hearing on November 17th! It will be held from 4pm-6pm and can be reached at 888-942-9690, passcode 6071806. Full details can be found here.
Thank you for standing with SCI!
