More time allowed for subsistence input

Daily Sitka Sentinel staff

The Departments of Agriculture and Interior announced Thursday they're extending the deadline for public comments on changes proposed to the Federal Subsistence Management Program.

The deadline to submit public comments was changed from Feb. 13 to March 30, six weeks away.

The two departments are conducting a “targeted review” of the subsistence program to “ensure the program effectively and efficiently meets the needs of Alaska residents and the Secretaries’ obligations under Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980,” said the supplementary information in the federal register.

The Assembly passed a resolution Tuesday to weigh in, in response to the petition filed in May by Safari Club International to remove all six public members from the Federal Subsistence Board, change how members of the Regional Advisory Councils are selected, and remove the board’s authority to take temporary actions to open or close public lands for subsistence uses.

The Interior department initiated the review on December 13.

Some Alaskans are expressing concerns that the review could ultimately lead to regulatory changes that would undermine subsistence harvest rights in the state.

The Assembly’s resolution expressing concerns about changes that reduce public input and the role of the public in subsistence management passed unanimously. The resolution was sent to the secretaries of Agriculture and Interior and federal subsistence board as public comment, as well as to Alaska's congressional delegation and governor.

The Assembly resolution states that “any changes resulting from this review should strengthen, not weaken, the FSMP’s ability to fulfill the congressional intent of ANILCA Title VIII,” which relates to providing opportunities for subsistence uses of fish and game by rural Alaskan residents, including both Native and non-Native residents.

The Sitka Tribe of Alaska Tribal Council passed its own resolution February 5, affirming the importance of the federal subsistence program.

Since 1990 the Federal Subsistence Management Program has regulated the harvest of fish and game by “federally qualified subsistence users” – rural residents – and the State of Alaska regulates harvest of fish and game by all Alaska residents and non-residents.

The program provides a harvest priority on federal lands for Alaskans who reside in communities designated as “rural,” particularly when a population of a given fish or wildlife species declines and harvests must be restricted.

Sitka for about two decades has been designated rural under federal subsistence rules. Ketchikan was designated rural following a split vote in 2025 by the 11-member Federal Subsistence Board.

The public comment period, now open through March 30, is part of the federal government’s review of the subsistence program for Alaska. It is noticed in the Federal Register under the docket number DOI-2025-0170.

Comments can be submitted via the Federal Register posting https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOI-2025-0170-0001, or by email to subsistence@ios.doi.gov.

Sitka Conservation Society has a comment tool for those concerned that the program review could harm the subsistence rights of rural Alaskans. That tool is available at sitkawild.quorum.us/campaign/153239/.

• This article originally appeared in the Daily Sitka Sentinel.