Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska-2024-25 and 2025-26 Subsistence Taking of Wildlife Regulations

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE <SUBAGY>Forest Service</SUBAGY> <CFR>36 CFR Part 242</CFR> DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR <SUBAGY>Fish and Wildlife Service</SUBAGY> <CFR>50 CFR Part 100</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. FWS-R7-SM-2022-0105; FXFR13350700640-245-FF07J00000]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1018-BG72</RIN> <SUBJECT>Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska—2024-25 and 2025-26 Subsistence Taking of Wildlife Regulations</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Forest Service, Agriculture; Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> This final rule establishes regulations for seasons, harvest limits, and methods and means related to the taking of wildlife for subsistence uses in Alaska for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 regulatory years. The Federal Subsistence Board (Board) completes the biennial process of revising subsistence hunting and trapping regulations in even-numbered years and subsistence fishing and shellfish regulations in odd-numbered years; public proposal and review processes take place during the preceding year. The Board also addresses customary and traditional use determinations during the applicable biennial cycle. This rule also revises the customary and traditional use determinations for wildlife, the general regulations, and a deferred proposal from the last fish cycle. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This rule is effective August 29, 2024. <E T="03">Information Collection Requirements:</E> If you wish to comment on the information collection requirements in this rule, please note that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is required to make a decision concerning the collection of information contained in this rule between 30 and 60 days after the date of publication of this rule in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> . Therefore, comments should be submitted to OMB by September 30, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> The comments received on the proposed rule as well as the Board meeting transcripts are available at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> in Docket No. FWS-R7-SM-2022-0105. Board meeting transcripts are also available for review at the Office of Subsistence Management, 1011 East Tudor Road, Mail Stop 121, Anchorage, AK 99503, or on the Office of Subsistence Management website ( <E T="03">https://www.doi.gov/subsistence</E> ). <E T="03">Information Collection Requirements:</E> Written comments and suggestions on the information collection requirements should be submitted within 30 days of publication of this document to <E T="03">https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.</E> Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function. Please provide a copy of your comments to the Service Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB (JAO/3W), Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 (mail); or <E T="03">Info_Coll@fws.gov</E> (email). Please reference OMB Control Number 1018-0075 in the subject line of your comments. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Chair, Federal Subsistence Board, c/o U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Attention: Crystal Lionetti, Director, Office of Subsistence Management; (907) 786-3888 or <E T="03">subsistence@ios.doi.gov.</E> For questions specific to National Forest System lands, contact Gregory Risdahl, Regional Subsistence Program Leader, USDA, Forest Service, Alaska Region; (907) 302-7354 or <E T="03">gregory.risdahl@usda.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> Under title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) (16 U.S.C. 3111-3126), the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretaries) jointly implement the Federal Subsistence Management Program. The Program provides a preference for take of fish and wildlife resources for subsistence uses on Federal public lands and waters in Alaska. The term “subsistence uses” means the customary and traditional uses by rural Alaska residents of wild, renewable resources for direct personal or family consumption as food, shelter, fuel, clothing, tools, or transportation or for other specified purposes. The Secretaries published temporary regulations to carry out the Program in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> on June 29, 1990 (55 FR 27114), and published final regulations in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> on May 29, 1992 (57 FR 22940). The Program managers have subsequently amended these regulations many times. Because this program is a joint effort between Interior and Agriculture, these regulations are located in two titles of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): title 36, “Parks, Forests, and Public Property,” and title 50, “Wildlife and Fisheries,” at 36 CFR 242.1-242.28 and 50 CFR 100.1-100.28, respectively. Consequently, to indicate that identical changes affect regulations in both titles 36 and 50, in this document we present references to specific sections of the CFR as shown in the following example: § __.24. The Program regulations contain subparts as follows: Subpart A, General Provisions; Subpart B, Program Structure; Subpart C, Board Determinations; and Subpart D, Subsistence Taking of Fish and Wildlife. Consistent with subpart B of these regulations, the Secretaries established a Federal Subsistence Board to administer the Federal Subsistence Management Program. The Board comprises: • A Chair appointed by the Secretary of the Interior with concurrence of the Secretary of Agriculture; • The Alaska Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS); • The Alaska Regional Director, National Park Service (NPS); • The Alaska State Director, Bureau of Land Management (BLM); • The Alaska Regional Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); • The Alaska Regional Forester, USDA Forest Service (USDA-FS); and • Two public members appointed by the Secretary of the Interior with concurrence of the Secretary of Agriculture. Through the Board, these agencies participate in the development of regulations for subparts C and D, which, among other things, set forth program eligibility, including determinations of which areas or communities in Alaska are nonrural, and specific harvest seasons and limits. The Board receives analytical and administrative assistance from the Interagency Staff Committee, which comprises senior technical experts from FWS, NPS, BLM, BIA, and USDA-FS (per § __.10(d)(7)). In administering the Program, the Secretaries divided Alaska into 10 subsistence resource regions, each of which is represented by a Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council (RAC). The RACs provide a forum for rural residents with personal knowledge of local conditions and resource requirements to have a meaningful role in the subsistence management of fish and wildlife on Federal public lands in Alaska. The RAC members represent varied geographical, cultural, and user interests within each region. The Board conducts rulemaking for the Program on a biennial schedule with the process of revising the fish and shellfish regulations and the process for revising the wildlife regulations occurring during opposite years. The Board addresses “customary and traditional use” determinations during the applicable biennial cycle. The regulations at § __.4 define “customary and traditional use” as “a long-established, consistent pattern of use, incorporating beliefs and customs which have been transmitted from generation to generation.” Since establishment of the Program regulations in 1992, the Board has made a number of customary and traditional use determinations at the request of affected subsistence users. These determinations have resulted in revisions to the regulations at § __.24. Those modifications, along with some administrative corrections, were published in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> as follows: <GPOTABLE COLS="3" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="s100,r100,xs132"> <TTITLE>Table 1—Modifications to § __.24, Customary and Traditional Use Determinations</TTITLE> <CHED H="1"> <E T="02">Federal Register</E> citation </CHED> <CHED H="1">Date of publication</CHED> <CHED H="1"> Rule made changes to the following provisions of __.24 </CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">59 FR 27462</ENT> <ENT>May 27, 1994</ENT> <ENT>Wildlife and Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">59 FR 51855</ENT> <ENT>October 13, 1994</ENT> <ENT>Wildlife and Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">60 FR 10317</ENT> <ENT>February 24, 1995</ENT> <ENT>Wildlife and Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">61 FR 39698</ENT> <ENT>July 30, 1996</ENT> <ENT>Wildlife and Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">62 FR 29016</ENT> <ENT>May 29, 1997</ENT> <ENT>Wildlife and Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">63 FR 35332</ENT> <ENT>June 29, 1998</ENT> <ENT>Wildlife and Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">63 FR 46148</ENT> <ENT>August 28, 1998</ENT> <ENT>Wildlife and Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">64 FR 1276</ENT> <ENT>January 8, 1999</ENT> <ENT>Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">66 FR 10142</ENT> <ENT>February 13, 2001</ENT> <ENT>Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">67 FR 5890</ENT> <ENT>February 7, 2002</ENT> <ENT>Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">68 FR 7276</ENT> <ENT>February 12, 2003</ENT> <ENT>Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">69 FR 5018</ENT> <ENT>February 3, 2004</ENT> <ENT>Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">70 FR 13377</ENT> <ENT>March 21, 2005</ENT> <ENT>Fish/Shellfish.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">71 FR 15569</ENT> <ENT>March 29, 2006</ENT> <ENT>Fish ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 343k characters. 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