Federal Subsistence Board Expansion Would Give Alaska Tribal Groups More Say Over Subsistence Harvesting

Here’s more from the Alaska Beacon:

Subsistence is the term used for non-commercial and traditional harvests of wild resources for personal or family consumption, crafting into clothing or tools or use as art material.  The Federal Subsistence Board oversees management of the subsistence program that is carried out on federal public lands and waters within the state. Its current membership consists of regional directors of five federal agencies within the Interior and Agriculture departments – the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs and U.S. Forest Service – and three public representatives.

Public comments on the proposed rule will be accepted through April 26.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s Alaska advisor, Raina Thiele, and Interior’s top attorney, Bob Anderson, described the new rule and how it came about in a presentation on Tuesday, the first day of a four-day joint meeting of all the regional subsistence advisory councils.

The Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture released a proposed rule to expand the Federal Subsistence Board with three new public members nominated by Alaska tribes. The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register last week, would also require the board’s chair to have some personal experience with and knowledge of subsistence practices.