2025-00434. Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska-2026-27 and 2027-28 Subsistence Taking of Wildlife Regulations

Table 1—Winter 2025 Meetings of the Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils

Regional Advisory Council	Dates	Location
Southeast Alaska—Region 1	March 18-20	Sitka.
Southcentral Alaska-Region 2	March 12-13	Cordova.
Kodiak/Aleutians—Region 3	March 6-7	Kodiak.
Bristol Bay—Region 4	February 18-19	Naknek.
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta—Region 5	March 4-5	Bethel.
Western Interior—Region 6	February 25-26	Fairbanks.
Seward Peninsula—Region 7	April 1-2	Nome.
Northwest Arctic—Region 8	March 27-28	Kotzebue.
Eastern Interior—Region 9	February 19-20	Fairbanks.
North Slope—Region 10	February 27-28	Utqiagvik.

During April 2025, the written proposals to change the regulations at subpart D, take of wildlife and subpart C, customary and traditional use determinations, will be compiled and distributed for public review. Written public comments will be accepted on the distributed proposals during a second 30-day public comment period, which will be announced in statewide newspaper and radio ads and posted to the Program web page and social media. The Board, through the Councils, will hold a second series of public meetings or teleconference meetings in September through October 2025, to receive comments on specific proposals and to develop recommendations to the Board on the following dates:

Table 1—Fall 2025 Meetings of the Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils

Regional Advisory Council	Dates	Location
Southeast Alaska—Region 1	October 21-23	Wrangell.
Southcentral Alaska-Region 2	October 14-15	Anchorage.
Kodiak/Aleutians—Region 3	September 17-18	TBD.
Bristol Bay—Region 4	October 29-30	Dillingham.
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta—Region 5	October 21-23	TBD.
Western Interior—Region 6	October 7-8	Fairbanks.
Seward Peninsula—Region 7	October 14-15	Nome.
Northwest Arctic—Region 8	October 27-28	Kotzebue.
Eastern Interior—Region 9	October 8-10	Tok.
North Slope—Region 10	September 16-17	Utqiagvik.

A public notice of specific dates, times, call-in number(s), and how to participate and provide public testimony will be published in local and statewide newspapers, announced in radio ads, and posted to the Program web page and social media at least 2 weeks prior to each meeting. The amount of work on each Council's agenda determines the length of each Council's meeting, but typically the meetings are scheduled to last 2 days. Occasionally a Council will lack information necessary during a scheduled meeting to make a recommendation to the Board or to provide comments on other matters affecting subsistence in the region. If this situation occurs, the Council may announce on the record a later teleconference to address the specific ( print page 6924) issue when the requested information or data is available; it is noted that any follow-up teleconference would be an exception and must be approved, in advance, by the Director of the Office of Subsistence Management. These teleconferences are open to the public, along with opportunities for public comment; the date and time will be announced during the scheduled meeting, and that same information will be announced through news releases and local radio, newspaper, Program web page, and social media ads.

The Board will discuss and evaluate proposed changes to the subsistence management regulations during a public meeting scheduled to be held in Anchorage, Alaska, in April 2026. The Council Chairs, or their designated representatives, will present their respective Councils' recommendations at the Board meeting. Additional oral testimony may be provided on specific proposals before the Board at that time. At that public meeting, the Board will deliberate and take final action on proposals received that request changes to this proposed rule.

Proposals to the Board to modify the general fish and wildlife regulations, wildlife harvest regulations, and customary and traditional use determinations must include the following information:

a. Name, address, and telephone number of the requestor;

b. Each section and/or paragraph designation in the current regulations for which changes are suggested, if applicable;

c. A description of the regulatory change(s) desired;

d. A statement explaining why each change is necessary;

e. Proposed wording changes; and

f. Any additional information that you believe will help the Board in evaluating the proposed change.

The Board will immediately reject proposals that fail to include the above information, or proposals that are beyond the scope of authorities in § __.24, subpart C (the regulations governing customary and traditional use determinations) and § __.25 and __.26 of subpart D (the general and specific regulations governing the subsistence take of wildlife). If a proposal needs clarification, prior to being distributed for public review, the proponent may be contacted, and the proposal could be revised based on their input. Once a proposal is distributed for public review, no additional changes may be made as part of the original submission. During the April 2026 meeting, the Board may defer review and action on some proposals to allow time for cooperative planning efforts, or to acquire additional needed information. The Board may elect to defer taking action on any given proposal if the workload of staff, Councils, or the Board becomes excessive. These deferrals may be based on recommendations by the affected Council(s) or staff members, or on the basis of the Board's intention to do least harm to the subsistence user and the resource involved. A proponent of a proposal may withdraw the proposal provided it has not been considered, and a recommendation has not been made, by a Council. The Board may consider and act on alternatives that address the intent of a proposal while differing in approach.

You may submit written comments and materials concerning this proposed rule by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES . If you submit a comment via http://www.regulations.gov, your entire comment, including any personal identifying information, will be posted on the website. If you submit a hardcopy comment that includes personal identifying information, you may request at the top of your document that we withhold this information from public review. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will post all hardcopy comments on http://www.regulations.gov.

Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting documentation we used in preparing this proposed rule, will be available for public inspection on http://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. DOI-2024-0011, or by appointment, provided no public health or safety restrictions are in effect, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays, at: Office of Subsistence Management, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503.

Reasonable Accommodations

The Board is committed to providing access to these meetings for all participants. Please direct all requests for sign language interpreting services, closed captioning, or other accommodation needs to Robbin LaVine, 907-786-3888, [e-mail], or 800-877-8339 (TTY), 7 business days prior to the meeting you would like to attend.

Tribal Consultation and Comment

As expressed in Executive Order 13175, “Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments,” the Federal officials that have been delegated authority by the Secretaries are committed to honoring the unique government-to-government political relationship that exists between the Federal Government and federally recognized Indian Tribes (herein after referred to as “Tribes”) as listed in 82 FR 4915 (January 17, 2017). Consultation with Alaska Native corporations is based on Public Law 108-199, div. H, Sec. 161, Jan. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 452, as amended by Public Law 108-447, div. H, title V, Sec. 518, Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3267, which provides that: “The Director of the Office of Management and Budget and all Federal agencies shall hereafter consult with Alaska Native corporations on the same basis as Indian tribes under Executive Order No. 13175.”

The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act does not provide specific rights to Tribes for the subsistence taking of wildlife, fish, and shellfish. However, because Tribal members are affected by subsistence fishing, hunting, and trapping regulations, the Secretaries, through the Board, will provide Tribes and Alaska Native corporations an opportunity to consult on this proposed rule.

The Board will engage in outreach efforts for this proposed rule, including a notification letter, to ensure that Tribes and Alaska Native corporations are advised of the mechanisms by which they can participate. The Board provides a variety of opportunities for consultation: proposing changes to the existing rule, commenting on proposed changes to the existing rule, engaging in dialogue at the Regional Council meetings, engaging in dialogue at Board meetings, and providing input in person, by mail, email, or phone at any time during the rulemaking process. The Board will commit to efficiently and adequately providing an opportunity to Tribes and Alaska Native corporations for consultation in regard to subsistence rulemaking.

The Board will consider Tribes' and Alaska Native corporations' information, input, and recommendations, and address their concerns as much as practicable.

Developing the 2026-27 and 2027-28 Wildlife Seasons and Harvest Limit Proposed Regulations

In titles 36 and 50 of the CFR, the subparts C and D regulations are subject to periodic review and revision. The Board currently completes the process of revising subsistence take of wildlife regulations in even-numbered years and fish 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 cycle. Nonrural determinations are ( print page 6925) taken up during every other fish and shellfish cycle, beginning in 2018.

Based on Board policy, the Board reviews each closure to the take of fish/shellfish and wildlife every 4 years, during each applicable cycle. The following table lists the current closures being reviewed for this cycle. In reviewing a closure, the Board may maintain, modify, or rescind the closure. If a closure is rescinded, the existing regulations apply, or if no regulations are in place, any changes to or the establishment of seasons, methods and means, and harvest limits must go through the full public review process. The public is encouraged to comment on these closures, and anyone recommending a regulatory change outside the scope of a closure review ( i.e., a change not directly affecting the closure) should submit a regulatory proposal.

Table 3—Wildlife Closures To Be Reviewed by the Federal Subsistence Board for the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 Regulatory Years

Unit and area descriptor	Species	Closure
2	Deer	Closed from Aug. 1-15 to non-federally qualified users. Non-federally qualified users may only harvest up to two bucks.
5A, except Nunatak Bench, east of the Dangerous River	Moose	Closed from Sept. 16-30 to non-federally qualified users.
5A, except Nunatak Bench, west of the Dangerous River	Moose	Closed from Oct. 8-21 to non-federally qualified users.
9C, draining into the Naknek River from the South	Moose	Closed from Dec. 1-31 to non-federally qualified users.
17A, 17C, Nushagak Peninsula	Caribou	Closed to non-federally qualified users unless the population estimate exceeds 900 caribou.
22A, North	Moose	Closed from Sep. 21-Aug. 31 to non-federally qualified users.
22A, Unalakleet	Moose	Closed to non-federally qualified users.
22A remainder	Moose	Closed from Oct. 1-Aug. 31 to non-federally qualified users.
22B, west of the Darby Mountains	Moose	Closed to non-federally qualified users during fall season.
22B, west of the Darby Mountains	Moose	Closed except by residents of White Mountain and Golovin during the winter season.
22D, Kougarok, Kuzitrin, and Pilgrim River drainages	Moose	Closed except by residents of Units 22C and 22D.
22D, west of Tisuk River drainage and Canyon Creek	Moose	Closed except by residents of Units 22C and 22D.
22D remainder	Moose	Closed to non-federally qualified users.
22E	Moose	Closed to non-federally qualified users.
23, Baird Mountains	Sheep	Closed to non-federally qualified users.
23, Noatak River corridor, Squirrel, Eli, and Agashashok River drainages	Caribou	Closed to non-federally qualified users.
25D west	Moose	Closed except by residents of Unit 25D west and Birch Creek.
26C	Muskox	Closed to non-federally qualified users.