Dear residents of the Bering Strait region, Tribal Leaders, Alaska Native Corporation Leaders,

In May 2025, the Safari Club International, a global recreational hunting, and fishing lobbying group, filed a petition to the Department of Interior to change the regulations around subsistence management on federal lands, and to change how the Federal Subsistence Board is structured.

The Safari Club petition asked the Secretary of Interior, Doug Burgum, to put the State of Alaska in charge of subsistence regulations, which would do away with our rural subsistence priority!

Safari Club has also asked for all public seats on the board to be removed, leaving only the federal agency heads. If the changes are made, rural Alaskans would have no representation on the Board.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

You can submit comments! Submit comments asking the Secretary of Interior keep the public seats on the Federal Subsistence Board, to preserve rural representation.

Tribal Leaders and Alaska Corporation Leaders can  request formal Tribal Consultation on this issue with the Department of Interior. To do so, contact: Kara Moriarty, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Interior for Alaska Affairs, by email at kara_moriarty@ios.doi.gov or by phone at 907-786-3888 (toll free 800-478-1456).

DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS:
Comments are due by February 13, 2026 at 7:59 pm Alaska time

Please comment – even just a few sentences! Comment here: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/DOI-2025-0170-0001

Or you can email your comments to: subsistence@ios.doi.gov

For your Tribe or Village Corporation to request Tribal Consultation, contact Kara Moriarty by email at kara_moriarty@ios.doi.gov  or by phone at 907-786-3888.

Read Kawerak’s comment letter.

To view the federal register follow this link: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-12-15/pdf/2025-22837.pdf

For more information, reach out to:

Brandon Ahmasuk, Vice President of Natural Resources at Kawerak, Inc. at 907-443-5231, or by email at: bahmasuk@kawerak.org

Lisa Ellanna, Social Science Program Manager at 907-304-1195, or by email at: lellanna@kawerak.org

Charles Menadelook, Subsistence Program Director at Kawerak, at 907-443-4265, or by email: at cbmenadelook@kawerak.org

Kara Moriarty, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Interior for Alaska Affairs, by email at kara_moriarty@ios.doi.gov  or by phone at 907-786-3888 (toll free 800-478-1456).