OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 1, 1999

Stephanie Hanna (O) 202/208-6416

$1 Million Provided to Plan New Federal Subsistence Fisheries Management in Alaska
Alaska Legislature has not yet acted to resolve subsistence impasse
and comply with ANILCA Title VIII

The federal takeover of subsistence fisheries management in Alaska moved a step closer today, with the announcement by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt that the first $1 million in planning funds will be disbursed after midnight on June 1, 1999.

Congress appropriated a total of $11 million for the Federal Government to manage subsistence fisheries in Alaska, with the first $1 million becoming available to the federal agencies on June 1, but only if the Alaska Legislature failed to pass a constitutional amendment. As the Alaska Legislature adjourned this month without taking action on subsistence, the conditions are met for the June 1, 1999, disbursement of the first $1 million for the federal subsistence program.

AIt is unfortunate that the Alaska Legislature refuses to give Alaskans the opportunity to vote on a constitutional amendment to provide a rural subsistence priority in times of shortage,@ Babbitt said. ASince it has not happened, I now stand ready to disburse the first $1 million for planning a new federal subsistence fisheries program which will go into effect as scheduled on October 1 unless the Legislature acts quickly and responsibly.@

AThe Department intends to streamline fisheries management and to make maximum use of the existing expertise and resources of the Regional Advisory Councils, the state, and Alaska Native tribes and organizations,@ said Marilyn Heiman, Special Assistant to the Secretary. The program will continue to build on the knowledgeable advice of local subsistence users through the ten Regional Advisory Councils. Intensive discussions with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are focused on coordinated management and ready exchange of fisheries management data. Cooperative agreements with Alaska Native tribes and organizations will provide for significant roles in data collection and management coordination.

Final regulations governing federal subsistence fisheries in Alaska were published in January, 1999, but do not take effect until October 1, 1999. If the Alaska Legislature takes action before October 1, 1999, to put a constitutional amendment for the rural subsistence priority on the ballot, the remaining $10 million will be disbursed to the State of Alaska for subsistence management.

In the 1995 Katie John decision, the federal courts ordered that the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture must assume responsibility for managing subsistence fisheries in all navigable waters on and adjacent to federal conservation units in Alaska. Congress delayed implementation of this decision for several years, giving the state more time to take action to allow the rural subsistence priority. The most recent Congressional action, permitted publication of the regulations, and appropriated funds, but delayed the implementation until after October 1, 1999.

The Federal Subsistence Board has been managing subsistence hunting, trapping and limited fishing on federal lands since in Alaska since 1990, when the state of Alaska failed to comply with the rural subsistence priority. The expanded federal subsistence fisheries regulations will extend the Board=s responsibility to managing subsistence fisheries on nearly 60 percent of Alaska=s rivers and lakes. This includes inland rivers and lakes on conservation lands and on national forests managed by the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Agriculture. These federal lands include national wildlife refuges; national parks, monuments, and preserves; national forests; national conservation and recreation areas; national wild and scenic river corridors; and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

For additional information, please contact Thomas H. Boyd, Office of Subsistence Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, at 907-786-3888. Hearing- or speech-impaired individuals may call toll-free through the Federal Relay Service, 1-800-877-8339, tty at 907-786-3595.

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