Rural Determination

Title VIII of the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) provides a subsistence priority for Alaska residents of rural communities for harvesting fish and wildlife resources on Federal public lands.

The Federal Subsistence Board (Board), acting for the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture (Secretaries), is seeking comment on a proposed regulatory change to the rural determination process for the Federal Subsistence Program in Alaska. Under current regulations, the Board determines which community or area of Alaska is rural using guidelines and characteristics defined by the Secretaries. In response to robust stakeholder input and Tribal consultation, the new, simplified process identified will enable the Board to be more flexible in making decisions and take into account the regional differences found throughout the State.

The Secretaries, through the Board, will hold public meetings in conjunction with the Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils (Councils) to receive comments on this proposed rule on several dates between February 10 and March 19, 2015. The Councils, which play an important role in providing recommendations and information to the Board on a range of issues, will discuss the proposed rule change and make their recommendations to the Board. Tribal consultations will also be held. The Board will review the Councils' recommendations, Tribal input, and public comments, and then provide recommendations for potential changes to the proposed rule to the Secretaries.

The deadline to submit comments was April 1, 2015. The link below provides more information about the Rural Determination review process and how you can submit comments.

Rural Determination Process Review 

How to submit public comments on Rural Determination Process

Proposed Rule

 

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