Federal Subsistence Board rejects request to close Federal public lands in Unit 23 to moose hunting by non-Federally qualified users

Although the overall moose population is currently declining throughout Unit 23, harvest by Federally qualified subsistence users has remained stable over the last ten years, indicating that local users are still able to successfully harvest moose despite declines in the overall population. In addition, non-Federally qualified users make up a minority of moose harvest in the unit when reported harvest is combined with community household surveys.  Therefore, closing Federal public lands in Unit 23 to non-Federally qualified users will likely not have the desired impact to the overall moose population in the unit and may be an unnecessary restriction on non-Federally qualified users.

In addition, non-Federally qualified users would still be permitted to harvest moose on State lands and below the mean high water line on many waterways within Federal lands.  Many of these lands are located adjacent to Native Corporation lands, which could cause more non-Federally qualified users to harvest moose near these areas.  If all non-Federally qualified users harvest moose on State lands, this could lead to overcrowding and increased user conflicts, and would not lessen overall moose harvest in Unit 23.  Therefore, this closure may not have the intended effect of reducing user conflict issues within the area.

The Board will assess the effects of recent State actions that eliminated the non-resident season and the antlerless resident season prior to considering a unit-wide closure to moose harvest by non-Federally qualified users on Federal public lands.

Additional information on the Federal Subsistence Management Program may be found on the web at www.doi.gov/subsistence or by visiting www.facebook.com/subsistencealaska.

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