Wildlife Stewarship in National Park Service Areas in Alaska: A Report to the Alaska Leadership Council Sub-group on Wildlife Harvest on Parklands.

摘要

Wildlife stewardship on National Park Service (NPS) Areas in Alaska is guided by the Organic Act, the General Authorities Act, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Federal regulations, and NPS Management Policies. This document consolidates this collective guidance to serve as a focused reference for NPS staff as they evaluate the myriad issues and decisions facing the agency and the wildlife held in its trust. Further, this document will inform members of the public, fellow agencies, and partners about the considerations and constraints used by NPS when implementing mandates relative to wildlife. 1. Wildlife stewardship is practiced on all Alaska NPS units uniformly. Harvest of wildlife within Parks, Monuments, and Preserves will be managed so that wildlife resources and wildlife values are unimpaired as defined in NPS Management Policies. 2. The application of recognized scientific principles of wildlife population health and viability need to be viewed through the lens of whether the activities of humans are compatible with applicable federal laws and NPS regulations and policies. 3. Methods and means of wildlife harvests, within NPS Preserves in Alaska, promulgated by the State of Alaska will be evaluated for compliance with applicable federal laws and NPS regulations and policy by the same standards applied to Parks and Monuments. 4. The standard for wildlife stewardship on all NPS lands in Alaska is ensuring that these resources are unimpaired. The terms healthy and natural and healthy as they appear in ANILCA apply to determining the appropriate level of wildlife populations and subsistence use. These terms are relevant to the broader NPS role as wildlife steward at the nexus of subsistence management and wildlife management. 5. NPS shall adopt non-conflicting State regulations for harvest in Preserves. Where State of Alaska laws and wildlife harvest regulations are conflicting, Federal mandates are pre-emptive.