We coordinate subsistence management activities and refuge involvement
in subsistence harvest regulations on Alaska’s National Wildlife
Refuges. As mandated by Congress in ANILCA,
our goal is to conserve healthy populations of fish and wildlife on refuges
while providing opportunities for rural residents to follow a subsistence
way of life. Refuge biologists monitor fish and wildlife populations to
maintain the health and natural diversity of these resources used by subsistence
and other users of the refuges. Information collected by refuge biologists
on refuge resources and uses by Alaskans and others is considered in the
development of subsistence harvest regulations.
The Federal Subsistence
Board sets federal subsistence harvest regulations.
The Board is made up of 6 members, including the regional directors
of the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau
of 
Land
Management, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the US Forest Service, and
a Chair appointed by the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture.
The Board receives technical and administrative support from the Service’s
Office of Subsistence
Management. The Fish and Wildlife Service has two Regional Subsistence
Coordinators who provide technical support and advice to the Service's
Board member regarding refuge and other Service staff concerns and recommended
positions on management issues brought before the Board. The Regional
Subsistence Coordinator for wildlife is staffed within the Natural Resources
Division. The Regional Subsistence Coordinator for fisheries is staffed
within the Service's Fisheries/Ecological Services Program.
In addition to the staff support for the Service's Board member, the
Regional Subsistence Coordinators, as part of the Federal Subsistence
Board’s Interagency Staff Committee, actively coordinate with
State of Alaska fish and wildlife resource managers to facilitate collaborative
federal/state dual management on and adjacent to refuge lands/waters
and provide improved services to refuge subsistence users.
Related Sites:
Office of Subsistence Management
Alaska Migratory Bird Co-management
Council
Marine Mammals Management
Halibut Subsistence
Management
Alaska
Department of Fish and Game Subsistence
Contact Us
