Unit 26 RAC wants to close Central Arctic Herd no Haul Road Caribou

[kaboku68]

I had a long discussion with Fish and Game employee who told me that USFWS and Unit 26 RAC was pretty solid on closing down caribou hunting opportunities on the Dalton Highway. No one caribou per hunter. Just straight up closing down the hunting for nonrural subsistence users.

 

[Broomd]

Is the condition of the herd that dire?

 

[Reload]

My fear is that this slippery slope is gaining momentum and cannot be stopped soon enough. I encourage any and everyone to voice their concerns in the public forums that will be coming soon. Efforts made will pay dividends for our future. Those in the know please let us know when the public input can be made

 

[kaboku68]

Herd is in fine condition. USWFS has been successful in closing caribou and moose for unit 23 to nonrural residents and nonresidents. They have been talking to subsistence members from Kaktovik and the town formally called Barrow. They want to close nonsubsistence use on Federal lands. Well there is relatively little land that is not federal up there.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

It's not the USFWS who's closing anything, let's get that straight.

It's the Federal Subsistence Board, and they take their guidance from the Regional Advisory Councils.

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[kaboku68]

USFWS however will walk hand in hand with the local boards through the process to restrict access. A perfect example of this is Cane Creek in the ANWR. Larry Rivers and Jerry Jacques built several cabins up there in the 1980s. However, USFWS urged the locals from Arctic Village and Venetie to claim those cabins as their established proof of use. That's all they needed to lock up that area for sheep hunting.
Its not strong arm convincing. They just have to talk to the Village administrators during discussions during the subsistence board meetings.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

That may be so for Cane Creek, but this is a different matter:

On record are USFWS and NPP voting NO to the closure on the FSB board. The majority vote of this 8-person panel decides the final rule. WSA16-01 was decided by a USFS vote of YES. The Forest Service doesn't have lands in this region....go figure.

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