"The National Park Service has proposed a regulation that would defer to state regulations in managing wildlife in Alaska’s national preserves. It is similar to a 2020 regulation put forward by the first Trump administration, which removed bans on bear baiting, using artificial light to spotlight dens to kill black bears, taking wolves and coyotes during denning season, and more.
Defenders of Wildlife challenged the 2020 regulation in court, and it was later withdrawn and replaced in 2024. The 2024 regulation banned the practice of bear baiting for sport hunting but allowed it for subsistence hunts focused on putting food on the table.
When it adopted the 2015 ruled against bear baiting on the national preserves, the Park Service "concluded that the practice of putting out bait to attract bears for harvest poses an unacceptable safety risk to the visiting public and leads to unnatural wildlife behavior by attracting bears to a food source that would not normally be there. ... Because bait often includes dog food and human food, including items like bacon grease and pancake syrup, which are not a natural component of animal diets, the NPS was concerned that baiting could lead to bears and other animals associating these foods with people, which would create a variety of risks to people, bears, and property."
Lawmakers in Alaska have argued that while the Park Service under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act "has authority to restrict the take of fish and wildlife," the act "explicitly does not provide NPS with authority to regulate the 'methods or means' for harvesting wildlife, as those practices are governed by the State.""
