Program objective

Through a multidisciplinary collaborative program, identify and provide information needed to sustain subsistence fisheries and wildlife management on public lands for rural Alaskans. The program includes maintaining sound management principles and conservation of healthy populations of fish and wildlife and other renewable resources. The continuation of subsistence use occurring on public land is essential to Alaska’s Native and non-Native rural residents’ physical, economic, traditional, cultural, and/or social existence. No practical alternative means are available to replace the food and other resources fish and wildlife provide to rural Alaskans. Subsistence uses is defined in Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (PL 96-487), Section 803, to be customary and traditional uses by rural Alaska residents of wild, renewable resources for direct personal or family consumption as food, shelter, fuel, clothing, tools or transportation; for the making and selling of handicraft articles out of nonedible by-products of fish and wildlife resources taken for personal or family consumption; for barter, or sharing for personal or family consumption; and for customary trade.