Trump Administration Turns its Back on Wildlife – Again

The National Park Service today proposed a regulation that would abdicate the agency from its responsibility to manage wildlife in Alaska’s national preserves and to instead defer to state regulations. This is similar to a 2020 regulation promulgated by the first Trump administration, which Defenders of Wildlife challenged in court; it was later withdrawn and replaced in 2024.  

“Like the 2020 rule, this is an unconscionable abdication of responsibility by the Park Service,” said Nicole Whittington-Evans, senior director of Alaska and Northwest programs for Defenders of Wildlife. “National preserves aren’t game farms. Managing predators to scarcity in the name of boosting prey populations is inconsistent with the Park Service’s mission to conserve natural wildlife abundances, behaviors and relationships.”

The Park Service is required by statute to manage wildlife populations to maintain natural abundance, behaviors and predator-prey relationships, and cannot manipulate predator populations to try to boost prey species such as moose or caribou. The 2024 Park Service regulation restated this responsibility and specifically prohibited bear baiting in national preserves. The new regulation lifts that prohibition and effectively defers to all state hunting regulations in all Alaska preserves, even though those regulations often seek to boost prey species at the expense of predators.