The federal government board that manages subsistence will be expanded with three representatives of Alaska Native tribes, under a new rule the Biden administration made final on Oct. 16.
The new Federal Subsistence Board members are to be nominated by federally recognized tribes. They need not be tribal members or Native themselves, but they must have “personal knowledge of and direct experience with subsistence uses in rural Alaska, including Alaska Native subsistence uses,” according to the rule.
The term “subsistence” refers to harvests of fish, game and plants for personal or family consumption or material to be used in artwork, clothing or toolmaking. For Alaska Natives, subsistence is connected to cultural traditions.
The board manages harvests conducted on federal lands within Alaska.
It currently has eight members. Five are the Alaska directors of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Land Management. There are three public representatives on the board, including its chairman.
The new rule expanding the board rule stems from consultations in 2022 with tribal organizations, according to a Federal Register notice to be published by the U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Rural Alaska communities depend on sound and equitable subsistence decisions to sustain their ways of life. Foundational to this effort must be a balanced and diverse Federal Subsistence Board that recognizes the unique perspectives of Alaska Native people, for whom subsistence practices have been integral to their social, economic, spiritual and cultural needs since time immemorial,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.
The Biden administration took other action earlier this year that was intended to elevate the role of tribes in the federal subsistence program. In June, Haaland issued an order that moved the Office of Subsistence Management from the Fish and Wildlife Service to a position directly in the Office of the Secretary.
In addition to finalizing the rule expanding the Federal Subsistence Board, the Department of the Interior made other tribal outreach announcements. The announcements were made at tribal and subsistence meetings held just before the Oct. 17 start to the annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Anchorage.
Federal officials and tribal organizations in the Yukon River, Kuskokwim River and Norton Sound regions signed an agreement that is intended to bring more Indigenous knowledge and management to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Gravel-to-Gravel Keystone Initiative. The program of research and restoration was launched in response to salmon crashes on those river systems.
A second agreement signed Oct. 15 was with the Tanana Chiefs Conference, a coalition of Interior Alaska tribes. The agreement authorizes TCC to administer education and outreach programs on behalf of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management, and it placed new emphasis on Indigenous knowledge that TCC can incorporate into management plans and decisions.
The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.
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