Interior Moves to Let Alaska Allow Bear Baiting Again in National Preserves

The Interior Department announced on March 6, 2026, that it would propose a rule applying Alaska state hunting regulations inside Alaska's national preserves, reversing federal restrictions and again permitting practices including bear baiting, in which food stations are set out to draw bears for sport hunters. The preserves affected are units of the National Park System, including the preserve portions of Denali and Wrangell-St. Elias. The restrictions were first imposed in 2015, rescinded during Trump's first term, and reinstated in 2024. In 2020, a federal court struck down the first administration's bear-baiting plan for the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal.

The proposal turns on whether federal conservation standards or state game-management rules govern land in the National Park System, a question courts have addressed before in this same policy area.

Conservation groups said baiting alters bear behavior and creates hazards for park visitors, and the Alaska Wildlife Alliance argued existing rules already protect subsistence users. As of the reporting reviewed, the rule was at the proposal stage.