On September 30, a federal judge ruled against the National Park Service’s (NPS) 2020 rule which reversed a ban on cruel predator killing practices in National Preserves in Alaska, many of which also include designated Wilderness. The NPS continues to work on a replacement rule, but in the meantime, the judge unfortunately left the bad 2020 rule in place, and so controversial hunting methods continue on 19 million acres of America’s National Preserves in Alaska, including millions of acres of Wilderness. The NPS rightly banned controversial hunting practices on National Preserves in 2015, codifying into law its longstanding position that killing predators to increase prey populations violates its mandate to protect our National Preserves in all of their diversity. But, Trump’s Interior Department rolled back the NPS’s protective rule with its own rule in May 2020, which defers to state regulation that allows many egregious hunting practices: • Killing mother bears and cubs in their dens;
• Baiting brown and black bears with human food;
• Killing wolves and coyotes with pups during their denning season;
• Shooting caribou from boats or shore as they cross lakes or rivers;
• Indiscriminate and cruel trapping; and
• Using dogs to hunt bears. These killing methods have no place in wildlife management, let alone in our National Preserves. Not only are these practices barbaric and unethical, but bears, wolves, and other native predators are an integral part of what makes these places truly wild and ecologically healthy. Nature should be allowed to shape these wild places, and natural processes should determine wildlife populations and distribution. On August 26, 2020, Wilderness Watch and 12 other groups, represented by Trustees for Alaska, filed a legal challenge to the 2020 rule. The judge’s September 30 ruling was in response to our lawsuit. As the NPS engages in its rulemaking process, we will continue to push for strong protections for predators living in National Preserves and Wildernesses in Alaska. We’ll keep you posted. | 
