In August 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published final regulations governing the killing of bears, wolves, coyotes and wolverines on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska – including on nearly 20 million acres of designated Wilderness on the Refuges.

These regulations preempt several State of Alaska hunting and trapping regulations meant to reduce populations of bears, wolves, coyotes and wolverines with the intent to increase moose and caribou numbers. These state regulations conflict with FWS’s responsibility to protect the natural diversity of wildlife of national wildlife refuges in Alaska.

The new USFWS rule prohibited the following practices on refuges in Alaska:

• Same day airborne hunting of bears, wolves, and wolverines;
• Use of traps, snares, and nets for killing bears;
• Killing of wolves and coyotes from May 1 to August 9;
• Killing of bear cubs or mothers with cubs (except for subsistence hunts where this is traditional); and
• Use of bait to kill brown bears.

Now, Alaska Republican Representative Don Young and Alaska Republican Senator Dan Sullivan want Congress to use the little-known “Congressional Review Act” (CRA) to issue a "resolution of disapproval," which would repeal the new FWS rule.

Under the CRA, all it takes is a simple majority in both the U.S. House and Senate to  'disapprove' of a new federal rule. If Congress "disapproves" of the rule, and the president signs the resolution, the rule is dead and the federal agencies are not allowed to re-issue the rule or craft a similar rule in the future. 

Repealing this vital rule would jeopardize iconic wildlife species in Alaska, subvert fundamental environmental laws and undermine management of federal public lands. 

Rep Young's H. J. Res. 69 and Senator Sullivan's S.J. Res. 18 are a blatant attempt to cede control of America’s wildlife on over 76 million acres of National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska to appease narrow state interests, and could have drastic implications for federal management of public trust resources across the country.