(a) The
commissioner or the commissioner's designee may, under this section and
5
AAC 92.052, issue community-based subsistence harvest
permits and harvest reports for big game species where the Board of Game
(board) has established a community harvest hunt area under (b) of this section
and 5 AAC 92.074.
(b) The board will consider proposals to
establish community harvest hunt areas during regularly scheduled meetings to
consider seasons and bag limits for affected species in a hunt area.
Information considered by the board in evaluating the proposed action will
include
(1) a geographic description of the
hunt area;
(2) the sustainable
harvest and current subsistence regulations and findings for the big game
population to be harvested;
(3) a
custom of community-based harvest and sharing of the wildlife resources
harvested in the hunt area by any group; and
(4) other characteristics of harvest
practices in the hunt area, including characteristics of the customary and
traditional pattern of use found under
5
AAC 99.010(b).
(c) If the board has established a community
harvest hunt area for a big game population, residents of the community or
members of a group may elect to participate in a community harvest permit hunt
in accordance with the following conditions:
(1) a person representing a group of 25 or
more residents or members may apply to the department for a community harvest
permit by identifying the community harvest hunt area and the species to be
hunted, and by requesting that the department distribute community harvest
reports to the individuals who subscribe to the community harvest permit; the
community or group representative must
(A)
provide to the department the names of residents or members subscribing to the
community harvest permit and the residents' or members' hunting license
numbers, permanent hunting identification card numbers, or customer service
identification numbers, or for those residents or members under 18 years of
age, the resident or member's birth date;
(B) ensure delivery to the department of
validated harvest reports from hunters following the take of individual game
animals, records of harvest information for individual animals taken, and
collected biological samples or other information as required by the department
for management;
(C) provide the
department with harvest information, including federal subsistence harvest
information, within a specified period of time when requested, and a final
report of all game taken under the community harvest permit within 15 days of
the close of the hunting season or as directed in the permit; and
(D) make efforts to ensure that the
applicable customary and traditional use pattern described by the board and
included by the department as a permit condition, if any, is observed by
subscribers including meat sharing; the applicable board finding and conditions
will be identified on the permit; this provision does not authorize the
community or group administrator to deny subscription to any community resident
or group member;
(E) from July 1,
2014 until June 30, 2018, in the community harvest hunt area described in
5
AAC 92.074(d), permits for the
harvest of bull .", moose that do not meet the antler restrictions for other
resident hunts in the area will be limited to one permit for every three
households in the community or group. Beginning July 1, 2018, in the community
harvest hunt area described in
5
AAC 92.074(d), permits for the
harvest of bull moose that do not meet the antler restrictions for other
resident hunts in the area will be distributed to participants using the
scoring criteria described in
5
AAC 92.070.
(2) a resident of the community or member of
the group who elects to subscribe to a community harvest permit
(A) may not hold a harvest ticket or other
state hunt permit for the same species where the bag limit is the same or for
fewer animals during the same regulatory year; however, a person may hold
harvest tickets or permits for same-species hunts in areas with a larger bag
limit following the close of the season for the community harvest permit,
except that in Unit 13, prior to July 1, 2018, only one caribou may be retained
per household, and on or after July 1, 2018, up to two caribou may be retained
per household;
(B) may not
subscribe to more than one community harvest permit for a species during a
regulatory year;
(C) must have in
possession when hunting and taking game a community harvest report issued by
the hunt administrator for each animal taken;
(D) must validate a community harvest report
immediately upon taking an animal; and
(E) must report harvest and surrender
validated harvest reports within five days, or sooner as directed by the
department, of taking an animal and transporting it to the place of final
processing for preparation for human use and provide information and biological
samples required under terms of the permit;
(F) must, if the community harvest hunt area
is under a Tier II permit requirement for the species to be hunted, have
received a Tier II permit for that area, species, and regulatory
year.
(G) participants in the
community harvest hunt area described in
5
AAC 92.074(d) must commit to
participation for two consecutive years. This does not apply to participants
that applied in 2016 for the 2018 regulatory year.
(3) in addition to the requirements of (1) of
this subsection, the community or group representative must submit a complete
written report, on a form provided by the department, for the community or
group participating in the community harvest hunt area described in
5
AAC 92.074(d), that describes efforts
by the community or group to observe the customary and traditional use pattern
described by board findings for the game populations hunted under the
conditions of this community harvest permit; in completing the report, the
representative must make efforts to collect a complete report from each
household that is a member of the community or group that describes efforts by
the household to observe the customary and traditional use pattern using the
eight elements described in this paragraph; a copy of all household reports
collected by the community or group representative shall be submitted to the
department as a part of the representative's written report; complete reports
must include information about efforts to observe the customary and traditional
use pattern of the game population, as follows:
(A) Element 1: participation in a long-term,
consistent pattern of noncommercial taking, use, and reliance on the game
population: the number of years of taking and use of the game population; and
involvement of multiple generations in the taking and use of the game
population; and use of areas other than the community subsistence hunt area for
harvest activities;
(B) Element 2:
participation in the pattern of taking or use of the game population that
follows a seasonal use pattern of harvest effort in the hunt area: the months
and seasons in which noncommercial harvest activities occur in the hunt
area;
(C) Element 3: participation
in a pattern of taking or use of wild resources in the hunt area that includes
methods and means of harvest characterized by efficiency and economy of effort
and cost: costs associated with harvests; and methods used to reduce costs and
improve efficiency of harvest; and number of species harvested during hunting
activities;
(D) Element 4:
participation in a pattern of taking or use of wild resources that occurs in
the hunt area due to close ties to the area: number of years of taking and use
of the game population; and involvement of multiple generations in the taking
and use of the game population; and variety of harvesting activities that take
place in the hunt area; and evidence of other areas used for harvest
activities;
(E) Element 5: use of
means of processing and preserving wild resources from the hunt area that have
been traditionally used by past generations: complete listing of the parts of
the harvested game that are used; and preservation methods of that game; and
types of foods and other products produced from that harvest;
(F) Element 6: participation in a pattern of
taking or use of wild resources from the hunt area that includes the handing
down of knowledge of hunting skills, values, and lore about the hunt area from
generation to generation: involvement of multiple generations in the taking and
use of the game population; and evidence of instruction and training;
(G) Element 7: participation in a pattern of
taking of wild resources from the hunt area in which the harvest is shared
throughout the community: amount of harvest of the game population that is
shared; and evidence of a communal sharing event; and support of those in need
through sharing of the harvest of the game population; and
(H) Element 8: participation in a pattern
that includes taking, use, and reliance on a wide variety of wild resources
from the hunt area: the variety of resource harvest activities engaged in
within the hunt area; and evidence of other areas used for harvest
activities.
(d) Seasons for community harvest permits
will be the same as those established for other subsistence harvests for that
species in the geographic area included in a community harvest hunt area,
unless separate community harvest hunt seasons are established. The total bag
limit for a community harvest permit will be equal to the sum of the individual
participants' bag limits, established for other subsistence harvests for that
species in the hunt area or otherwise by the board. Seasons and bag limits may
vary within a hunt area according to established subsistence regulations for
different game management units or other geographic delineations in a hunt
area.
(e) Establishment of a
community harvest hunt area will not constrain nonsubscribing residents of the
community or members of the group from participating in subsistence harvest
activities for a species in that hunt area using individual harvest tickets or
other state permits authorized by regulation, nor will it require any resident
of the community or member of the group eligible to hunt under existing
subsistence regulations to subscribe to a community harvest permit.
(f) The department may disapprove an
application for a community subsistence harvest permit from a community or
group that has previously failed to comply with requirements in (c)(I) and (3)
of this section. The failure to report by the community or group representative
under (c)(1) and (3) of this section may result in denial of a community
subsistence harvest permit during the following regulatory year. The department
must allow a representative the opportunity to request a hearing if the
representative fails to submit a complete report as required under (c)(1) and
(3) of this section. A community or group aggrieved under by a decision under
this subsection will be granted a hearing before the commissioner or the
commissioner's designee, if the community or group representative makes a
request for a hearing in writing to the commissioner within 60 days after the
conclusion of the hunt for which the person failed to provide a report. The
commissioner may determine that the penalty provided under this subsection will
not be applied if the community or group representative provides the
information required on the report and if the commissioner determines that
(1) the failure to provide the report was the
result of unavoidable circumstance; or
(2) extreme hardship would result to the
community or group.
(g)
A person may not give or receive a fee for the taking of game or receipt of
meat under a community subsistence harvest permit.
(h) Nothing in this section authorizes the
department to delegate to a community or group representative determination of
the lawful criteria for selecting who may hunt, for establishing any special
restrictions for the hunt and for the handling of game, and for establishing
the terms and conditions for a meaningful communal sharing of game taken under
a community harvest permit.
(i) In
this section,
(1) "fee" means a payment,
wage, gift, or other remuneration for services provided while engaged in
hunting under a community harvest permit; and does not include reimbursement
for actual expenses incurred during the hunting activity within the scope of
the community harvest permit, or a non-cash exchange of subsistence-harvested
resources.
(2) a "community" or
"group" is a mutual support network of people who routinely (at least several
times each year) provide each other with physical, emotional, and nutritional
assistance in a multi-generational and inter/intra familial manner to assure
the long- term welfare of individuals, the group, and natural resources they
depend on or purposes of this regulation, a "community" or "group" shares a
common interest in, and participation in uses of, an identified area and the
wildlife populations in that area, that is consistent with the customary and
traditional use pattern of that wildlife population and area as defined by the
board
