Legislation exempting Alaska Native subsistence hunters from required “duck stamps” — or permits needed to hunt migratory waterfowl — passed in the U.S. Senate this week.
The Federal Duck Stamp Act of 2014 passed the U.S. House of Representatives last month and is now set to go before President Obama. If enacted, the bill would increase the cost of waterfowl hunting permits from $15 to $25 — but only for sport hunters. Subsistence users would be exempt from the annual hunting fee.
Kawerak Subsistence Director Brandon Ahmosuk says the exemption is good news but probably won’t translate to big change in Western Alaska. He says many Alaska Natives harvesting waterfowl in the “customary and traditional” manner likely don’t have access to — or knowledge of — the process to secure a federal “duck stamp” in the first place.
Still, the bill would allow a legal protection for subsistence users in Alaska, effectively reversing a 2001 Department of Interior policy that first required the permits.
All three of Alaska’s federal representatives — Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich, and Congressman Don Young — have voiced support for the house-sponsored bill.
