Full Breakdown
Trump Administration Revives Bear-Baiting Rule for Alaska Public Lands
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Policy Change
A final rule from the National Park Service is scheduled to be released on October 16 and published in the Federal Register on October 19. The rule would permit hunters on certain public lands in Alaska to bait black bears with doughnuts soaked in bacon grease and then shoot the animals at close range. The regulation will take effect 30 days after its publication and replaces a 2024 ban imposed by the Biden administration that covered millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness.
Background & Context
The practice was first prohibited by the Obama administration in 2015 after Alaska and trophy-hunting groups sued the ban. The Trump administration rescinded that prohibition during its first term, but the Biden administration reinstated it in 2024. On his first day back in office in 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Park Service to reconsider the policy, resulting in the present rule. The timing arrives 18 days before Alaska’s contested U.S. Senate race.
Data & Statistics
- Of the 33 U.S. states with black-bear hunting seasons, 12 allow baiting with human food under specific conditions.
- In Alaska, baiting is already permitted on state and private lands but not on most federal lands, which comprise roughly 60 percent of the state’s total acreage.
- The Park Service reported surveying 28 wildlife biologists, of whom 26 believed baiting would cause bears to associate food with humans.
Official Statements & Responses
W. Laird Hamberlin, chief executive of the hunters’-rights group Safari Club International, praised the rule for respecting Alaska’s role in wildlife management and restoring transparency to federal closures, noting that it removes overlapping restrictions already regulated by the state.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Baiting bears with piles of doughnuts, meat scraps and dog food to lure them into shooting range and gun them down is indefensible and inexcusable as a federal policy decision,” — Kitty Block, the president of Humane World for Animals
- “This rule respects Alaska’s role in managing its wildlife, brings back transparency for federal closures and removes overlapping restrictions on hunting methods already regulated by the state,” — W. Laird Hamberlin