The Kenai Rule in Four Acts: Bear Baiting, Firearms, and Hunting: Comment & Analysis of Alaska v. Bernhardt

• Main Authors: Nachtigal, Jon C., Stocz, Mike
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Duke University School of Law 2022
• Subjects: Law; Alaska law review; Alaska
• Online Access: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/alr/vol39/iss2/7; https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1636&context=alr

The Kenai Rule, enacted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2016, prohibits (a) the hunting of brown bears with bait in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, (b) most hunting in the Skilak Wildlife Recreation Area, and (c) the discharge of firearms along the Kenai and Russian Rivers. The Kenai Rule was challenged by the State of Alaska and Safari Club International in Alaska v. Bernhardt. This Comment provides an overview of the case as it was heard in the District Court of Alaska. This discussion includes arguments and counterarguments surrounding the application of four legislative acts: the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. Additionally, this Comment examines the holding and subsequent public response to the Ninth Circuit's decision in Safari Club International v. Haaland, the public's opinion on bear baiting, the culling of predators to increase moose and caribou populations for hunters, and the future impact this decision will have on the federalist arrangement of Alaska's natural resources.