Proposed federal rule seeks to roll back critical wildlife protections and allow cruel ‘bear baiting’ in Alaska’s national parks once again

WASHINGTON (March 6, 2026)—The Trump administration has once again advanced a proposal to strip away wildlife protections and permit some of the most horrific trophy-hunting practices imaginable on Alaska’s national preserves. In a proposed rule published today, the U.S. National Park Service seeks to rescind a 2024 regulation that banned bear baiting on Alaska’s national preserves.

“Baiting bears with piles of donuts or meat scraps to lure them into range and gun them down is cruel beyond words and one of the most indefensible forms of trophy hunting there is,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of Humane World for Animals, formerly called Humane Society of the United States. “Bait piles also habituate bears to human scents and can lead to dangerous conflicts at campgrounds, picnic areas and other spots like trailheads where there is food. For years, we have fought in the courts to keep this from happening in Alaska’s national preserves, and we have won time and again because the law and science are on the side of protecting wildlife. Wildlife must be respected, and bear baiting has no place in Alaska or anywhere.”

Bear baiting on Alaska’s wildlife preserves has a history of ups and downs. It was banned in 2015 under President Obama, but that ban was reversed in 2020 during President Trump’s first term. Humane World for Animals and its allies successfully challenged that initial Trump rule in court and the National Park Service under President Biden subsequently restored the bear baiting ban.

“Rescinding the 2024 rule against bear baiting in Alaska isn’t just a step backward, it’s a return to sheer brutality by the Trump administration,” said Sara Amundson, president of Humane World Action Fund, formerly called Humane Society Legislative Fund. “This proposed rule is a greenlight for trophy hunters to kill animals with vile methods and no regard whatsoever for the science and public safety concerns that have sidelined those methods. If policymakers are willing to overturn a well-founded federal safeguard this easily, no wildlife protection measure is secure.”

Across Alaska bear baiting is unpopular, with more than 75% of state residents saying they oppose it. The proposed NPS rule blatantly panders to trophy hunting interests at the expense of Alaska’s wildlife, visitors and residents.

Learn more about bear baiting from Humane World for Animals.

Media Contacts: