Trump rule lets Alaska hunters lure bears with bacon-greased doughnuts
Maxine Joselow
AI generated
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hunters → let → doughnuts
Hunters on some public lands in Alaska will be allowed to bait bears with doughnuts soaked in bacon grease before shooting them at close range, under a rule the Trump administration released on Oct 16.
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administration → allow → Oct
The final rule from the National Park Service revived a hunting method that the Biden administration banned in 2024 across millions of acres of Alaska wilderness.
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administration → revive → wilderness
It also rekindled a long-running debate between hunters and conservationists.
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It → rekindle → hunters
Some hunters prefer to use strong-smelling, high-calorie foods like pastries, doughnuts, meat scraps or fish remains to lure bears from miles away.
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hunters → prefer → bears
But some conservationists say the practice is unethical and risks making the bears accustomed to human food, which could endanger people.
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which → say → people
The new rule also made a series of minor updates to other restrictions on hunting, fishing and trapping in national parks and preserves across Alaska.
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rule → make → Alaska
Doug Burgum, the secretary of the Interior Department, which includes the park service, said in a statement that the changes honoured the wishes of state officials and residents.
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changes → include → officials
The rule “gives Alaskans a stronger voice in decisions affecting the lands, wildlife and traditions they know best, while ensuring the National Park Service continues to protect park resources for future generations,” Burgum said.
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Burgum → give → generations
Of 33 states with black bear hunting seasons, 12 allow hunters to bait bears with human food under certain conditions.
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hunters → allow → conditions
In Alaska, the practice is permitted on state and private lands but not on most federal lands, which account for about 60% of the state’s total acreage.
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which → permit → acreage
Animal welfare activists called the new rule barbaric.
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activists → call → rule
“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, said in a statement.
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Block → bait → statement
Block said the technique would teach bears to associate people with food, increasing the likelihood of encounters that injure or kill hikers and campers.
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that → say → hikers
She added that the group was evaluating its legal options and considering challenging the rule in federal court.
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group → add → court
W. Laird Hamberlin, the chief executive of Safari Club International, a hunters’ rights group, did not directly comment on bear baiting but praised the Trump administration’s rule in general.
“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,” Hamberlin said in a statement.
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Hamberlin → comment → statement
The question of whether to allow bear baiting in Alaska has inspired a legal and political fight for more than a decade.
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question → allow → decade
The Obama administration first prohibited the practice in 2015.
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administration → prohibit → 2015
The state of Alaska and trophy hunting groups sued, and the ban was rescinded during Trump’s first term before the litigation was resolved.
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litigation → sue → term
The Biden administration restored the prohibition in 2024.
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administration → restore → 2024
At the time, the park service said it had surveyed 28 wildlife biologists, and 26 “thought baiting would lead to bears associating food with humans”.
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bears → say → humans
But on his first day back in office in 2025, Trump signed an executive order directing the park service to reconsider the policy.
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Trump → sign → policy
And in the new rule, the Trump administration said it trusted the experience of Alaska officials more than the “speculation” of wildlife biologists.
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it → say → biologists
“The state of Alaska’s decades of operational experience without documented public safety incidents are more probative than speculation without context or data,” the rule says.
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rule → document → context
The changes come 18 days before voters will decide Alaska’s hotly contested US Senate race.
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voters → come → race
Representatives for Senator Dan Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, and Mary Peltola, the Democratic challenger, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the rule.
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Representatives → respond → rule
The regulation will be published in the Federal Register on Oct 19.
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regulation → publish → Oct
It will take effect 30 days after publication.
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It → take → publication
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