Federal subsistence hunting permits for Wrangell St Elias National Park and Preserve available starting July 27

Date: July 15, 2015

Federal subsistence registration permits for permit hunts in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve will be available starting Monday, July 27, at the park’s Visitor Center in Copper Center and the Slana Ranger Station. The Visitor Center is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through September 19 and Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., from September 20 to October 31. During October, please call ahead (822-7250) to ensure that someone will be available to issue permits. The Slana Ranger Station is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through the end of September.Permits will be available at the Chitina Ranger Station starting July 31. The Chitina Ranger Station is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Thursday through Monday (closed Tues.-Wed.) through Labor Day. In the McCarthy-Kennecott area, contact the District Ranger at 554-1144 for permit information.

Permits will be available for moose hunts in Unit 11 and a portion of Unit 12, goat hunts in Unit 11, and sheep hunts for persons 60 years of age or older in Units 11 and12.

There is no federal registration permit for the general sheep hunts in Units 11 and 12. Federally qualified hunters wishing to harvest sheep in Units 11 and 12 during the regular season may do so under the federal harvest limit, but must obtain a state harvest ticket and comply with the state’s reporting and horn sealing requirements. Note that the state sealing requirement for Unit 11 applies to all rams, even rams with less than full-curl horns. Sealing is not required for sheep harvested under a federal registration permit during the elder hunts.

Please bring your State of Alaska resident hunting license, a photo ID (such as a drivers license), and proof of local physical address when you come to get a permit. Documentation of physical address can include a voter registration card or a utility bill listing your physical address.

Permit applicants must be federally qualified subsistence users and meet special eligibility requirements for lands managed by the National Park Service. They must have their primary permanent residence in rural Alaska, and their community must be listed in the “Species/ Customary & Traditional Use Determination”(C&T) column of the Federal Subsistence Management Regulations Booklet for Wildlife for the intended species and location. Individuals wanting to hunt on National Park lands (as opposed to in the National Preserve) must additionally have their primary residence in one of the park’s 23 resident zone communities.

For moreinformation, contact Barbara Cellarius, Subsistence Coordinator, at [phone].