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Keep Cruel Bear Baiting Out of Alaska’s National Preserves

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Sponsor: The Animal Rescue Site

Bear baiting could return to Alaska’s national preserves if the National Park Service allows, increasing the risk of conflict for both wildlife and park visitors.

Keep Cruel Bear Baiting Out of Alaska’s National Preserves

The National Park Service is considering a rule that would once again allow bear baiting in Alaska’s national preserves1. This practice uses piles of human food or other bait to lure bears into range for sport hunters. It is not a minor policy shift. It would reverse protections meant to keep wildlife wild and park visitors safe2.

Why Bear Baiting Is So Harmful

When bears find food placed by people, they can begin to associate human areas and human scents with easy meals2. That change can alter natural behavior and increase conflict. The National Park Service has warned that bait stations can draw bears and people into the same spaces, raise the risk of aggressive encounters, and lead to more bears being killed in defense of life or property2.

These national preserves are not private hunting grounds. They are shared public lands used for hiking, camping, fishing, and wildlife viewing as well as hunting2. A policy that conditions bears to defend artificial food sources puts everyone at risk.

National Preserves Need Protection Not Weakening

The federal government banned bear baiting in these preserves in 2015, then reversed course in 2020, then restored the ban again in 2024 after renewed review and legal scrutiny3. Now the Park Service is again under pressure to hand control back to state rules that allow the practice in some areas4.

The agency already concluded that bear baiting is incompatible with its duty to protect natural behaviors and public safety3. It should not abandon that responsibility now.

Tell The National Park Service To Stand Firm

America’s national preserves should not train bears to seek out bait piles and human food. They should remain places where wildlife stays wild and people can safely experience nature.

Sign the petition and urge the National Park Service to keep bear baiting out of Alaska’s national preserves for good.

More on this issue:

  1. Yereth Rosen, Alaska Public Media (9 March 2026), "Trump administration plans to end ban on bear baiting in Alaska national preserves."
  2. U.S. National Park Service, U.S. National Park Service (2 December 2024), "Bear baiting poses risks to visitor safety."
  3. NPT Staff, National Parks Traveler (6 March 2026), "NPS Proposes Regulation That Would Again Allow Bear Baiting In Alaska Preserves."
  4. Tom Rader, OutdoorHub (17 March 2026), "Trump's Interior Dept. Moves to Restore Bear Baiting, State-Authorized Hunting in Alaska National Preserves."

The Petition

To the Director of the National Park Service,

I am writing to urge the National Park Service to reject any rule that would allow bear baiting in Alaska’s national preserves.

Bear baiting is a cruel and reckless practice. It uses piles of food to lure bears into shooting range. It does not respect the natural behavior of wild animals, and it does not belong on public lands managed for conservation, recreation, and the protection of natural systems.

The National Park Service has already recognized the danger. Its own findings warn that bait stations can condition bears to human food, increase the chance that bears will defend those food sources, and raise the risk of conflict between bears and visitors. In places where people hike, camp, fish, and experience wildlife, policies should reduce these dangers, not create them.

Alaska’s national preserves are not just hunting zones. They are shared public landscapes that belong to all of us. Families, travelers, photographers, Tribal communities, subsistence users, and outdoor enthusiasts all rely on these lands remaining as safe and ecologically intact as possible. Allowing sport hunters to draw bears toward bait piles threatens that balance.

This proposed rollback is also deeply troubling because it revives an issue the Park Service has already studied, reviewed, and acted on. Federal protections against bear baiting were put in place because the practice conflicts with the agency’s responsibility to maintain natural wildlife behavior and protect the visiting public. Reopening the door to baiting now would undermine that mission.

There is also a basic issue of humanity and compassion here. Wild bears should not be manipulated with human food and turned into easy targets. These animals deserve to live without being conditioned into danger for the sake of convenience or sport. Public lands should model stewardship, restraint, and respect for wildlife.

I urge the National Park Service to keep the ban on bear baiting in Alaska’s national preserves, reject this proposed rule, and defend science-based wildlife management that protects both animals and people.

These actions will ensure a better future for all.

Sincerely,

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