The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Eastern Interior Field Office will open the Fortymile caribou federal subsistence hunt on federal public lands in Units 20E, 25C, and a portion of 20F on Oct. 27. The caribou hunt is limited to federally qualified rural residents hunting on federal public lands only, including federal public lands accessible from the Steese and Taylor highways.
The hunt has a harvest limit of two bull caribou, including harvests from other caribou hunts in Alaska since Jul. 1, 2024.
BLM decided to authorize the Fortymile Hunt under authority delegated by the Federal Subsistence Board after consulting with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Eastern Interior Subsistence Regional Advisory Council.
Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) provides an opportunity for federally qualified subsistence users to meet the needs of rural Alaska, where there are limited alternatives to replacing food supplies. Even with the two-bull limit, the federal subsistence harvest is expected to be a very small proportion of the annual harvest from the Fortymile caribou herd.
To manage the risk of exceeding the quota when caribou are near road systems, the State is accepting applications for the AC999 hunt through Oct. 31. When the State of Alaska portion of RC867 or AC999 is open, permitted hunters may hunt on federal and non-federal land.
For more information on seasons, harvest limits, methods, and customary and traditional use determinations for subsistence wildlife taking, please refer to the 2024-2026 Federal Subsistence Management Regulations for the Harvest of Wildlife on Federal Public Lands in Alaska.
Maps to aid in locating federal public lands open to the federal subsistence hunt near the Elliott, Steese, and Taylor highways are available from the BLM Fairbanks Public Room and are included in the “Federal Subsistence Hunting Map Series” in BLM Alaska’s georeferenced PDF map collection. For maps with information about BLM recreation sites and motor vehicle access, see the “Digital Public Information Map Series.”
The Fortymile Hotline at (907) 267-2310 provides information and updates on the RC867 caribou hunt. For additional information about the subsistence hunt, contact Jim Herriges at (907) 474-2373 or [email protected].
