Section 5 AAC 92.072 - Community subsistence harvest hunt area and permit conditions(a) The commissioner or the commissioner's designee may, under this section and 5 AAC 92.052, issue community-based subsistence harvest permits and harvest reports for big game species where the Board of Game (board) has established a community harvest hunt area under (b) of this section and 5 AAC 92.074.(b) The board will consider proposals to establish community harvest hunt areas during regularly scheduled meetings to consider seasons and bag limits for affected species in a hunt area. Information considered by the board in evaluating the proposed action will include (1) a geographic description of the hunt area;(2) the sustainable harvest and current subsistence regulations and findings for the big game population to be harvested;(3) a custom of community-based harvest and sharing of the wildlife resources harvested in the hunt area by any group; and(4) other characteristics of harvest practices in the hunt area, including characteristics of the customary and traditional pattern of use found under 5 AAC 99.010(b).(c) If the board has established a community harvest hunt area for a big game population, residents of the community or members of a group may elect to participate in a community harvest permit hunt in accordance with the following conditions: (1) a person representing a group of 25 or more residents or members may apply to the department for a community harvest permit by identifying the community harvest hunt area and the species to be hunted, and by requesting that the department distribute community harvest reports to the individuals who subscribe to the community harvest permit; the community or group representative must (A) provide to the department the names of residents or members subscribing to the community harvest permit and the residents' or members' hunting license numbers, permanent hunting identification card numbers, or customer service identification numbers, or for those residents or members under 18 years of age, the resident or member's birth date;(B) ensure delivery to the department of validated harvest reports from hunters following the take of individual game animals, records of harvest information for individual animals taken, and collected biological samples or other information as required by the department for management;(C) provide the department with harvest information, including federal subsistence harvest information, within a specified period of time when requested, and a final report of all game taken under the community harvest permit within 15 days of the close of the hunting season or as directed in the permit; and(D) make efforts to ensure that the applicable customary and traditional use pattern described by the board and included by the department as a permit condition, if any, is observed by subscribers including meat sharing; the applicable board finding and conditions will be identified on the permit; this provision does not authorize the community or group administrator to deny subscription to any community resident or group member;(E) from July 1, 2014 until June 30, 2018, in the community harvest hunt area described in 5 AAC 92.074(d), permits for the harvest of bull .", moose that do not meet the antler restrictions for other resident hunts in the area will be limited to one permit for every three households in the community or group. Beginning July 1, 2018, in the community harvest hunt area described in 5 AAC 92.074(d), permits for the harvest of bull moose that do not meet the antler restrictions for other resident hunts in the area will be distributed to participants using the scoring criteria described in 5 AAC 92.070.(2) a resident of the community or member of the group who elects to subscribe to a community harvest permit (A) may not hold a harvest ticket or other state hunt permit for the same species where the bag limit is the same or for fewer animals during the same regulatory year; however, a person may hold harvest tickets or permits for same-species hunts in areas with a larger bag limit following the close of the season for the community harvest permit, except that in Unit 13, prior to July 1, 2018, only one caribou may be retained per household, and on or after July 1, 2018, up to two caribou may be retained per household;(B) may not subscribe to more than one community harvest permit for a species during a regulatory year;(C) must have in possession when hunting and taking game a community harvest report issued by the hunt administrator for each animal taken;(D) must validate a community harvest report immediately upon taking an animal; and(E) must report harvest and surrender validated harvest reports within five days, or sooner as directed by the department, of taking an animal and transporting it to the place of final processing for preparation for human use and provide information and biological samples required under terms of the permit;(F) must, if the community harvest hunt area is under a Tier II permit requirement for the species to be hunted, have received a Tier II permit for that area, species, and regulatory year.(G) participants in the community harvest hunt area described in 5 AAC 92.074(d) must commit to participation for two consecutive years. This does not apply to participants that applied in 2016 for the 2018 regulatory year.(3) in addition to the requirements of (1) of this subsection, the community or group representative must submit a complete written report, on a form provided by the department, for the community or group participating in the community harvest hunt area described in 5 AAC 92.074(d), that describes efforts by the community or group to observe the customary and traditional use pattern described by board findings for the game populations hunted under the conditions of this community harvest permit; in completing the report, the representative must make efforts to collect a complete report from each household that is a member of the community or group that describes efforts by the household to observe the customary and traditional use pattern using the eight elements described in this paragraph; a copy of all household reports collected by the community or group representative shall be submitted to the department as a part of the representative's written report; complete reports must include information about efforts to observe the customary and traditional use pattern of the game population, as follows: (A) Element 1: participation in a long-term, consistent pattern of noncommercial taking, use, and reliance on the game population: the number of years of taking and use of the game population; and involvement of multiple generations in the taking and use of the game population; and use of areas other than the community subsistence hunt area for harvest activities;(B) Element 2: participation in the pattern of taking or use of the game population that follows a seasonal use pattern of harvest effort in the hunt area: the months and seasons in which noncommercial harvest activities occur in the hunt area;(C) Element 3: participation in a pattern of taking or use of wild resources in the hunt area that includes methods and means of harvest characterized by efficiency and economy of effort and cost: costs associated with harvests; and methods used to reduce costs and improve efficiency of harvest; and number of species harvested during hunting activities;(D) Element 4: participation in a pattern of taking or use of wild resources that occurs in the hunt area due to close ties to the area: number of years of taking and use of the game population; and involvement of multiple generations in the taking and use of the game population; and variety of harvesting activities that take place in the hunt area; and evidence of other areas used for harvest activities;(E) Element 5: use of means of processing and preserving wild resources from the hunt area that have been traditionally used by past generations: complete listing of the parts of the harvested game that are used; and preservation methods of that game; and types of foods and other products produced from that harvest;(F) Element 6: participation in a pattern of taking or use of wild resources from the hunt area that includes the handing down of knowledge of hunting skills, values, and lore about the hunt area from generation to generation: involvement of multiple generations in the taking and use of the game population; and evidence of instruction and training;(G) Element 7: participation in a pattern of taking of wild resources from the hunt area in which the harvest is shared throughout the community: amount of harvest of the game population that is shared; and evidence of a communal sharing event; and support of those in need through sharing of the harvest of the game population; and(H) Element 8: participation in a pattern that includes taking, use, and reliance on a wide variety of wild resources from the hunt area: the variety of resource harvest activities engaged in within the hunt area; and evidence of other areas used for harvest activities.(d) Seasons for community harvest permits will be the same as those established for other subsistence harvests for that species in the geographic area included in a community harvest hunt area, unless separate community harvest hunt seasons are established. The total bag limit for a community harvest permit will be equal to the sum of the individual participants' bag limits, established for other subsistence harvests for that species in the hunt area or otherwise by the board. Seasons and bag limits may vary within a hunt area according to established subsistence regulations for different game management units or other geographic delineations in a hunt area.(e) Establishment of a community harvest hunt area will not constrain nonsubscribing residents of the community or members of the group from participating in subsistence harvest activities for a species in that hunt area using individual harvest tickets or other state permits authorized by regulation, nor will it require any resident of the community or member of the group eligible to hunt under existing subsistence regulations to subscribe to a community harvest permit.(f) The department may disapprove an application for a community subsistence harvest permit from a community or group that has previously failed to comply with requirements in (c)(I) and (3) of this section. The failure to report by the community or group representative under (c)(1) and (3) of this section may result in denial of a community subsistence harvest permit during the following regulatory year. The department must allow a representative the opportunity to request a hearing if the representative fails to submit a complete report as required under (c)(1) and (3) of this section. A community or group aggrieved under by a decision under this subsection will be granted a hearing before the commissioner or the commissioner's designee, if the community or group representative makes a request for a hearing in writing to the commissioner within 60 days after the conclusion of the hunt for which the person failed to provide a report. The commissioner may determine that the penalty provided under this subsection will not be applied if the community or group representative provides the information required on the report and if the commissioner determines that (1) the failure to provide the report was the result of unavoidable circumstance; or(2) extreme hardship would result to the community or group.(g) A person may not give or receive a fee for the taking of game or receipt of meat under a community subsistence harvest permit.(h) Nothing in this section authorizes the department to delegate to a community or group representative determination of the lawful criteria for selecting who may hunt, for establishing any special restrictions for the hunt and for the handling of game, and for establishing the terms and conditions for a meaningful communal sharing of game taken under a community harvest permit.(i) In this section, (1) "fee" means a payment, wage, gift, or other remuneration for services provided while engaged in hunting under a community harvest permit; and does not include reimbursement for actual expenses incurred during the hunting activity within the scope of the community harvest permit, or a non-cash exchange of subsistence-harvested resources.(2) a "community" or "group" is a mutual support network of people who routinely (at least several times each year) provide each other with physical, emotional, and nutritional assistance in a multi-generational and inter/intra familial manner to assure the long- term welfare of individuals, the group, and natural resources they depend on or purposes of this regulation, a "community" or "group" shares a common interest in, and participation in uses of, an identified area and the wildlife populations in that area, that is consistent with the customary and traditional use pattern of that wildlife population and area as defined by the board Eff. 7/1/2000, Register 154; am 7/1/2002, Register 162; am 7/1/2007, Register 182; am 7/1/2009, Register 190; am 7/1/2011, Register 198; add'l am 7/1/2011, Register 198; am 7/1/2013, Register 206; am 7/1/2015, Register 214, July 2015; add'l am 7/1/2015, Register 214, July 2015; am 7/1/2017,Register 222, July 2017; am 7/1/2018,Register 226, July 2018Authority: AS 16.05.255
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