Trump administration rule allows bear baiting in Alaska with doughnuts and bacon on federal lands
A Trump administration bear baiting Alaska rule published on Friday allows hunters to bait bears with bacon, doughnuts, meat scraps or other human foods on federal lands in Alaska, reversing a 2024 ban and taking effect in mid-November.
Trump administration rule allows bear baiting in Alaska with doughnuts and bacon on federal lands
What the rule allows and when it starts
The new bear baiting Alaska rule, issued by the US interior department, permits hunters to lure bears on federal lands in the state with bacon, doughnuts, meat scraps or other human foods. It was published in the federal register on Friday and takes effect in mid-November.
The rule replaces a 2024 measure from the Biden administration that banned the practice on those lands.
Critics: cruelty, safety and politics
Opponents say baiting makes bears more aggressive around humans, and they describe the reversal as a political gift to rightwing trophy hunters. Environmental groups called the move "indefensible and inexcusable".
Drew Robertson, senior regulatory specialist for Humane World for Animals, said the group is discouraged to see the rule return.
"We are discouraged to see this rule come back, specifically the bear baiting piece which is cruel and dangerous"
Because the federal rule does not list specific permitted foods and defers to state rules, which allow baiting, hunters typically use the cheapest and most effective food available, which is high fat and high sugar, according to Nicholas Arrivo, a managing attorney at Animal Protection Law. Arrivo said hunters generally place the food in a steel drum or garbage can, monitor the bait, then set up from a nearby blind and kill the bear at short range.
Robertson added that the practice is a more extreme version of the hunting traditions most people picture, and that many hunters themselves would not consider it fair chase.
Interior department defends the change
Interior secretary Doug Burgum said the rule was developed in response to demands from Alaska residents and described it as a "commonsense framework and gives Alaskans a stronger voice in decisions affecting the lands, wildlife and traditions they know best".
The change was directed by Donald Trump in an executive order called Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential, issued early in his second administration. Robertson said the president made the rule a priority and included direction to reissue it, which he argued shows political motivation rather than careful consideration.
A long-running fight over Alaska hunting rules
The baiting ban has changed hands with each administration. It was first imposed under Obama, undone by Trump's first administration, and fought over in court.
- Litigation upheld the Obama rule and overturned the Trump rule, after which the Biden administration reimplemented the ban in 2024.
- The new rule is the latest in a series of state and federal changes since 2023 that critics call barbaric and unethical, including allowing shooting bears from helicopters, shooting swimming caribou from motor boats, killing wolf pups in their dens and using artificial lights to draw bears from dens.
- About a dozen US states allow similar baiting practices, but more do not.
Arrivo argued the federal lands at issue were created by Congress so that the federal government holds decision-making power, and said the rule is anathema to federal land management goals of preserving wildlife diversity.
On possible legal action, Arrivo said no decision has yet been made about a lawsuit, but that scrapping the 2024 rule - which underwent a more robust scientific process - "doesn't smell right" and raises questions about the legality of the new rule.
