Contact: Jan Maslen, jan_maslen@nps.gov, 907-822-7206
Federal Subsistence Hunting Permits for Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve available starting July 27; Permitting Process Adapted Due to Covid-19
Federal subsistence registration permits for permit hunts in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve will be available starting Monday, July 27.
Due to ongoing public health advisories and staffing delays related to Covid-19, the permitting process has been adapted to ensure the safety of permit applicants and park staff.
Permit applicants must call ahead. Once you have reserved your permit over the phone, you can pick it up at one of our visitor contact stations. Please call the location where you would like to pick up the permit(s):
- Copper Center Visitor Center: 822-7250;
- Slana Ranger Station: 822-7401;
- Chitina Ranger Station: 823-2205; and
- Kennecott-McCarthy area: 205-7631.
When you call, please have your current hunting license number available. If you get a busy signal, please call back or email: WRST_subsistence@nps.gov.
The Copper Center Visitor Center has window services seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through September 20. The Slana Ranger Station has window services seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through September 26. Permits will also be available at the Chitina Ranger Station, which has window services seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Labor Day. For permits after these dates, call the main park number, 822-5234.
When you come to pick up your permit(s), please bring your State of Alaska resident hunting license, a photo ID (such as a driver’s license), and proof of local physical address. Examples of documentation of physical address include a voter registration card, an electric or other utility bill listing your physical address, or current rental or lease agreement. If possible, please also bring an ink pen to use when signing your permit.
Permits will be available for moose hunts in Unit 11 and a portion of Unit 12, a goat hunt in Unit 11, and sheep hunts for people 60 years of age or older in Units 11 and 12. 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. 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.
This year the joint state/federal permit (RM291) for the moose hunt in the portion of Unit 11 draining into the east bank of the Copper River upstream from and including the Slana River drainage and Unit 12 within the Nabesna River drainage west of the east bank of the Nabesna River upstream from the southern boundary of Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge is also available on-line at https://secure.wildlife.alaska.gov/ePermit. Hunters with access to a computer and printer are encouraged to obtain this permit on-line.
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. The regulation booklet can be obtained at https://www.doi.gov/subsistence/wildlife. 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.
Hunters are reminded that airplanes may be used to access the National Preserve, but not the National Park, for the purposes of subsistence harvest of fish and wildlife. Special rules apply to the use of off-road vehicles in the Black Mountain area and at the end of the Tanada Lake Trail. If you plan to hunt in those areas please ask when you pick up your permit or see the park website for more information:
https://www.nps.gov/wrst/learn/management/subsistence-access.htm.
For more information, contact the park Visitor Center in Copper Center at (907) 822-7250.
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 419 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
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Barbara A. Cellarius, Ph.D. — TELEWORKING
Cultural Anthropologist/Subsistence Coordinator
Resource Stewardship & Science Team
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve
PO Box 439/Mile 106.8 Richardson Highway, Copper Center AK 99573
907/822-7236 (office) — 907/205-0157 (cell) — barbara_cellarius@nps.gov