The Obama administration is adopting new rules that will protect the "rural" status enjoyed by many Alaska communities under federal subsistence laws, ensuring they have priority for hunting and fishing on federal land.
The rules also mean that the non-rural status applied in 2007 to Saxman, a Southeast village of about 400, is expected to soon be reversed after a 30-day comment period.
"That is great news," said Lee Wallace, president of the tribal government of Saxman, though he added that he is anxious for the rule to be finalized.
The new rules will be published Nov. 4.
The rules are also expected to ensure that the Prudhoe Bay area will also be re-classified as "rural," which will protect villages with access to the city-like oil-industrial complex, officials said.
A rural designation is important, with such communities getting hunting and fishing priority on federal land under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980.
It can mean longer hunting and fishing seasons than those enjoyed by urban residents, including in Saxman for the Sitka blacktailed deer currently in season, said Wallace.
"We just butchered up two last night," he said, after a hunt with his son.
The first of two rules will go into effect Wednesday. Communities will no longer be considered candidates for a non-rural designation when their population hits 7,000. Also gone will be the requirement that communities' status be reviewed every 10 years after U.S. census updates.
Removing the population trigger will benefit towns like Bethel and allow the Federal Subsistence Board to have more flexibility, said Tim Towarak, the board's chairman.
Grocery prices are sky-high in the Yup'ik town of 6,241, making hunting and fishing a critical activity not just culturally but also economically. The new rules will allow communities around the state to be looked at based on their unique characteristics, said Towarak.
"We felt like one size doesn't fit all," he said.
Rod Arno, executive director of the Alaska Outdoor Council, called the rules a "bummer."
He said they ignore longstanding comments from the hunting group that sought to have priority determined by criteria such as income and whether a person's livelihood depends on subsistence.
"This goes totally against that," he said.
"Now all you have to do is live there," he said, even if you're a teacher from Illinois with a good job who doesn't need the priority.
The changes are the result of a federal review launched in 2009 under former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who called the federal subsistence program "broken" after extensive complaints from Alaskans.
The Interior and Agriculture departments announced the updated rules on Friday. They come on the heels of President Obama's trip to Alaska last month, during which he showed a strong interest in trying to resolve concerns important to Alaska Natives and tribes.
"The Obama administration is fully committed to protecting the subsistence rights of rural Alaskans," said Michael Connor, deputy Interior secretary.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who had introduced legislation to reverse the Saxman decision along with Rep. Don Young, said she's pleased with the changes.
"I cannot understand why it has taken the federal government eight years to reverse this erroneous decision," said Murkowski, referring to Saxman. "When the federal government arbitrarily redesignates an Alaska community as non-rural it does not just affect the community's hunting and fishing privileges; it is an attack on the identity, the culture, and the fabric of the community itself."
The second rule will also be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, launching a 30-day public comment period. That rule will update areas considered non-rural.
The Kenai, Wasilla/Palmer and Homer areas will continue to be classified as non-rural, but their boundaries will return to the pre-2007 borders, the statement said.
The rule also calls for Saxman to be removed from the non-rural list. Saxman lost its designation because it is connected to Ketchikan by a two-mile road.
"Using the old criteria I could see why they would lose their rural status," said Towarak, who was named chair in 2010. "But we were convinced by local people and we learned their situation well. Most people in Saxman, just like Bethel, live the subsistence lifestyle."
The second rule is expected to go into effect on Dec. 4 with little opposition expected, said Deborah Coble, subsistence outreach coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service.
As part of that rule, Prudhoe Bay is also expected to revert to rural status. The designation will protect rural communities near industrial complexes, such as Nuiqsut, Coble said.
A key result of the new rules is that communities designated as rural could retain their status indefinitely, said Coble.
For communities to lose their rural status in the future, one of the 10 regional advisory committees that are given deference by the subsistence board would have to propose a change, she said.
Local input will be extremely valuable in that process, and Coble said she doesn't see residents in places such as Bethel agreeing to give up their rural status.
"If I was a betting person I'd say they would remain rural," she said.