Project Links
Establish the NANA Regional Boundary as the Resident Zone Boundary for CAKR & KOVA
Cape Krusenstern National Monument » Establish the NANA Regional Boundary as the Resident Zone Boundary for CAKR & KOVA » Document List
The National Park Service is considering designating all lands within the Northwest Arctic Native Association (NANA) Region as the resident zone for Cape Krusenstern National Monument and for Kobuk Valley National Park. This would replace the current situation of three resident zone communities for Cape Krusenstern National Monument and seven resident zone communities for Kobuk Valley National Park. The proposed action would be implemented through a regulatory change in the National Park Service (NPS) regulations. The proposed action responds to the recommendations contained in the Subsistence Resource Commissions Hunting Plans for Cape Krusenstern National Monument (CAKR) and Kobuk Valley National Park (KOVA) submitted to the Secretary of Interior on August 24, 1993.
The Subsistence Resource Commissions (SRCs) were established by ANILCA to advise the National Park Service and devise Hunting Plans that address, in part, subsistence eligibility. In explaining the rationale for their eligibility recommendations (i.e. modifying the resident zone definition established in 1981), the Subsistence Resource Commissions stated: Over ninety percent of the residents of Northwest Alaska are Inupiaq Eskimo people whose history of subsistence use of the area extends back thousands of years. The Commission believes the existing resident zone designations create unnecessary divisions among the people and disrupt their traditional hunting patterns. The people of the NANA Region consider themselves a cohesive social and cultural unit and have traditionally hunted throughout the area without
regard to jurisdictional boundaries. The SRCs further elaborated, stating their desire that the regions cultural unity not be divided by jurisdictional boundaries such as the inclusion of some, but not all, of the 11 NANA villages in the subsistence resident zone.
In a response to the Cape Krusenstern and Kobuk Valley SRCs dated September 25, 1996, the Secretary of Interior directed the NPS to complete, within one year from the date of the letter, an analysis of the environmental and subsistence impacts of the two SRC proposals to modify the resident zones for the two park units.
The Subsistence Resource Commissions (SRCs) were established by ANILCA to advise the National Park Service and devise Hunting Plans that address, in part, subsistence eligibility. In explaining the rationale for their eligibility recommendations (i.e. modifying the resident zone definition established in 1981), the Subsistence Resource Commissions stated: Over ninety percent of the residents of Northwest Alaska are Inupiaq Eskimo people whose history of subsistence use of the area extends back thousands of years. The Commission believes the existing resident zone designations create unnecessary divisions among the people and disrupt their traditional hunting patterns. The people of the NANA Region consider themselves a cohesive social and cultural unit and have traditionally hunted throughout the area without
regard to jurisdictional boundaries. The SRCs further elaborated, stating their desire that the regions cultural unity not be divided by jurisdictional boundaries such as the inclusion of some, but not all, of the 11 NANA villages in the subsistence resident zone.
In a response to the Cape Krusenstern and Kobuk Valley SRCs dated September 25, 1996, the Secretary of Interior directed the NPS to complete, within one year from the date of the letter, an analysis of the environmental and subsistence impacts of the two SRC proposals to modify the resident zones for the two park units.