Secretary Jewell Appoints Federal Subsistence Board Interim Chair

As a sitting Public Member for the Federal Subsistence Board, Mr. Christianson has a comprehensive understanding of subsistence issues and direct knowledge and experience utilizing subsistence resources. In 2012, Mr. Christianson was appointed by the Secretaries to the Federal Subsistence Board as one of the first public members representing rural Alaskans.  A lifelong Alaskan, Mr. Christianson serves as the Mayor of the City of Hydaburg and works as the Natural Resource Director for the Hydaburg Cooperative Association, a federally recognized tribal entity.  He is also a commercial fisherman.

With the retirement of Chairman Tim Towarak from the Federal Subsistence Board, Mr. Christianson will continue his commitment to the purposes and goals of the subsistence provisions (Title VIII) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) as the Interim Chair while the permanent appointment process is undertaken by the Secretaries. The permanent appointment of a new Chair is expected to be made in the next several months. 

The Federal Subsistence Board was created in the early 1990s and is the decision-making body that oversees the management of fish and wildlife resources for subsistence uses on Federal public lands and waters in Alaska. It is composed of the Alaska directors of the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the USDA Forest Service, and a Chair and two Public Members appointed by the Secretary of the Interior with the concurrence of the Secretary of Agriculture.

Through the Federal Subsistence Management Program, the Federal government manages subsistence uses on Federal public lands and waters in Alaska—approximately 230 million acres, or 60 percent of the land within the state.  The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, passed by Congress in 1980, mandates that rural residents of Alaska be given a priority for subsistence uses of fish and wildlife. To help carry out the responsibility for subsistence management, the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture established the Federal Subsistence Management Program.

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