Interior moves office that manages Alaska subsistence program

The Fish and Wildlife Service’s loss is another bureaucracy’s gain, as Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Thursday signed a long-awaited order moving the Office of Subsistence Management to a different chain of command.

Alaskan Natives hope they might be the big winner here.

With Haaland’s signing of Secretary’s Order 3413, the Office of Subsistence Management will come under the umbrella of the assistant secretary for policy, management and budget starting July 15.

The staff includes fish and wildlife biologists, anthropologists, technical and administrative staff, and liaisons to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Alaska Native community.