Interior memo opens park lands to more hunting, firearm use, restroom game cleaning

Hunters on Interior-managed lands are seeing the rules loosen in ways that reach deep into park operations: more places where firearms can be carried, more areas open to hunting, and, in some park units, permission to clean game in restrooms. The changes extend across lands overseen by the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The shift follows Secretarial Order 3447, issued by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on January 7, 2026, directing that public and federally managed lands and waters be open to hunting and fishing unless a specific, documented and legally supported exception applies. Interior told bureaus to identify restrictions that limit access for removal where practical, a mandate that has pushed park staff to revisit firearms rules, hunting zones and facility restrictions. The National Park Service says firearms may be possessed in park units if they comply with federal, state and local law, but they are generally barred in federal facilities such as visitor centers, ranger stations, fee collection buildings and maintenance buildings. The service also says use or discharge of a firearm is prohibited unless hunting is specifically authorized by federal statute and regulations.

Interior’s earlier hunt-access push laid the groundwork. On May 2, 2025, the department announced 42 proposed hunting opportunities across more than 87,000 acres in the refuge and hatchery systems, covering 16 National Wildlife Refuge System stations and one National Fish Hatchery System station. Interior said the package would more than triple hunting opportunities and quintuple the number of stations opened or expanded compared with the previous administration.

The most contentious changes are in Alaska. On March 6, 2026, Interior proposed restoring state-aligned hunting and trapping rules on Alaska national preserves by rescinding changes made in 2015, 2017 and 2024. The department said that repeated rule changes and litigation had created uncertainty for Alaskans, Tribes, state wildlife managers and park users, and that the rollback would restore a framework that governed the preserves for more than three decades under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980. Interior also said the proposal would not alter federal subsistence harvest regulations under Title VIII of ANILCA.

The Alaska proposal drew a sharp divide. Sportsmen’s groups backed the rollback, while conservation groups warned it would weaken wildlife protections and undermine subsistence and conservation mandates. That fight comes after the National Park Service finalized a 2024 Alaska rule banning bear baiting in national preserves on public safety grounds, a reminder that each loosened restriction carries its own visitor-safety and wildlife-management costs. With the National Park Service managing more than 400 park units, the practical effect of Interior’s memo is likely to be felt far beyond Washington: more hunting access, fewer local exceptions and a broader federal presumption in favor of use.