U.S. Code » Title 16 » Chapter CHAPTER 51— ALASKA NATIONAL INTEREST LANDS CONSERVATION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— SUBSISTENCE MANAGEMENT AND USE

16 U.S.C. § 3121

Rural residents engaged in subsistence uses

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(a) Access to subsistence resources

The Secretary shall ensure that rural residents engaged in subsistence uses shall have reasonable access to subsistence resources on the public lands.

(b) Use of snowmobiles, motorboats, or other means of surface transportation

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or other law, the Secretary shall permit on the public lands appropriate use for subsistence purposes of snowmobiles, motorboats, and other means of surface transportation traditionally employed for such purposes by local residents, subject to reasonable regulation.

(Pub. L. 96–487, title VIII, § 811, Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2428.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

This Act, referred to in subsec. (b), is Pub. L 96–487, Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2371, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 3101 of this title and Tables.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1986–2025 · leading case: Sturgeon v. Frost, 577 U.S. 424 (2016).
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Sturgeon v. Frost, 577 U.S. 424 (2016). “" 16 U.S.C. § 3121 (b). And it provides that National Preserves "in Alaska shall be administered and managed as a unit of the National Park System in the same manner as a national park except as otherwise provided in this Act and except that the taking of fish and wildlife for…”
Alaska Dep't of Fish & Game v. Fed. Subsistence Bd., 139 F.4th 773 (9th Cir. 2025). · cites it 4× “at 2428 (codified at 16 U.S.C. § 3121 (a)). “Subsistence uses” is further defined as “the customary and traditional uses by rural Alaska residents of wild, renewable resources for direct personal or family consumption as food .”
Totemoff v. State, 905 P.2d 954 (Alaska 1995). “” 16 U.S.C. § 3121 (b). The protection of traditionally employed surface transportation methods implies that other traditional components of subsistence hunting or fishing, such as the use of certain guns, nets, or other equipment, are not exempt from state regulation.”
City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 1016 (9th Cir. 1986). · cites it 2× “Third, they challenge timber harvesting on Admiralty Island because certain federal agencies failed to prepare subsistence evaluations required by section 810 of ANILCA, 16 U.”
Alaska State Snowmobile Ass'n v. Babbitt, 79 F. Supp. 2d 1116 (D. Alaska 1999). · cites it 2× “It seems doubtful that traditional use of snowma-chines pertains only to subsistence-related activities, because ANILCA separately sanctions snowmachine use for subsistence purposes on all public lands at 16 U.S.C. § 3121 . 173 Were the ANILCA provision at issue here, 16 U.”
Friends of Alaska Nat'l Wildlife Refuges v. Bernhardt, 463 F. Supp. 3d 1011 (D. Alaska 2020). “”99 23 24 25 97See 16 U.S.C. § 3121 (b) (“Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or other law 26 .”
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