The Congressional Review Act and Central Yukon RMP with Dr. Kevin Fraley

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcast & Blast with Hal Herring

Zack Williams

Outdoors, Wilderness, Sports, Fishing, Outdoor, Hunting, Sports & Recreation

4.6 • 853 Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2025

⏱️ 99 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hunters and anglers across the country may never set foot on Alaska's Dalton Highway—but what's unfolding there affects every American who cares about public land. In this episode, Hal Herring sits down with fisheries ecologist and writer Dr. Kevin Fraley to unpack a sweeping threat to some of the most accessible caribou and fishing country in the entire state. A new push in Congress aims to throw out the Central Yukon Resource Management Plan—a plan built over a decade with input from hunters, anglers and local stakeholders—and potentially reopen millions of acres around the Dalton to industrial leasing, restricted access and the kind of locked-up landscapes already seen on the North Slope.

Fraley brings deep on-the-ground knowledge of the Brooks Range, the Dalton corridor and the fish and wildlife that depend on it, explaining in clear terms what's at stake and why this unprecedented use of the Congressional Review Act matters for anyone who values public access, wild fish and fair-chase hunting. Whether you've dreamed of a DIY caribou hunt, care about responsible management of America's lands or just want to understand the real story behind a fast-moving political fight, this episode lays out exactly why this moment demands attention.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You know, everybody loves to hunt.
0:04.0	If you look at like the North Slope oil area where all the leasing has happened along the
0:09.0	Arctic Ocean, the public's not allowed to go into those areas.
0:12.0	That's a closed area for hunting.
0:14.0	If there's some big opening for a mine or a new oil field right along the Dalton Highway somewhere,
0:20.0	if these lands are opened up for leasing, we could find fences popping up and not being able to access
0:25.6	or get to the places we want to go around the Dalton, which is right now, as we talked about,
0:30.6	like the best place in Alaska to go after caribou and special species of fish like Dolly Varden.
0:36.6	If a private entity owns these lands, any lands, you and I don't have a say, right?
0:44.6	But the resource management plan was the result of the American taxpayers who own these lands,
0:50.6	the American stakeholders, coming together and saying what they wanted for our land.
0:56.3	And then, and then one day they just throw that out.
1:01.2	Hey everybody, it's Hal Herring, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Podcast and Blast.
1:06.1	Thanks for being here.
1:07.9	Hey, I am proud to announce we have a new sponsor for our podcast, and that is
1:13.3	silencer Central. If you are involved in hunting and shooting or both, you are probably
1:20.4	looking at owning or dreaming of owning a silencer suppressor, the same thing for your firearm.
1:28.5	I've got my first one a couple years ago.
1:31.3	It's been a complete game changer for me.
1:34.1	I'm just looking at another one right now for another rifle.
1:38.2	I will never go back to where I was.
1:42.6	So one of the things,
	...

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