Refuge-Specific Public Use Regulations for Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are opening certain private lands within the boundaries of Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to public use with a permit. We are taking this action to comply with our commitments made under a Conservation Easement among the United States, the State of Alaska, and Koniag, Inc. The Conservation Easement furthers the missions of the Service and the National Wildlife Refuge System and the purposes of Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. While the Conservation Easement encompasses more than 56,000 acres, the lands affected by this rule are only those easement lands within a \1/2\-mile band of land on either side of the Karluk River and lands within \1/2\ mile of the shoreline of Karluk Lake on Kodiak Island, Alaska. The rule will apply as long as the Conservation Easement is in place. Without this rule, the Service would fail to comply with the terms of the Conservation Easement.