Hunting, Fishing, Trapping Activities Across the National Park Service

The National Park Service (NPS) manages over 400 park units for the conservation of resources, including wildlife, for enjoyment by current and future generations. Enjoyment of these natural areas and their resources include management for hunting, trapping, and fishing where authorized by existing laws.

Where is hunting, trapping, and fishing authorized?

Hunting may occur in park units where it is either mandated or authorized as a discretionary activity in the park’s enabling legislation or other laws.

May Hunt vs. Shall Hunt

“May Hunt” Park: Park where hunting is specifically authorized as a discretionary activities under Federal statutory law. Such hunting shall only be allowed pursuant to special regulations, if the superintendent or NPS determines that such activity is consistent with public safety and enjoyment, and sound recourse management principles (36 CFR 2.2(b)(2)). 

“Shall Hunt” Park: Park where hunting is specifically mandated by Federal statutory law (36 CFR 2.2(b)(1)). 

Similarly, trapping is allowed where mandated by Federal statute. If there is no specific legal designation, then, by Federal regulation, hunting or trapping is not allowed in park units. In contrast to hunting and trapping, fishing is allowed in NPS units unless it is specifically closed through park-specific regulations. Fishing regulations typically consist of NPS Servicewide regulations, which include adopted, non-conflicting regulations of the embodying state(s).

Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing in National Park Units

Hunting is authorized in 76 NPS units, trapping in 31 NPS units, and waters are open to fishing in 213 NPS units. Twenty-six of the responding units do not allow hunting, trapping, or fishing of any kind.

Across the NPS, approximately 51 million acres are open to hunting (43 million acres in Alaska, 8 million in the contiguous states) and 47 million acres are open to trapping (43 million acres in Alaska, 4 million in the contiguous states), which is over 60% of the total NPS managed lands.

Regulations

Where allowed, NPS units generally, but not always, adopt and enforce the same regulations as the affiliated state wildlife agency and federal wildlife and fisheries agencies (e.g. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), if applicable. Before you go, always make sure to check park websites for more information on regulations.

NPS

Alt Text for Infographic

Infographic title: Hunting, Trapping, Fishing in National Parks
Hunting is allowed in 76 units
Trapping is allowed in 31 units
Fishing is allowed in 213 units
None of these activities are allowed in 26 units.

51 million acres are open to hunting.
47 million acres are open to trapping.

Hunting

Across NPS units, approximately 51,097,000 acres are open to hunting; 43,331,000 acres are open in Alaska and 7,766,000 open in the contiguous 48 states. The total acres that are open to hunting represent about 60% of the total acres of NPS managed lands.

Types of Hunting

Subsistence Hunting: Hunting that is open to rural Alaskans and Alaska Natives as defined by ANILCA (16 U.S.C. Chapter 51, Subchapter II). 

Tribal Treaty Hunting: Hunting that is authorized under the terms of a treaty between the United States government and the government of another country, including Native American tribes. For the purposes of this report, Tribal actions are only noted in parks where tribes receive specific regulatory activities not allowed under recreational hunting, trapping or fishing. 

Recreational Hunting: Used here to refer to hunting, trapping, or fishing that is not commercial, subsistence, or tribal. 

Across all units where hunting is allowed, 66 have recreational hunting, 17 units have subsistence hunting, and one has tribal hunting. Ten units have both recreational and subsistence hunting.

Find Hunting Opportunities in Parks

Check out this list of parks that may allow hunting. Be sure to check park websites for more information about regulations and policies. Always remember to recreate safely and responsibly.

Trapping

In total, approximately 47,556,000 acres are open to trapping nation-wide; 43,274,000 acres are open in Alaska and 4,282,000 are open in the lower 48 states. The total acres open to trapping represent about 56% of the total acres of NPS managed lands.

Types of Trapping

Subsistence Trapping: Trapping that is open to rural Alaskans and Alaska Natives as defined by ANILCA (16 U.S.C. Chapter 51, Subchapter II). 

Recreational Trapping: Used here to refer to hunting, trapping, or fishing that is not commercial, subsistence, or tribal. 

Trapping is allowed in 31 NPS units. In addition, 18 units reported subsistence trapping. In eight Alaska parks, only subsistence trapping is allowed.

Find Trapping Opportunities in Parks

Find a park and check the park website to see if trapping is alllowed and get more information about regulations and policies. Always remember to recreate safely and responsibly.

Fishing

In contrast to hunting and trapping that must be specifically allowed, fishing in NPS units is allowed unless it is specifically closed through park-specific regulations. Fishing regulations typically consist of NPS servicewide regulations, which include adopted, non-conflicting regulations of the adjacent state.

Types of Fishing

Recreational Fishing: Fishing is open to the general public. 

Subsistence Fishing: Fishing is open to rural and native Alaskans as defined by the ANILCA and is not relevant to NPS outside of Alaska 

Tribal Fishing: Tribal fishing is open to members of certain indigenous tribes through treaties. 

Commercial Fishing: The harvest of fishery resources (fish and invertebrates) for sale, barter, or trade. NPS regulations generally prohibit commercial fishing in parks "except where specifically authorized by Federal statutory law or regulation." 

In total there are 213 units that report that fishing or shellfishing activities occur, of which 155 have all waters open to fishing and 58 units have some areas closed to fishing or shellfishing. Further, 22 units have all waters closed to fishing and shellfishing, and 111 do not include waters that support fish or shellfish species that are commonly sought by people who fish. Parks that have water, but no fishing may not allow fishing for a variety of reasons including closures for human safety, fish species conservation, absence of sportfish in park waters, or degraded aquatic habitat that does not support fish.

NPS

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Infographic title: "Fishing in National Parks"
Background image: a person in a hat fishing the shoreline at sunset
Pie chart graph:

Fishing Designation	Units/Subunits
All Waters Open to Fishing	155
Some Waters Open to Fishing	58
All Waters Closed to Fishing	22
No Water that Support Fish or Shellfish Commonly Sought by People who Fish	111

Across all units where fishing occurs, 213 units have reported recreational fishing, 50 reported subsistence fishing, 13 reported tribal fishing, and 30 reported commercial fishing.

Find Fishing Opportunities in Parks

Explore the map below to find NPS units that allow fishing. Be sure to check park websites for more information about regulations and policies. Always remember to practice responsible fishing.

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About the Data

In 2014, the NPS Biological Resources Division (BRD) and Water Resources Division (WRD) of the Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate (NRSS) developed an online questionnaire to collect and synthesize information from park staff about hunting, trapping, and fishing in their respective units and across the NPS. 

Hunting Data

Types of hunting allowed in responding park units

Park Unit	Recreational	Subsistence	Tribal
Alagnak Wild River	Yes	Yes	No
Amistad National Recreational Area	Yes	No	No
Aniakchak National Preserve	No	Yes	No
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore	Yes	No	No
Assateague Island National Seashore	Yes	No	No
Badlands National Park - portion of area	No	No	Yes
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve	Yes	Yes	No
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area	Yes	No	No
Big Cypress National Preserve	Yes	No	No
Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area	Yes	No	No
Big Thicket National Preserve	Yes	No	No
Bluestone National Scenic River	Yes	No	No
Buffalo National River	Yes	No	No
Cape Hatteras National Seashore	Yes	Yes	No
Cape Krusenstern National Monument	No	Yes	No
Cape Lookout National Seashore	Yes	No	No
Canaveral National Seashore	Yes	No	No
Chicksaw National Recreation Area	Yes	No	No
City of Rocks National Reserve	Yes	No	No
Craters of the Moon National Preserve	Yes	No	No
Curecanti National Recreation Area	Yes	No	No
Cumberland Island National Seashore	Yes	No	No
Denali National Preserve	No	Yes	No
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area	Yes	No	No
Fire Island National Seashore	Yes	No	No
Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve 1	No	Yes	No
Gauley River National Recreation Area	Yes	No	No
Gateway National Recreation Area	Yes	No	No
Glacier Bay National Preserve	Yes	Yes	No
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area	Yes	No	No
Great Egg Harbor River	Yes	No	No
Great Sand Dunes National Preserve	Yes	No	No
Gulf Islands National Seashore	Yes	No	No
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument	Yes	No	No
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve	Yes	No	No
John D Rockefeller Jr Memorial Parkway	Yes	No	No
Kalaupapa National Historical Park a	Yes	No	No
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument	Yes	No	No
Katmai National Preserve	Yes	Yes	No
Lake Chelan National Recreation Area	No	Yes	No
Kobuk Valley National Park	No	Yes	No
Lake Clark National Park & Preserve	Yes	Yes	No
Lake Mead National Recreation Area	Yes	No	No
New River Gorge National River	Yes	No	No
Niobrara National Scenic River	Yes	No	No
Noatak National Preserve	Yes	Yes	No
Obed Wild & Scenic River	Yes	No	No
Oregon Caves National Preserve	Yes	No	No
Ozark National Scenic Riverway	Yes	No	No
Padre Island National Seashore	Yes	No	No
Parashant National Monument	Yes	No	No
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore	Yes	No	No
Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River	Yes	No	No
Ross Lake National Recreation Area	Yes	No	No
Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway	Yes	No	No
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore	Yes	No	No
Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve	Yes	No	No
Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River	Yes	No	No
Valles Caldera National Preserve	Yes	No	No
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area	Yes	No	No
Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve	No	Yes	No
Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve	Yes	No	No

^a Kaluapapua allows hunting by former Hansen's disease (leprosy) patients only.
^b No hunting is allowed on the small portion of the Mississippi River and Recreation Area owned by NPS due to human safety conerns on the lands withing the administrative boundary that are not owned by NPS.
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¹ National preserves are areas having characteristics associated with national parks, but in which Congress has permitted continued public hunting, while it is not allowed within the defined boundaries of national parks. Subsistence hunting, however, may be allowed within certian national park boundaries.

List of "may hunt" park units and the type of hunting allowed at each

Park Unit	Hunt a	Not Occuring	Recreational	Subsistence	Tribal
Cape Cod National Seashore	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Tallgrass Prairie National Reserve	No	Yes	No	No	No
Point Reyes National Seashore

^a Hunting is authorized and allowed in these units

Trapping Data

List of units where trapping is allowed and the type of trapping at each

Unit	Recreational	Subsistence
Alagnak Wild River	Yes	Yes
Aniakchak National Preserve	Yes	Yes
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore	Yes	No
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve	Yes	Yes
Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area	Yes	No
Big Thicket National Preserve	Yes	No
Bluestone National Scenic River	Yes	No
Canaveral National Seashore	Yes	No
Cumberland Island National Seashore	Yes	No
Curecanti National Recreation Area	Yes	No
Denali National Preserve	Yes	Yes
Gates of the Arctic National Preserve	Yes	Yes
Gauley National Recreation Area	Yes	No
Gateway National Recreation Area	Yes	No
Great Egg Harbor River	Yes	No
Great Sand Dunes National Preserve	Yes	No
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve	Yes	No
Kalaupapa National Historical Park	Yes	No
Katmai National Preserve	Yes	Yes
Lake Clark National Preserve	Yes	Yes
Lake Mead National Recreation Area	Yes	No
Little River Canyon National Preserve	Yes	Yes
Mojave National Preserve	Yes	No
Niobrara National Scenic River	Yes	No
Noatak National Preserve	Yes	Yes
Ozark National Scenic Riverways	Yes	No
Parashant National Monumnet (jointy managed by NPS/BLM)	Yes	No
Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River	Yes	No
Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River	Yes	No
Wrangell - St Elias National Preserve	Yes	Yes
Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve	Yes	Yes

Fishing Data

Number of units that have all waters open to fishing, some water closed to fishing, all waters closed to fishing, and no water that supports fish or shellfish species that are commonly targeted by people who fish.

Fishing Designation	Units/Subunits
All Waters Open to Fishing	155
Some Waters Closed to Fishing	58
All Waters Closed to Fishing	22
No Water that Supports Fish or Shellfish Commonly Sought by People who Fish	111