Five marine monuments opened to commercial fleets, nearly a fifth of NOAA Fisheries gone, 58.5 million roadless acres proposed for rescission, bear baiting restored: what the record shows for people who fish and hunt

What happened

NOAA Fisheries keeps a page titled "Administration Commercial Fishing Industry Wins." It lists five marine national monuments reopened to commercial fishing in 2026: Northeast Canyons and Seamounts in the Atlantic, by proclamation on February 6 and a NOAA rule on April 6; Papahanaumokuakea, where on June 11 the President "restored fishing access to the Mau and Ho'omalu Zones, which encompass the entirety of" the monument, "totaling 442,781 square miles of fishing grounds"; Rose Atoll, 10,146 nautical square miles; the Islands Unit of the Mariana Trench monument, more than 16,000 square nautical miles; and the Pacific Remote Islands, where NOAA is removing a prohibition covering roughly 310,000 square nautical miles [1]. The agency's case is economic: the Mau Zone once produced more than 22 percent of Hawaii's bottomfish landings, and the restrictions cost affected Hawaii longline vessels about $3.5 million a year [1].

The agency that manages those fisheries is smaller than it was. NOAA Fisheries lost nearly 550 of its 3,000 employees in 2025, a quarter of them probationary staff who were fired and the rest resignations, according to reporting in May 2026; the Pacific Northwest region lost about 40 percent of its staff and Alaska about half [2]. The northeast science office cut the number of stock assessments planned for 2026 from 20 to six, with another six downgraded to updates [2]. Stock assessments are the science that sets catch limits; fewer assessments means limits set on older data.

On land, the Department of Agriculture published a proposed rule on August 20, 2026 to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which the Forest Service wrote "to provide long-term protection for 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless areas" by generally prohibiting road construction and timber harvest [3]. The department's own analysis says near-term permanent road additions would be expected on about 18.2 million acres where forest plans already allow them, and that timber harvest opportunities would expand on about 4.8 million forested acres [3]. USDA says the rule currently affects more than 44 million acres and that the proposal "does not mandate timber cutting or road construction" [4]. Comments closed September 21; the rule is proposed, not final [3].

The people objecting on the record are hunting and fishing organizations. Trout Unlimited says nearly 70 percent of inventoried roadless areas support populations of native trout and salmon and that 78 percent of human-caused wildfires start within half a mile of a road [5]. Backcountry Hunters & Anglers' western policy manager, Devin O'Dea, put it in one line: "More roads = more wildfire risk, fragmented wildlife habitat and degraded water quality" [6].

In Alaska, the National Park Service published a final rule on October 19, 2026, effective November 18, that restores bear baiting by sport hunters on national preserves. The rule's own table traces the history: allowed under state law since 1982, prohibited in 2015, limited for subsistence in 2017, allowed again in 2020, prohibited again in 2024, and under the 2026 rule "allowed for all user groups under state law" [7]. The Park Service's proposal said a complete prohibition "is not supported by public safety concerns" [8].

Why it matters

Each of these actions was announced as a win for people who fish and hunt, and each has a measured cost to the resource those people depend on, stated in the government's own documents: fishing grounds reopened by an agency that lost nearly a fifth of its fisheries staff and cut Northeast stock assessments by 70 percent [1][2]; roadless forests opened to roads by a proposal whose own analysis puts the near-term road footprint at 18.2 million acres [3]; and a hunting practice restored over the objection of the agency that banned it twice in nine years [7]. This story reports the acreage and the staffing; the reader can weigh them.

The evidence

• NOAA Fisheries, "Administration Commercial Fishing Industry Wins": five monuments, dates, and areas in square miles and square nautical miles as the agency states them; $3.5 million a year in lost Hawaii longline revenue [1].
• Civil Eats, May 5, 2026: nearly 550 of 3,000 NOAA Fisheries staff gone in 2025; Alaska region down by half; Northeast stock assessments cut from 20 to 6; NOAA declined interviews [2].
• Federal Register, 91 FR 53827, August 20, 2026: proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Rule; 58.5 million acres under the 2001 rule; 18.2 million acres of likely permanent road additions; 4.8 million acres of expanded timber opportunity [3].
• USDA, August 18, 2026: more than 44 million acres currently affected; more than 40 percent of roadless areas with high or very high wildfire hazard; 11.3 million acres within half a mile of a road [4].
• Trout Unlimited and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: the objections, with their own figures [5][6].
• Federal Register, 91 FR 65985, October 19, 2026: bear baiting allowed for all user groups under state law, effective November 18, 2026 [7].

Response and counterpoints

NOAA frames the monument openings as "historic economic growth and regulatory relief," and its figures for the Pacific Remote Islands note that landings feed the American Samoa tuna cannery, which it describes as 84 percent of the territory's private-sector employment [1]. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said "outdated restrictions have kept tens of millions of forested acres off-limits to the very treatments that improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk," and Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said only 5 percent of roadless areas had received hazardous-fuels treatment since 2014 [4]. Those claims are part of the record and are reported here as the department made them.

Trout Unlimited's answer on fire is a competing statistic, that most human-caused fires start near roads, and a process argument: that targeted changes can be made through individual forest plans without rescinding the national rule [5]. On bear baiting, the Park Service's position is that state law governed the practice for 33 years before 2015 and that the 2015, 2017 and 2024 restrictions departed from the statutory framework for Alaska preserves [7][8].

What remains uncertain

The NOAA Fisheries staffing figures come from a single news report that does not name the source for the 550 and 3,000 counts, and NOAA declined to comment; the agency's own headcount by line office is not published on a schedule that would let a reader check them [2]. NOAA's monument areas mix square miles and square nautical miles, and this story does not add them; the 442,781 square-mile figure is the agency's number for Papahanaumokuakea alone [1]. The two acreage figures for the Roadless Rule, 58.5 million (the 2001 rule) and more than 44 million (USDA's current count), differ because of later Alaska-specific actions and are both reported with their source [3][4]. The rescission is proposed; a final rule and the record of decision had not been published as of this writing [3]. How many fishing vessels have actually entered the reopened monument waters, and what the catch has been, is not yet reported by NOAA on the page cited here [1].

Money and method

Entities and measures: monument areas and dates as stated by NOAA Fisheries, in the units NOAA uses, never converted or summed [1]. NOAA Fisheries staffing from Civil Eats, labeled as reporting [2]. Roadless acreage from the Federal Register text of the proposed rule and USDA's release, each attributed [3][4]. Bear-baiting history from the Park Service's own table in the final rule [7]. The hunting and angling groups' figures are theirs and are labeled as advocacy statements [5][6]. The national-monument land reductions of July 2026 and the Boundary Waters mining withdrawal are separate records and are not folded into this story.

Sources cited

1. [1]
   Administration Commercial Fishing Industry Wins — NOAA Fisheries, 2026-06-23.

   supports · Section 'Marine National Monument fishing access': Northeast Canyons and Seamounts proclamation Feb. 6, 2026 and NOAA final rule April 6, 2026; Papahanaumokuakea Mau and Ho'omalu Zones 'totaling 442,781 square miles of fishing grounds' June 11, 2026; Rose Atoll 10,146 nautical square miles; Mariana Trench Islands Unit more than 16,000 square nautical miles; Pacific Remote Islands roughly 310,000 square nautical miles; Mau Zone 22 percent of Hawaii bottomfish landings, 'approximately $3.5 million in lost annual revenue' · checked 2026-10-26 · source N-fish-hunt-01
2. [2]
   NOAA Is Still Standing. For Now. — Civil Eats, 2026-05-05.

   supports · Paragraphs on staffing: 'NOAA Fisheries lost nearly 550 of its 3,000 employees last year'; 'One-quarter were firings of probationary staff; the remainder were resignations'; Pacific Northwest 40 percent, Alaska half; northeast science office stock assessments for 2026 'from 20 to six'; Alaska office cleared to rehire three of 37; NOAA staffers declined interviews · checked 2026-10-26 · source N-fish-hunt-02
3. [3]
   Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation (proposed rule, 91 FR 53827) — Federal Register, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 2026-08-20.

   supports · Document header and Background: proposed rule, 91 FR 53827, published Aug. 20, 2026, comments closed Sept. 21, 2026; 'long-term protection for 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless areas'; Roads bullet: 'about 18.2 million acres, or 45.5 percent of the potentially affected environment'; Timber bullet: 'about 4.8 million acres, or 16 percent of forested areas' · checked 2026-10-26 · source N-fish-hunt-03
4. [4]
   USDA acts to remove roadless rule restrictions that exacerbate rising wildfire risk — U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2026-08-18.

   context · Release of Aug. 18, 2026: Rollins quote 'Our forests can't afford another decade of inaction'; 'more than 44 million acres' within the 193-million-acre National Forest System; Chief Schultz: 'More than 40% of inventoried roadless areas ... have high or very high wildfire hazard potential'; 11.3 million acres near existing roads; proposal 'does not mandate timber cutting or road construction' · checked 2026-10-26 · source N-fish-hunt-04
5. [5]
   Roadless areas: defending America's sporting lands — Trout Unlimited, 2026-09-01.

   supports · Page sections 'Why roadless areas matter' and 'What TU is asking': 'nearly 70% of inventoried roadless areas ... support populations of native trout and salmon'; '78% of all human-caused wildfires start within a half mile of a road'; request to keep the rule in place and consider targeted changes through forest plans · checked 2026-10-26 · source N-fish-hunt-05
6. [6]
   Roadless Rule Rollback: Roads to Ruin — Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, 2025-10-21.

   supports · Column of Oct. 21, 2025 by David A. Lien; Devin O'Dea quote: 'The USDA is moving to rescind the Roadless Rule, putting 45M acres of public lands within national forests at risk for roadbuilding ... More roads = more wildfire risk, fragmented wildlife habitat and degraded water quality'; 58.5 million acres under the 2001 rule · checked 2026-10-26 · source N-fish-hunt-06
7. [7]
   Alaska; Wildlife, Harvest, and Access (final rule, 91 FR 65985) — Federal Register, National Park Service, 2026-10-19.

   supports · Final rule 'Alaska; Wildlife, Harvest, and Access', 91 FR 65985, published Oct. 19, 2026, effective Nov. 18, 2026; Supplementary Information table: bear baiting 'Prohibited (2015); limits for subsistence (2017); allowed (2020); prohibited (2024)' and under the 2026 final rule 'Allowed for all user groups under state law'; the rule 'removes regulatory changes made in 2015, 2017, and 2024' · checked 2026-10-26 · source N-fish-hunt-07
8. [8]
   Alaska; Hunting and Trapping in National Preserves (proposed rule) — Federal Register, National Park Service, 2026-03-10.

   supports · Proposed rule of March 10, 2026, Background and 'Bear Baiting' section: 2024 Rule (89 FR 55059) reinstated the prohibition; 'The prohibition was removed by the 2020 Rule, then reestablished by the 2024 Rule'; NPS determination that a complete prohibition is 'not supported by public safety concerns' · checked 2026-10-26 · source N-fish-hunt-08