ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Alaska lawmaker is pursuing a state constitutional amendment in hopes of resolving a decades-old conflict between state and federal management over subsistence hunting and fishing.

The measure from state Rep. Thomas Baker of Kotzebue, a Republican appointed to his seat by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in November, could revive an issue that died down around 25 years ago.

The proposed amendment seeks to unify subsistence management under a single-state system. If approved, it would set a foundation to amend the Alaska Constitution to provide a subsistence priority for rural residents in times of low yield, Baker said.

The measure proposes changing the Alaska Constitution to overcome a 1989 state Supreme Court decision that threw state and federal law into conflict.

The court ruled that the state cannot single out rural residents for a subsistence priority, since the constitution guarantees all Alaskans equal access to fish and wildlife. Federal law, on the other hand, allows a subsistence priority for rural residents, predominantly Alaska Natives.

Skeptics of Baker's measure say it appeared without warning and could threaten the valuable federal protection that many Alaska Natives strongly support. They say the measure will need broad public input to advance, including from Native people who don't always trust the state's intentions over subsistence.

The proposal comes as the state's largest Native organization, the Alaska Federation of Natives, has joined the side of the federal government in its lawsuit against the state in a dispute involving management of collapsed salmon stocks on the Kuskokwim River.

Supporters argue the state can provide the best subsistence regime across Alaska. They say the measure could end the patchwork of different rules that apply to hunters and fishers as they cross state and federal boundaries in pursuit of animals.

Baker said his proposal may require some changes to the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act that established the federal government's rural priority.

The proposed amendment says the Legislature "may provide a preference" to residents "for subsistence use based on customary and traditional use, direct dependence, the availability of alternative resources, place of residence, or proximity to the resource."

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