Sponsors
The bill protects Alaska Native artisans’ rights and livelihoods by carving a clear, lawful pathway for traditional handicrafts containing migratory bird parts, at the cost of added enforcement complexity, potential short-term regulatory burdens, and heightened risks to wildlife-protection and international trade until verification and treaty procedures are fully resolved.
Alaska Native artisans (Indigenous tribal communities) can continue making, possessing, and trading traditional handicrafts that include migratory bird parts without fear of MBTA criminalization, preserving cultural practices and community traditions.
Artisans may legally possess and sell handicrafts containing lawfully sourced, nonedible migratory bird parts, supporting incomes and local economic activity in Native communities.
The bill creates clearer legal standards and verification rules for who qualifies as an Alaska Native artisan, reducing enforcement uncertainty for federal and state agencies and providing clearer guidance to tribes and sellers.
Carving out explicit exceptions for Native handicrafts may reduce wildlife-protection enforcement flexibility and increase the risk that illegally sourced migratory bird parts enter commercial channels.
The statute could create cross-jurisdictional enforcement complexity at international borders and with treaty partners, increasing inconsistent interpretations and burdens for enforcement agencies.
International treaty partners may not accept the U.S. clarification immediately, risking seizures, trade disruptions, or delays for exported Native handicrafts until bilateral procedures are updated.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Clarifies that authentic Alaska Native handicrafts with nonedible migratory bird parts may be possessed, sold, transported, and traded if the parts were not taken wastefully or illegally, and requires treaty and regulatory updates.
Introduced November 12, 2025 by Nicholas J. Begich · Last progress November 12, 2025
Clarifies that authentic Alaska Native articles of handicraft that include nonedible parts of migratory birds may be possessed, sold, transported, and traded without violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act so long as the bird parts were not taken wastefully or illegally. It directs the Secretary of State (with the Interior Secretary) to negotiate or update bilateral treaty procedures and requires the Interior Secretary to amend MBTA regulations as needed within 180 days of enactment, and includes a minor technical punctuation edit to existing law.