1996-04-22                     Senate Journal                      Page 3398
SB 77                                                                        
Message of April 19 was read, stating:                                         
                                                                               
Dear President Pearce:                                                         
                                                                               
Under the authority of Art. II, sec. 15 of the Alaska Constitution, I          
have vetoed the following bill:                                                
                                                                               
HCS for CS for Senate Bill 77 (FIN)                                           
An Act relating to management of game                                         
populations, to the powers and duties of the                                   
commissioner of fish and game, and to the division                             
of game.                                                                       
                                                                               
This administration is committed to sound, scientific management of            
Alaskas wildlife resources. The intensive management scheme                    
mandated in this bill abandons our goal of responsible wildlife                
management and fails to recognize long held, successful scientific             
principles.                                                                    
                                                                               
Alaska enjoys a wildlife management team which has produced some               
of the worlds most bountiful supplies of game and wildlife.  These             
successes are the result of sound science, management based upon               
sustained yield,  and a thorough public process.  The statewide                
harvest of big game species is high and increasing. Last year, hunters         
harvested 7,200 moose compared to the 3,300 harvested just two                 
decades ago.  Caribou harvest last year exceeded 30,000, more than             
double what it was just 10 years ago.  Brown bear and wolf harvests            
are the highest on record in 20 years.  While populations and harvest          
of moose may be lower than some desire in a few areas of the state,            
the Department is working to increase those populations.  Our state            
biologists currently have all the wildlife management tools necessary          
to accomplish this.                                                            
                                                                               
Instead of advancing our progress toward the worlds finest                     
professional wildlife management system, this bill would reverse it.           
Specifically, it defines the sustained yield principle as mandating            
management for unrealistic  levels of moose and caribou populations,           
                                                                               
                                                                               

1996-04-22                     Senate Journal                      Page 3399
SB 77                                                                        
exclusively for consumption by hunters.  This would prohibit the               
Board of Game and the Department of Fish and Game from using                   
the long tried and proven tools of science and public opinion in               
determining the best use of resources in each game area and                    
managing them based on those findings.  Rather than sustaining                 
our game populations, this approach would actually jeopardize the              
health of some wildlife populations over time.                                 
                                                                               
Widespread and continuous killing of wolves and bears would be                 
required to meet the levels of available game populations mandated             
by this legislation.  It requires wolves and bears to be eliminated or         
maintained at minimal levels, at a high financial cost to the state.           
Even then, the extreme harvest rates mandated by this legislation,             
amounting to one third or more of the annual production, could not             
be sustained over time.  Wolf and bear populations are valuable                
wildlife resources in Alaska for hunters and nonhunters alike, and we          
must consider this value when making management decisions to                   
enhance consumptive uses.                                                      
                                                                               
This bill also gives the Board of Game inappropriate and                       
unprecedented budget powers by mandating the Department                        
implement all Board of Game actions regardless of cost.  At the                
same time, this bill would prohibit the use of changes in seasons or           
bag limits as an intensive management tool.  Setting seasons and bag           
limits is a basic tool of wildlife management and often is all that is         
needed to correct a short-term decline in a wildlife population.               
                                                                               
Alaska has an unequaled wildlife management team and system. We                
can keep it that way by recommitting ourselves to the basic                    
principles of sound science, professional management and an open               
public process.                                                                
                                                                               
						Sincerely,                                                               
						/s/                                                                      
						Tony Knowles                                                             
						Governor