Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 124
03/14/2005 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HCR3 | |
| HB75 | |
| HB153 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 75 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HCR 3 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 153 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 75-SPORT HUNTING CO-CHAIR RAMRAS announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 75 "An Act relating to promoting and preserving sport hunting in the state." CO-CHAIR SAMUELS moved to adopt CSHB 75, labeled 24-LS0359\G, Utermohle, 2/24/05, as a work draft. Hearing no objection, it was so ordered. HEATH HILYARD, Staff to Representative Mike Kelly, Alaska State Legislature, said there are only two substantial changes between the original HB 75 and the committee substitute (CS). The bill now includes trapping as a referenced activity, and the term "sport" was removed. 1:16:50 PM MR. HILYARD said the bill was drafted from language in a Michigan bill. Montana and Minnesota adopted similar language, he said, and he believes the language in HB 75 is consistent with Article 8, Section 4 of the Alaska State Constitution, which addresses sustained yield principles. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked what impact this legislation will have on the commissioner's job. MR. HILYARD deferred to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said he wanted to know the sponsor's intent. REPRESENTATIVE KELLY said the language will not cause extra work but will assist ADF&G and "make life easier for them, because it makes it very clear what we are about." He added that organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) "will continue to hammer away." He said this bill will "make it clear that this is about what we have been as a people, what we are now, and what we're likely to be in the future." DAVE BACHRACH, Homer, said HB 75 gives preference to one user group for a common resource, and he would like to know what the impact would be on wildlife viewing and tourism. Does hunting take priority? he asked. JENNIFER YUHAS, Executive Director, Alaska Outdoor Council, said her group supports the CS. She said that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) "should no longer be legally gagged" from promoting the merits of hunting. "The public as well as our decision-makers have the right to hear from our biologists and managers when making decisions that will affect their ability to manage," she said. She added, regarding hunting having priority over wildlife viewing, "These uses are subject to preference among users, and that is part of what the legislature's job is." 1:24:04 PM TOM SCARBOROUGH, Fairbanks, said he supports HB 75. SARAH GILBERTSON, Legislative Liaison, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), said from ADF&G's stand point, the bill is not necessary, and it is good to eliminate the word "sport." She suggested including fisheries, because the commissioner is required to promote hunting and fishing resources. She said the bill could be an important tool for the commissioner on ballot initiatives. She said by including hunting, trapping and fishing, "that would be good from a department standpoint because it covers everything the Alaska Department of Fish and Game both manages, preserves and promotes." 1:27:56 PM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked how the language directs the commissioner's decisions. Will this mean the commissioner's job is to take the McNeil River Bear Sanctuary and promote hunting and trapping instead of bear viewing? SARAH GILBERTSON, Legislative Liaison, "My guess would be, as I mentioned before, the commissioner and the department, we feel that we already do this. We feel that we do this not only for hunting, trapping, but also for fishing. So this is really a policy call for [the legislature] to put it in the functions of the commissioner. We feel that both the commissioner and the division already does this--wildlife conservation, but it's a policy call from your end to actually define it and put it in the commissioner's functions, but relative to McNeil, those decisions are currently made by the Board of Game, and as you know they just considered a proposal on that subject. So I don't know how, even if this were passed, that the commissioner could step in to change what's going on there. That's under the purview of the Board of Game." REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said this language gives the commissioner a new duty, and "as I read it, in every instance, he shall, in conjunction with the Board of Game, promote hunting and trapping, and I am wondering if this gives the absolute direction that the commissioner must follow this path and eliminates the wildlife viewing option." SARAH GILBERTSON said she would like to find out from the Department of Law. KEVIN SAXBY, Assistant Attorney General, Natural Resources Section, Department of Law, said he signed on to testify in support of the CS, but he will answer the question. He said: The bill would only add to the duties of the commissioner, it doesn't remove any of the existing duties of the commissioner or the department, and it doesn't purport to trump any of the existing duties. The department currently has specific statutory duties as to, for example, the McNeil Sanctuary and refuge to maintain those, to maintain the habitat, to maintain the bear populations, etcetera, and the commissioner also currently has duties in the very statute that you are amending to manage, protect, maintain, improve, and extend the fish, game and aquatic plant resources of the state in the interest of the economy and general well-being of the state. So this just adds a duty to preserve and promote hunting and trapping now. It doesn't trump any of those other things. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if Mr. Saxby were advising the Board of Game or the commissioner with this new duty in statute, and a request comes to the board to open hunting within the McNeil River Sanctuary, would the commissioner be fully able to say that he disagrees with promoting hunting in this area, and recommend that it remain closed to hunting. MR. SAXBY said, "As to McNeil, [the commissioner] will still be free to do that." REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX noted that Ms. Gilbertson says the commissioner can already do what the bill says. MS. GILBERTSON said preserving and promoting hunting, fishing, and trapping is what ADF&G does all the time. The bill's language adds it to the functions of the commissioner. In the commissioner's daily actions, he will have to have this on his mind. "But, I think as Kevin Saxby was just saying, with respect to Paul Seaton's question, is that the commissioner-- doesn't mean that...McNeil bear viewing, for instance, will go away." It gives another tool because the commissioner is wary of weighing in on ballot measures. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked, "So this is another tool to weigh in on ballot measures?" MS. GILBERTSON said, "That is my take on it." MR. SAXBY said he is defending litigation that challenges the state's predator control program: The opponents of predator control have made a huge issue, and attempted to really exploit the idea that this is being done for, quote, sport-hunting purposes, unquote. And so it has really been helpful to remove the term "sport." That creates complications under the airborne hunting act, for example, it creates a number of complications if the legislature would ever categorize Alaskan hunters as sport hunters. Every statement that we have in the statutes that puts a duty on the commissioner or the department to promote consumptive uses ends up being helpful when we have challenges to those consumptive uses. And likewise it would be helpful in the future to have a statement like that about fishing, anticipating that at some point in the future we're going to be facing a challenge to consumptive use of some or all fish probably. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if the governor can't deliver a statement regarding "one of those outside ballot initiatives," without this legislation. MR. SAXBY said state funds can't be spent to influence an election. If the state has a mandatory duty to promote hunting activities, "we will at least be able to make, I think the department will be able to make some kinds of statements that effectively do that." REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX said if that is what we want to do maybe we should address it directly in the state's election laws. REPRESENTATIVE KELLY said, "The primary reason for bringing this bill forward is that there is a laundry list of attacks being made, and...PETA is the type of organization lining them up and delivering them." This tool permits one to stand up and say that hunting, fishing and trapping is who we are and is important to us. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said he would like the committee to get a legal opinion that this duty does not require the commissioner to recommend hunting in an area such as McNeil River. MR. SAXBY said he will forward the request and put it in motion. 1:42:53 PM REPRESENTATIVE KELLY said he supports adding fishing to the bill. 1:43:47 PM CO-CHAIR SAMUELS moved Amendment 1, which read [original punctuation provided]: Delete line 11-12 and insert: (3) in conjunction with the Board of Fisheries and Board of Game, promote fishing, hunting, and trapping, and preserve the heritage of fishing, hunting, and trapping in the state. New Sec 2--AS 16.05.251 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: (g) In conjunction with the commissioner, the Board of Fisheries shall promote fishing and preserve the heritage of fishing in the state. New Sec. 3--AS 16.05.255 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: (k) In conjunction with the commissioner, the Board of Game shall promote hunting and trapping and preserve the heritage of hunting and trapping in the sate. There being no objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. CO-CHAIR SAMUELS proposed to move conceptual Amendment 2 to change the title of HB 75 to insert the word fishing wherever appropriate. There being no objection, conceptual Amendment 2 was adopted. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON expressed concerned about the title being "really broad" and wants to move conceptual Amendment 3 to clarify that the act refers to the duties of the commissioner. REPRESENTATIVE KELLY said the duties of the Board of Game are included. MR. SAXBY said he needs to understand the intent. A statutory duty to the commissioner to promote hunting, fishing and trapping is in one section. Another section would need to be addressed for the Board of Game. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said that it makes sense to have the commissioner and the boards of fish and game mentioned in the title, but he wants it more specific. He moved conceptual Amendment 3 which would read something like: An act related to the duties of the commissioner, the Board of Fisheries, and the Board of Game, to promote and preserve hunting, trapping and fishing. 1:49:11 PM There being no objection, conceptual Amendment 3 was adopted. 1:50:14 PM CO-CHAIR SAMUELS moved to report HB 75 as amended out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON noted that the committee will get the legal opinion on McNeil River, and it will follow the bill. Hearing no objection, CSHB 75(RES) was passed out of the House Resources Standing Committee. 1:51:36 PM The committee took an at-ease from 1:51 p.m. to 1:56 p.m. 1:56:29 PM
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