04/13/2000 08:10 AM House STA

SCR 16 - AVALANCHE AWARENESS MONTH                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  JAMES  announced the  first  order  of business  is  SENATE                                                              
CONCURRENT  RESOLUTION  NO.  16 Relating  to  Avalanche  Awareness                                                              
Month.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
JERRY  BURNETT,   Staff  to  Senator  Lyda  Green,   Alaska  State                                                              
Legislature, read the sponsor statement for SCR 16 as follows:                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
     Alaska is  avalanche country.   Each year Alaskans  lose                                                                   
     their  lives as  a result  of  avalanches.   One of  the                                                                   
     worst  years was  1999  when 14  people  were killed  by                                                                   
     avalanches in Alaska.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     Senate Concurrent Resolution  16 would proclaim November                                                                   
     as  "Avalanche  Awareness  Month."    This  proclamation                                                                   
     would raise  public awareness of the  hazards associated                                                                   
     with avalanches and the opportunities  to participate in                                                                   
     avalanche  safety  training  at  the  beginning  of  the                                                                   
     winter  recreation  season.   It  is hoped  that  public                                                                   
     participation  in  avalanche  safety programs  would  be                                                                   
     increased  and that this  increased participation  would                                                                   
     result in saved lives during the winter.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     The  need  for  this  resolution   was  brought  to  our                                                                   
     attention   by  the   Backcountry  Avalanche   Awareness                                                                   
     Response Team (BAART).                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
Number 0191                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
ANGELA  REAVIS testified  via teleconference  from the  Matanuska-                                                              
Susitna  (Mat-Su)  Legislative  Information  Office  (LIO).    The                                                              
sister of Keith Coyne, who was killed  in an avalanche in December                                                              
1999, she feels that passing SCR  16 can really raise awareness in                                                              
Alaska  for many  backcountry travelers.   She  hopes that  people                                                              
understand  how much family  members of  the dead support  raising                                                              
awareness in the general public.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Number 0267                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
PAT COYNE testified  via teleconference from the Mat-Su  LIO.  The                                                              
mother of  Keith Coyne,  she asked the  committee to  please think                                                              
about passing SCR  16 because the community had  just lost another                                                              
young man to an  avalanche.  She noted that Alaskans  need to have                                                              
awareness and need it badly.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHRIS NOOKES testified via teleconference  from the Mat-Su LIO.  A                                                              
good  friend  of Keith  Coyne  and  president of  the  Backcountry                                                              
Avalanche  Awareness  Response  Team, she  asked  the  committee's                                                              
support in  passing SCR 16  to make November "Avalanche  Awareness                                                              
Month."  She indicated  that in the wake of all  the deaths in the                                                              
last  year, Alaska  really cannot  afford  any more  deaths.   She                                                              
agreed that there  is need for more awareness,  especially because                                                              
there is no longer an avalanche warning  center in the state, even                                                              
though federal law mandates one.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Number 0432                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN made a motion  to move SCR 16 out of committee                                                              
with  individual  recommendations  and the  attached  zero  fiscal                                                              
note.   There  being no  objection, SCR  16 moved  from the  House                                                              
State Affairs Standing Committee.