Legislature(2007 - 2008)BARNES 124
03/12/2008 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s)|| Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission | |
| Big Game Commercial Services Board | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
March 12, 2008
1:07 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Carl Gatto, Co-Chair
Representative Craig Johnson, Co-Chair
Representative Anna Fairclough
Representative Bob Roses
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Bryce Edgmon
Representative Scott Kawasaki
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Peggy Wilson
Representative David Guttenberg
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S)
Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
Frank Homan - Juneau
- HEARD AND HELD
Big Game Commercial Services Board
Brenda Rebne - Anchorage
- HEARD AND HELD
Board of Game
Ted Spraker - Soldotna
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to report
WITNESS REGISTER
FRANK HOMAN, Appointee
to the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
Alaska Department of Fish & Game
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the Commercial
Fisheries Entry Commission.
BRENDA REBNE, Appointee
to the Big Game Commercial Services Board
Department of Commerce, Community, & Economic Development
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the Big Game
Commercial Services Board.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CO-CHAIR CRAIG JOHNSON called the House Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:07:32 PM. Representatives
Seaton, Roses, Kawasaki, Fairclough, Gatto, and Johnson were
present at the call to order. Representative Edgmon arrived as
the meeting was in progress.
^CONFIRMATION HEARING(S)
^Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
1:07:47 PM
CO-CHAIR JOHNSON announced that the committee would consider the
appointment of Mr. Frank Homan to the Alaska Commercial
Fisheries Entry Commission. [Packets contained biographical
information on the appointee.]
CO-CHAIR JOHNSON asked Mr. Homan to begin by stating why he is
interested in serving on the commission.
FRANK HOMAN, Appointee to the Commercial Fisheries Entry
Commission, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, noted he has had
some experience on the commission because this is a re-
appointment. He said he considers it important work. The
mission and the purpose of the commission is two-fold: to
consider conservation and to balance that with the economic
health of the fisheries and the fishermen. To look at the
fisheries and to try to balance those two things is a very
difficult job many times. A lot of people's lives depend on the
access to the fishery and [the commission] takes that into
consideration on all the limitations that it does, he said. One
thing that is not visible to the public is that the three
commissioners sit as an appeal board for denied applications for
limited entry permits, and this is a chance to have a second and
sometimes third look at an application that has been denied to
try to determine if there are factors that would lead the
commission to issue that permit, while following the regulations
and the statutes that are set down by the legislature and
enhanced by the court system.
1:11:09 PM
CO-CHAIR GATTO observed that Mr. Homan's education is in
economics, public administration, and administrative law, not
biology or science. He surmised Mr. Homan's previous service on
the commission was under the Murkowski Administration.
MR. HOMAN responded true.
1:12:09 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON inquired whether there would be conflicts
between Mr. Homan's chairmanship of the board of the Alaska
Commercial Fishing and Agricultural Bank and his position on the
Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission.
MR. HOMAN replied not at the present time because his service on
the bank board was some time ago and he has not been in a
position where the two overlap. He said the bank is primarily a
financial lending institution as opposed to the commission which
looks at access to the fisheries. In further response to
Representative Seaton, Mr. Homan clarified that the public
positions listed on his résumé [dated 11/02] are not current
positions.
1:13:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked how many years Mr. Homan has been on
the commission.
MR. HOMAN answered close to 10 years because he was on the
commission for five years in the early 1990s as well.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON inquired how long has it been since the
Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission established a new limited
entry program.
MR. HOMAN responded it has been three years since there was a
limitation the Kodiak tanner crab fishery.
1:14:29 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON requested Mr. Homan to explain the
commission's process for limited entry.
MR. HOMAN replied there are 68 limited fisheries and a fishery
is a certain type of gear and a certain area, so these fisheries
are mostly regional, although some are statewide. Usually the
fishermen in the fishery will petition the commission and say
that there are too many fishermen. He explained that the Alaska
Department of Fish & Game regulates fishing pressure by
continually reducing the seasons. If the commission sees there
are more fishermen trying to make a living in a fishery and the
time gets shorter and shorter, it is usually because there is
too much pressure. There is an extensive analysis that goes
into a limitation. The commission looks at the number of
fishermen, the years of effort, the type of gear, the boats, and
the region. After this major research effort, the commission
compares notes with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game to see
what the department feels is appropriate. Limitation of a
fishery is taken as a formal action of the commission, he said.
The legislature and the courts established a formula which
requires that the guidelines be based upon the four years prior,
although the commission can go back further. Usually the
fisheries will show themselves to be in some kind of distress
and it will take several years for it all to come together. But
the typical pattern is that the seasons become shorter and
shorter and the gear becomes more restrictive until such a time
that fishermen cannot really make a living anymore because of
the opened access.
1:17:40 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON related that in a previous discussion Mr.
Homan had indicated there were a number of issues that are in
statute or interpreted by the courts that make the process
problematic. So, even when the commission establishes a limited
permit entry system, the number of permit holders must be
expanded beyond the number that participated in the last few
years, and this has made the system less workable. Do you or
the commission have suggestions for making this more workable
and will you come forward with changes if you are re-appointed,
asked Representative Seaton.
MR. HOMAN said the commission is always looking at statute and
often comes to the legislature with suggestions. Every
legislative session there is some legislation that would modify
the statutes to make things work a little better. However,
because of legislative prerogative, the commission is not always
successful in its suggestions. The commission takes its
direction from the legislature.
1:20:19 PM
CO-CHAIR JOHNSON thanked Mr. Homan for his willingness to serve,
especially more than once.
The committee took an at-ease from 1:21 p.m. to 1:24 p.m. due to
online technical difficulties.
^Big Game Commercial Services Board
1:24:06 PM
CO-CHAIR JOHNSON announced that the committee would next
consider the appointment of Ms. Brenda Rebne to the Big Game
Commercial Services Board. [Packets contained biographical
information on the appointee.]
CO-CHAIR JOHNSON asked Ms. Rebne to begin by stating why she is
interested in serving on the board.
BRENDA REBNE, Appointee to the Big Game Commercial Services
Board, Department of Commerce, Community, & Economic
Development, stated she is Vice-President of Corporate Affairs
for Ahtna, Incorporated, the owner of land that is impacted by
all user groups. She said she sees this as an opportunity for
her and her corporation to gain a better understanding of the
needs of this particular user group. She said she also serves
as chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives' Subsistence
Committee Workgroup and she sees that as an area where she can
share this information as well. There are multiple users in
Alaska and outside of Alaska and every opportunity should be
taken to gain understanding of each others' needs in order to
address the issues. She said she is excited about serving on
this board and learning about the different user groups outside
of subsistence, or customary and traditional users.
1:25:33 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH asked Ms. Rebne to address the
wildlife violation listed on her application.
MS. REBNE responded she mistakenly shot a moose that did not
meet the 50-inch [antler] requirement. She said she was beyond
horrified and immediately dressed the moose out and took it to
the trooper station where she handed it over. While she has
spent her entire life out in the field with her family, that was
the first year she ever actually shot a moose herself. It was
regrettable and she followed the proper procedure of turning the
moose in immediately. She received a fine, and it is not one of
her prouder moments, she said.
1:26:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH appreciated that Ms. Rebne stepped
forward and took responsibility for her actions, as everyone can
make mistakes. She asked if Ms. Rebne self-reported her action.
MS. REBNE replied yes. In further response to Representative
Fairclough, Ms. Rebne stated the antlers were 42 inches, so they
were short 8 inches. She said she does not believe she will
ever live it down.
1:27:43 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH inquired whether Ms. Rebne is involved
or aware of Ahtna, Incorporated's position against another
person that is before the committee today [Ahtna, Incorporated's
3/10/08 letter opposing the re-appointment of Ted Spraker to the
Board of Game].
MS. REBNE said the letter came from the president and as an
employee of Ahtna, Incorporated, she is aware of it. She is in
an uncomfortable position so she is not commenting on it, she
stated.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH remarked that when people have
opinions she wants to know where they are coming from and why
they are in opposition to a particular appointee. If something
is dysfunctional inside a board, she would like to know about it
so a determination can be made regarding both applicants.
1:29:19 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said he has the same question, but
reminded the committee that the appointments are for two
different boards. Since Ahtna, Incorporated's comment was in
regard to subsistence, he expressed his concern that Ms. Rebne
as an employee would be coming to the commercial services board
with an agenda supporting subsistence and opposing sport hunting
and the purposes of the Big Game Commercial Services Board for
regulating big game commercial guides.
MS. REBNE answered she does not believe she will be biased in
her position on this board. This is an opportunity to educate
this particular group on some of the issues and from what she
has already seen in the past couple of days, this group is
already aware of it themselves. She said she thinks
representing a large land owner will be a benefit to this
[board] and there are more opportunities than negatives with her
past experience.
1:32:02 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked Ms. Rebne to comment on Ahtna,
Incorporated's letter in regard to its opposition to a person
because that person promotes sport hunting instead of
subsistence use, and how she will work where the Board of Game
and the Big Game Commercial Services Board intersect.
MS. REBNE said her difficulty is that it is a letter written by
Ahtna, Incorporated's president and she does not have the
authority to comment on the letter. She said that is not a
reflection of her sitting on this board; those are the
president's comments.
1:33:38 PM
CO-CHAIR JOHNSON inquired whether Ms. Rebne has seen the letter.
MS. REBNE responded yes.
CO-CHAIR JOHNSON asked whether Ms. Rebne agrees with the letter.
MS. REBNE replied some points she agrees with; there have been
past actions. However, she prefers to move forward.
1:33:58 PM
CO-CHAIR JOHNSON inquired whether Ms. Rebne works directly for
Mr. Ken Johns [President/CEO of Ahtna, Incorporated, author of
the letter].
MS. REBNE answered yes.
CO-CHAIR JOHNSON asked what type of influence Mr. Johns will
have over Ms. Rebne's day-to-day professional life when it comes
to board decisions.
MS. REBNE responded Mr. Johns is her immediate supervisor, he
does not direct her activities outside of her position.
CO-CHAIR JOHNSON inquired whether Ms. Rebne was strong enough to
withstand that pressure.
MS. REBNE replied she believes so.
1:34:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH apologized for the awkwardness of the
conversation, and stated the committee is in a difficult
position too. She asked Ms. Rebne to speak regarding her
opinions on traditional use rights versus sports hunting rights.
MS. REBNE answered she is new to the guide service and the
transporter issue and she has learned a lot in the last one and
a half days she has spent at the meeting. She said she
immediately noticed there are user group conflicts within the
transporters and the guides themselves. At least one guide
mentioned customary and traditional use and historical use
within his own field. So this is one area where she has
identified some similarities. There are some user conflicts
within the user group that she found interesting, so she is
thinking that is "an opportunity to try to get our hands around
that because that is an issue that affects all the user groups
in all areas." Some of the conflicts within this user group are
similar to the subsistence and the sport hunter conflicts. When
two user groups are having similar conflicts, it is an
opportunity to have more minds to try resolving an issue that
would benefit the most people. There are differences in
concept; for instance, there are people who think sport hunting
is recreational use. It is a very complicated issue. There are
customary and traditional users, but there are a lot of
similarities between these groups.
1:36:42 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH inquired whether Ms. Rebne supports
customary and traditional use or sports hunting and how would
she balance those.
MS. REBNE said she does not have the answer as to how she would
balance them, but she does recognize that all user groups have
the right to this resource. There is definitely an issue that
needs to be resolved and she thinks that the more people from
all the user groups that can work together, the closer they will
get to finding an answer to that question.
1:37:24 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked what Ms. Rebne sees as the job of
the Big Game Commercial Services Board.
MS. REBNE responded she has read the past couple of years of
minutes and the regulations. She said what she has seen in the
last day and a half is that all users in this group - the guides
and the transporters, the Department of Natural Resources, the
local community, and the board - have identified that there is a
limited resource and that in some cases there are too many
guides within some of the guide-use areas. There is also the
issue between the transporters, but that is not being addressed
at this particular meeting because only the guide use is being
addressed. The genesis of the issue is that the resource is
being overharvested, but right now at this meeting this board is
only addressing the guides' use of that resource. The
transporters need to be pulled into this loop as well, and that
is becoming clearer and clearer as the meeting continues. There
is definitely a recognition that the resource has to be
protected for all users, which she said she finds very
enlightening and was glad to hear. There is a similar concern
within this group as there is with customary and traditional
users - the issue is the same.
1:39:23 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON inquired whether Ms. Rebne would be able
to help with regulations for Game Management Units 11, 12, 13,
and 20 that enable guides to access that area even if she
personally thought that more of the resource should go to
traditional and customary users. Or would Ms. Rebne's position
be that the Big Game Commercial Services Board should restrict
the use by guides and transporters in those areas?
MS. REBNE replied she thinks that would be the Board of Game's
determination. The Big Game Commercial Services Board would not
have the authority to do that; it deals with the rules and
regulations for guides and transporters, not where they can
hunt.
1:41:07 PM
CO-CHAIR GATTO asked whether Ms. Rebne is a volunteer or paid
worker and did Mr. Ken Johns hire her.
MS. REBNE answered she is paid a worker and has worked her way
up through the ranks. She was the Tribal Administrator for the
Native Village of Cantwell when she was recruited by Ahtna,
Incorporated to work as the Village Tourism Coordinator. From
there she was promoted to Corporate Relations Manager and for
the past three and one-half years she has been the Vice-
President of Corporate Affairs. She said that as Vice-President
of Corporate Affairs she is familiar with the subsistence issue
as it is related to the corporation, but [subsistence] is not
the focus of her position.
1:42:12 PM
CO-CHAIR GATTO inquired how Ms. Rebne would be able to take a
different position than her boss and keep her job.
MS. REBNE said certainly the corporation has positions that she
supports and certainly Mr. Johns does. He is aware that she has
been appointed to this board and she does not believe that he
would put undue influence on her, that is not the type of person
he is. The issues that are reflected in the letter are
different for the Board of Game than the for this board.
1:43:37 PM
CO-CHAIR GATTO asked how Ms. Rebne would justify her appointment
to a sport hunter.
MS. REBNE responded there are two different positions regarding
sport hunting and subsistence. She said she wants to use this
as an opportunity to learn more about that area of user groups
so she can better understand that. "I really think that if we
don't figure out how to work together and resolve some of these
issues, we're just going to be butting heads continuously."
Even though her heart is in rural Alaska and she was raised in a
customary and traditional way, she said she still needs to learn
how other user groups operate so everyone can work together or
the state will be in big trouble.
1:44:57 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH said she thinks it is wonderful that
Ms. Rebne serves as chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives'
Subsistence Committee Workgroup and that all boards need to be
balanced with equal representation from across the state. She
asked whether Ms. Rebne believes the current board is balanced
in regard to sports and subsistence hunting.
MS. REBNE replied she does not believe there is anyone else
representing any subsistence issues, but she is reluctant to say
this since she has only been in meetings for one and one-half
days. She said she has been encouraged at the degree of
openness. Some subsistence questions have come up and she has
not felt that there is any hostility nor has she heard any anti-
subsistence comments. While there might not be specific
representation from the Native community on this board, she
thinks she brings that to this table.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH informed the committee that before
making a recommendation she would like to know the composite of
the Board of Game and the Big Game Commercial Services Board as
they currently sit to make sure that all of Alaska's voices are
heard on each board.
1:49:08 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON inquired as to how many members compose
the Big Game Commercial Services Board.
MS. REBNE answered nine: two transporters, two landowners, two
guides, two from the public, and one from the Board of Game. In
further response to Representative Seaton, Ms. Rebne confirmed
she is one of the two landowner representatives, and she thinks
she just happens to be Alaska Native.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said it clarifies things for him to know
that there are designated seats.
1:50:11 PM
CO-CHAIR JOHNSON announced the committee had lost its quorum and
could not take any action on the remaining two appointees. He
said he is therefore adjourning the committee and rescheduling a
continuation of the hearing.
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES clarified that the reason for the committee
losing its quorum is because a large number of morning meetings
were rescheduled, resulting in conflicts for many members.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Resources Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 1:52:54
PM.
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