03/17/2008 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB214 | |
| Board of Game Confirmation Hearings | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 214 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
March 17, 2008
3:37 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Charlie Huggins, Chair
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Lesil McGuire
Senator Gary Stevens
Senator Bill Wielechowski
Senator Thomas Wagoner
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Bert Stedman, Vice Chair
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 214
"An Act relating to big game hunting by nonresident members of
the military service and their dependents; and providing for an
effective date."
MOVED CSSB 214(RES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
Confirmation Hearings
Board of Game
Ted. H. Spraker - Soldotna
Lewis E. Bradley
Craig L. Fleener
CONFIRMATIONS ADVANCED
Board of Fisheries
William S. Brown
John E. Jensen
Melvin E. Morris
POSTPONED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 214
SHORT TITLE: HUNTING BY MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) HUGGINS
01/16/08 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/4/08
01/16/08 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/16/08 (S) RES
02/27/08 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/27/08 (S) Heard & Held
02/27/08 (S) MINUTE(RES)
03/10/08 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
03/10/08 (S) Heard & Held
03/10/08 (S) MINUTE(RES)
03/17/08 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
JODY SIMPSON
Staff to Senator Huggins
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Explained CSSB 214 (RES) version E for the
sponsor.
KRISTIN WRIGHT, Supervisor
Finance Licensing
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G)
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions regarding CSSB 214 (RES).
KEVIN SAXBY
Department of Law (DOL)
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on CSSB 214(RES).
FRANK BISHOP, representing himself
Kodiak, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed SB 214.
BOBBY FITHIAN
Professional Hunters Association
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported CSSB 214(RES), version E.
BRUCE KNOWLES, representing himself
Wasilla, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported CSSB 214(RES).
TOM LOGAN, representing himself
Big Lake, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported CSSB 214(RES).
TED H. SPRAKER
Soldotna, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Reappointee to the Board of Game.
LEWIS E. BRADLEY
Palmer, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Nominee for the Board of Game
CRAIG L. FLEENER
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Nominee for the Board of Game.
WADE WILLIS, representing himself
No address provided
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Fleener and opposed Mr.
Bradley.
BRUCE KNOWLES, Chair
Susitna River Fish and Game Advisory Committee
Willow, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Had not been notified of meeting.
PAUL SHADURA
Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee
Kenai, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Spraker.
STEVE RUNYAN, representing self
Wasilla, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Bradley, Mr. Fleener and Mr.
Spraker.
RICKY GEASE, representing himself
Kenai, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Spraker, Mr. Fleener and Mr.
Bradley.
GARY HOLLIER, representing himself
Soldotna, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Spraker for reconfirmation.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR CHARLIE HUGGINS called the Senate Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:37:37 PM. Present at the call to
order were Senators Green, Stevens, Wielechowski, Wagoner and
Huggins.
SB 214-HUNTING BY MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY'
3:38:16 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS announced SB 214 to be up for consideration.
JODY SIMPSON, staff to Senator Huggins, sponsor of SB 214, said
there was a new CS, version E that she hoped accomplished the
goals of the sponsor. It provides for military and Coast Guard
members and their dependents, it waives the 12-month waiting
period that is required currently in statute for them to be able
to pay resident rates, it accords resident rate fees for permits
and tags and it addresses Senator McGuire's concerns about going
back to the original language of the bill. This CS does that
and does it without qualifying them under other areas of the
statute as residents. They are still defined as non-residents.
It also addresses Senator Wagoner's concerns in that it doesn't
open up the dip-netting and personal use fisheries for these
folks until they have been here for a year. An email from Kevin
Saxby, Department of Law (DOL), confirms that. She said it also
addresses the concerns of the Alaska Professional Hunters'
Association and others by retaining the guide component for the
three most dangerous species.
3:40:11 PM
SENATOR STEVENS said he appreciated all the work that went into
this issue and he asked if this would include the uniform
military and the Corps of Engineers.
CHAIR HUGGINS answered yes as they are a branch of the U.S.
Army.
SENATOR STEVENS said he was thinking of the uniform medical
corps in the BIA.
CHAIR HUGGINS said they are not covered by this bill.
3:41:28 PM
KRISTIN WRIGHT, Supervisor, Finance Licensing, Alaska Department
of Fish and Game (ADF&G), relative to Senator Stevens' question,
explained that the BIA and other groups, if they are not
considered as part of the military on a certain federal
register, they are not considered military.
SENATOR STEVENS said his concern is that the Coast Guard is
under the Department of Homeland Security and it's their
intention to cover them.
CHAIR HUGGINS said they are covered specifically in the bill. He
asked if Ms. Wright saw any challenges in administering this
change.
MS. WRIGHT answered no.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if someone from ADF&G could comment
on whether this legislation would impact the numbers of fish and
wildlife available to residents.
MS. WRIGHT answered they already pay the resident rate for the
fishing license now, but at issue is the hunting license. Very
few have participated in hunting, but it's possible that more
military might hunt under this bill because the licenses would
cost less than what they would have been paying. The fiscal note
would always be a guess.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he supports the bill, but they have a
constitutional obligation to mandate for sustainable resource
and that's what he's getting at. He asked if she anticipated
that these provisions would have a significant impact on that
mandate.
MS. WRIGHT replied that these people would still be considered
non-residents and wouldn't be able to participate in the
personal use fisheries until they have met the one-year
residency requirement. They are already doing that.
3:44:42 PM
KEVIN SAXBY, Department of Law (DOL), said he was available to
answer questions.
SENATOR MCGUIRE joined the committee.
3:45:24 PM
FRANK BISHOP, combat veteran, Kodiak, said he had been a
resident of Alaska for the past 37 years and he disagreed with
SB 214. He thought they were trying to make a special status of
citizen. At the present time all the military are voluntary and
this would have a drastic impact on the economy of the local
population that makes their living from non-residents.
CHAIR HUGGINS said requiring a guide for the big species in the
first year would continue, so you still need a guide for brown
bear and goat hunting. The other part is that the difference in
some of the professions and vocations is that military people
are sent here on orders; it may be they want to come or they
don't want to come, but they don't have a choice. A lot of young
men and women are coming to Alaska for a matter of months and
then shipping out to Iraq or Afghanistan, and some of them don't
come back. He characterized it as being good hosts for young
people who are really making a sacrifice for the country
potentially. He concluded by thanking him for his years of
service in being a combat veteran.
3:49:01 PM
BOBBY FITHIAN, Professional Hunters Association, supported SB
214, version E. He said they appreciated the sponsor working
with them to delete sections 2 and 3 that dealt with the guide-
required species.
3:49:54 PM
BRUCE KNOWLES, representing himself, Mat-Su, said he is a
disable veteran and he loved this bill. He said that people who
don't understand the military and those who have been away from
it for years cannot understand today's military and the
sacrifices these people are making. He has a son in the military
and he said, "These people deserve everything we can give them."
The fact that they won't be able to participate in the personal
use fisheries is short sighted, but that's how it worked out.
3:50:51 PM
TOM LOGAN, representing himself, Big Lake, supported SB 214. He
related that he had personal experience with this issue. He was
transferred by the military to Alaska quite a few years ago, and
the second day he was here he bought a non-resident hunting
license and didn't sign in to his base for 10 days. The next
year he used his non-resident hunting license to show that he
had been in Alaska over a year, although it was a year and two
days, and bought a regular hunting license. ADF&G tried to say
"no" because the military said he didn't get here until 10 days
later. The department didn't want to accept his old license as
proof that he had been in Alaska 10 days before.
MR. LOGAN said a lot of other young men did the same thing; they
came up early and hunted on a non-resident license and then
wound up paying a fine because they couldn't document they had
been here ahead of time.
3:53:19 PM
SENATOR STEVENS moved to adopt CSSB 214(RES), version E, for
discussion purposes. There were no objections and it was so
ordered.
3:54:20 PM
SENATOR STEVENS moved to report CSSB 214(RES), version E, from
committee with individual recommendations and zero fiscal notes.
There were no objections and it was so ordered.
3:54:45 PM at ease 4:02:17 PM
^Board of Game Confirmation Hearings
CHAIR HUGGINS said the committee next would hear from the
Governor's nominees to the Board of Game.
4:02:26 PM
TED H. SPRAKER, nominee for the Board of Game, said he is a
current member of the Board of Game and also serves on the Big
Game Commercial Services Board. He lives in Soldotna with his
wife and family. He was raised in Wyoming where he went to the
University of Wyoming. He completed his bachelor's degree in
wildlife management in 1971 and completed a master's degree in
range management in 1973. He moved to Alaska in July 1973 and is
a 35-year resident and he is 59 years of age. He worked as a
wildlife biologist for ADF&G for 28 years and 4 months; he
retired in June 2002. In January 2003 he was appointed to the
Board of Game and was just recently reappointed to his third
term. He has also served as the vice chair of the Board of Game
for the last couple of years and holds the Board of Game's seat
on the Big Game Commercial Services Board on which he has served
since it was established three years ago. The reason he wants to
remain on the board is that wildlife management and working with
the public has been his life long career and he likes it.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked him to highlight a couple of contributions
he has made while on the board.
MR. SPRAKER answered said that one of his contributions that he
used his long career working for ADF&G to listen very carefully
to the scientific data that was presented. He was told long ago,
"As long as you look after the resource and do the best you can
as far as maintaining healthy populations and healthy habitat
that you are always going to make the right decisions." He also
tries to mix his scientific background with where the public
comes into the equation. The board works as a team and he tries
his best to represent all users across the state.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked what challenges he saw in the next 24
months.
4:08:19 PM
MR. SPRAKER answered that every year they are challenged by the
subsistence mandate. The board has struggled with the Nelchina
caribou hunt issues in Unit 13. The Ahtna Corporation has not
been pleased with some of the board's subsistence outcomes, even
thought they have a good record on this issue across the state.
Another big issue is their desire to manage predators across the
state. He said they have a very clear mandate to increase
populations in certain areas especially populations that are
depleted where subsistence needs have not been met.
MR. SPRAKER said the residents of this state really deserve a
well-thought out and long term program as far as managing
predators goes and he thought they had that. Recently the prey
population has responded well in McGrath due to reducing wolves
and bears in that area.
4:11:14 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS said at a recent statewide organizational meeting
the department had presentations on intensive management and he
asked if intensive management had been a discussion point on the
board - although he thought probably not. He then jumped to
habitat and asked if there are any success stories or
conversations or debates he had been involved in that revolved
around the adequacy or the need to improve habitat, particularly
as it might apply to moose.
MR. SPRAKER answered there have been a lot of successful
programs across the state with habitat, but unfortunately they
are always associated with wild fires, because moose habitat
requires a large amount of land. For that reason it's
financially difficult to enhance habitat over large areas.
However, a good example of increased moose numbers would be in
the Interior around and east of Fairbanks. The department has
responded to this increase by allowing harvesting of antlerless
moose in some areas.
4:14:22 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if things other than predators are
impacting big game ungulates like big game hunters.
MR. SPRAKER answered it's rare that only one thing impacts prey.
Basically three things kill moose - weather, predators and high
velocity lead, and the board can help balance things through its
allocation efforts. There is an issue with sheep declining
across the state, but they are pretty sure it's not because of
hunters.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if there were any conflicts he might have in
his position on the board that they should know about.
MR. SPRAKER replied the only opposition to his reappointment
came from the Ahtna Corporation. He also had opposition because
of his stand on statewide users and that he was in favor of a
salary cap on subsistence hunters in Unit 13; he also voted in
opposition to a proposal that would have eliminated all the
Fairbanks tier 2 hunters in Unit 13 when the number of permits
was 2,000. He felt that was unfair to users across the state and
that the salary income was something that was needed to better
characterize a subsistence user and meet the criteria they are
mandated to look at. Those two issues were in a letter in
opposition to his reappointment.
MR. SPRAKER said he had also been criticized from a couple of
groups who are strongly opposed to management of wolves,
although he didn't know if they had written any letters.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he received a couple of letters from
constituents about wolverine trapping east of Anchorage in
Chugach State Park. He asked him if he was going to relook into
the situation that had trapped about 12 wolverines and 6 dogs.
Some of the traps were right off of trails.
MR. SPRAKER replied that at the last board meeting they took a
very careful look at that and he offered an amendment that
addressed a 50-yard setback where traps and snares cannot be set
on either side of the trail. It provided also for a quarter-mile
setback from all the trailheads, campgrounds and along the
Seward Highway. Another part of that amendment required all
trappers to identify their traps with trap tags to show
ownership. He related that of the six dogs that were trapped,
actually two were caught in the park and four were caught
outside of it. He said the board also reduced the length of the
trapping season by two weeks. He said they worked with the
trappers to eliminate some conflicts and he was sure it would
come back before them several times until something changed.
4:22:01 PM
LEWIS E. BRADLEY, nominee to the Board of Game, Mat-Su, said he
has been an Alaskan resident for 35 years and enjoys the last
frontier lifestyle of hunting and fishing and working hard. He
wants the same opportunities for his grandchildren and all
Alaskans. Our state needs prudent management of our natural
resources that provides fair and equitable use on a sustainable
level. He said that no one person knows it all and we are all
Alaskan and need to work together using knowledge and experience
to make wise decisions to restore the abundance of fish and
wildlife where populations are declining.
He said he was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, 62 years ago and
graduated from high school in Oregon in 1964. He got married in
1965 and came to Alaska with the military in 1967. He quipped
that he has some negotiating experience - since he raised two
children. He was discharged in 1970 and got a Bachelor of
Science degree in Physical Education in 1972. He wanted to come
back to Alaska, but there were no jobs in physical education, so
he went an extra year and got a degree in elementary education
K-8. He taught in Wasilla for the last 27 years. He got a
private pilot's license in 1985. He coached after-school sports
for 26 years and co-founded the Wasilla Little Dribblers
Basketball Program with Reed Smith.
4:26:01 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if he had any success in picking up antlers
this winter.
MR. BRADLEY replied that he had been too busy and he usually
spends two weeks to a month in the spring doing that.
CHAIR HUGGINS said several constituents have contacted his
office concerned that there may be a restriction on people being
able to pick up antlers in some state controlled areas, and a
lot of people don't necessarily support that.
MR. BRADLEY replied there are.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked him to keep that on his radar screen.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked him describe his academic background
in the areas of biology and wildlife management.
MR. BRADLEY answered that he has a minor degree in biology from
the University of Oregon, and while he doesn't have a formal
science background, he has learned a lot just through hunting
and being around the state. He said all hunters should be
concerned about conservation of habitat, bull/cow ratios and
birth and survival of yearlings.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what types of evidence should be
presented to the board to demonstrate a need for intensive game
management.
4:29:17 PM
MR. BRADLEY answered they have to show that how many animals are
in the area; for instance, bull/cow ratios should be 40/100.
They like to have high calving numbers and yearling survival.
When these ratios go down and there aren't enough animals for
subsistence, then you have to look at what is causing the
decline. If the predator ratio with bears or wolves is up, you
might try to change that.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if scientific principles should be
used in determining intensive management.
MR. BRADLEY answered yes, but ADF&G needs the budget to do the
science.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he has any reservations regarding
current predator control.
MR. BRADLEY answered no, but predators are an important part of
the equation and you have to make sure it's done properly and
you don't overdo it.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he has an opinion on rural versus
urban preference.
MR. BRADLEY answered that people who live adjacent to the big
game should have some priority if game numbers are down.
4:34:32 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if he wanted to highlight anything that
surprised him or that he learned at the board meeting.
MR. BRADLEY replied that he was surprised at the amount and
thoroughness of the information that was given out at the
meetings.
4:36:48 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if the committee should be aware of any
special conflicts.
MR. BRADLEY replied that he hadn't been on the board long
enough. The Defenders of Wildlife asked him if he was for
predator control and he answered yes when populations are
depressed. He stated his position is that:
We're all defenders of wildlife; we're just defending,
maybe, different groups. We're not just defending the
ungulates for prey populations to eat. If you manage
for high populations, then they can withstand more
predators. If you let it go a natural cycle like they
are indicating, then you end up with predators
eventually will knock their populations down and then
a lot of the predators may die off from starvation. So
you've got a natural cycle; they go up and down and no
one wins except for - well, actually no one does. But
if you keep it at a balanced level, then to me
everybody wins.
The person he was talking to about this issue said he couldn't
support him for the board because of his position on predator
control.
4:38:43 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he sees anything the board should
do differently.
MR. BRADLEY replied that since 80 percent of the funding came
from out of state hunting licenses, he didn't know what the
solution would be. Maybe some people could pay more for licenses
especially compared to other states and they could also put more
people in the field to help manage the animals.
MR. BRADLEY also suggested that bears and wolves should be
managed the same as the ungulates, because sometimes people want
to take a bear or a wolf once in their lifetime. There used to
be an unlimited supply of animals, but now there isn't. Unit 14
C became a park and eventually went to a permit and now Unit 14
A has 38 guides and it just can't stand the pressure. Hunters
get forced into smaller and smaller areas and Talkeetna sheep
are already depressed. Maybe the state is headed towards a
permit system statewide. If that's the case, a lot of decisions
will have to be made. "But the number-one priority has to be the
animals and whatever it takes to keep them around forever."
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what the primary limiting factors
affecting wildlife population in areas 13 B are (Glennallen).
MR. BRADLEY replied in Alaska it's usually mostly weather and
then predators, both men and wild predators; to a smaller degree
it's the habitat and the available browse.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if too many big game hunters from
outside are allowed in.
MR. BRADLEY answered yes; he thought that guides should be
residents because they feel more responsibility towards the
state. Outside guides come up here for a couple months, take a
lot of game even bringing up outside assistant guides and then
they leave the state and take the money with them. They also
don't feel the same kind of stewardship of the land that
resident guides do. He definitely wanted to see some changes
there.
4:44:44 PM
SENATOR GREEN thanked him and hoped he felt the same one year
from now. She asked who he replaced.
MR. BRADLEY answered Mr. Somerville's seat.
4:45:15 PM
CRAIG L. FLEENER, nominee for the Board of Game, said he is
originally from Fort Yukon and is currently living in Anchorage
to finish up his masters degree in Anchorage that he started in
1999.
MR. FLEENER said he served from 1986-1990 in the Marines, joined
the National Guard in 1991 and is still serving. He has worked
mostly in natural resources type jobs. He has been an
environmental coordinator and a natural resources manager; he
has done subsistence surveys and fisheries work in the Yukon
Flats. He was the regional wildlife biologist for the Counsel of
Athabascan Tribal Governments with the 10 villages of the Yukon
Flats. He has served on a number of boards and committees over
issues like salmon population problems; he currently serves on a
committee on bison. He served for about 10 years on the Eastern
Interior Federal Regional Subsistence Advisory Committee with
several years as chairman, but he had just resigned from that
position.
SENATOR GREEN asked the chair if he had ever met Mr. Fleener.
CHAIR HUGGINS replied that he had met him in this very building.
He has an astonishing list of accomplishments.
4:48:52 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked how he became a nominee.
MR. FLEENER replied that some people out there kind of like him.
One of his major goals and partial accomplishment in life has
been bridging the gap between the indigenous community in Alaska
and the non-native community so they can work together to solve
problems that are common to everyone. Because of that he has
been seen as a person people can work with. He has friends who
serve in a number of different capacities including the
environmental community, the Native community and the Outdoor
Council. Several folks put his name forward and then the
Governor called him.
CHAIR HUGGINS went specifically to a 2001 study that looked at
beaver dam influence on fish distribution in the Black River
drainage and asked him what he found.
MR. FLEENER answered that it was not what he thought it would
be. He thought it would be an overwhelming display that beaver
dams are bad for whitefish, because they block access to and
from lakes, and he wanted to have them removed. One of the
things they are trying to determine is where whitefish spawn and
while it's still a big question, one of the possibilities is
that they spawn in some lakes. However, they found that
typically there are enough high water events throughout the year
to allow fish to go over the dams. A fish and game biologist
said these over flow events provided plenty of time for the fish
to actually get in and out.
On the other hand, he tries to incorporate knowledge of local
people and his primary interest in doing the work was because
whitefish is an extremely important subsistent food for folks in
the Yukon Flats and they were having a lot of problems in
getting them. They attribute it to the dams. One of the reasons
it was so important as a research topic is because traditionally
local populations actually broke down the beaver dams to get
access to whitefish and that practice has fallen to the wayside.
4:53:37 PM
SENATOR STEVENS said his research papers are impressive and
asked what his plans are after finishing his degree.
MR. FLEENER responded that he is unemployed and has been doing a
little contract work to pay rent and tuition. He would prefer to
live in Fort Yukon, but he needs to look for work as well. He
explained, "Kind of the crazy thing about my degree is that it's
a degree in wildlife biology and for the last four or 'fivish'
years, I've done more executive management stuff." So he might
need to get another degree in management.
CHAIR HUGGINS said he was excited about him being on the board.
4:55:59 PM
SENATOR GREEN asked the secret behind his "fountain of youth."
MR. FLEENER replied moose meat and King salmon.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked him what was the largest moose he had seen
on the hoof.
MR. FLEENER answered when he was doing moose surveys he once saw
one with a 45-inch rack, but next to the three other moose he
was standing next to his body was 300-400 pounds bigger.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he met with Mr. Fleener a couple of
weeks ago and thought he was an extremely impressive person with
and impressive resume.
4:57:56 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS announced that the committee did not have time to
get to the Board of Fisheries nominations today, but they would
be taken up next week.
4:58:09 PM
WADE WILLIS, 20-year resident of Alaska, said he makes a living
in the tourism business and supported Mr. Fleener's nomination.
He provides diversity to the board, scientific knowledge and
understanding of the complex issues before the board.
He also reminded the committee that the Board of Game has been
mandated to represent all Alaskans and presently it doesn't have
diverse representation. Only 14 percent of the state buys
hunting licenses. Not one person on the board is a non
consumptive user in the arena of tourism; however the tourism
industry is the largest employer in this state - and they
certainly have a vested interest in their wildlife resources.
They bring more money into the state than any other industry
besides oil. He said, "I'm very disappointed that it seems that
this administration is going to continue to try to stack the
Board of Game with a single user group - basically hunters and
trappers."
MR. WILLIS remarked that Senator Green was working to diversify
the Board of Fish, so he was asking them now to work to
diversify the Board of Game, BUT and he didn't think Mr. Bradley
offered that diversity. Further, he said Mr. Bradley's few
classes in biology over 25 years ago and the fact that he is
writing a book and picks up horn doesn't give him the ability to
understand and effectively deal with multiple user group issues
on the Board of Game.
He was also concerned that this committee didn't ask any
questions about working with the public intent on aerial
predatory control. In 2000 aerial predator control was passed
with the understanding that it would be done by ADF&G biologists
and using scientific information. In 2004, the record shows that
ADF&G advised the Board of Game not to initiate predator control
programs, but they did it anyhow - because the board has no
diversity. He emphasized again that the public has a vested
interest in non-consumptive uses.
SENATOR GREEN asked if he or anyone he knows applied to be on
the Board of Game.
MR. WILLIS answered that he didn't know of anyone who had
applied, but he also knew that many of the nominees hadn't
applied either, but it's not a case that no one wants to be on
the board. A lot of folks don't understand the process of
getting there.
SENATOR GREEN said generally there are more applicants for board
positions and generally people apply for more than one board,
and she asked him to share that information with his cohorts.
5:04:19 PM
SENATOR STEVENS said Mr. Willis implied that tourism outstrips
commercial fisheries for jobs and impacts on the state and he
asked him to send him information that would show that's the
case.
MR. WILLIS said he would be happy to show him.
5:05:09 PM
BRUCE KNOWLES, Chair, Susitna River Fish and Game Advisory
Committee, said he lived in Willow. He said the advisory
committees didn't get word that this hearing would be held today
and they weren't able to get a consensus on how to vote on the
new appointments. He asked them to work hard to get out the word
about these meetings.
5:06:20 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS said the meeting was noticed last Thursday and
advertised in addition to that. "There is a process, but
sometimes it falls short and we'll make a very deliberate effort
to make sure you're aware of it."
5:06:43 PM
PAUL SHADURA, Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee,
Kenai, supported Mr. Spraker's nomination saying he has shown
the public that he is steadfast in the support of management
practices that have benefited all consumptive users within the
state; he is a true guardian of the resource.
5:07:41 PM
STEVE RUNYAN, representing himself, Wasilla, said Mr. Bradley
has great personal integrity regardless of his lack of
experience with any one user group. He spends a lot of time in
the field and can make good decisions. He has good history in
this state with following game populations.
Regarding the tourism interests, Mr. Runyan said, he did snow
machining and four-wheeling expeditions and the number-one
wildlife they viewed on these trips was moose. Therefore,
efforts by the Board of Game to increase levels of moose
population anywhere in the state benefits not only the hunters,
but those tourists who would like to view wildlife. Wolf
sightings are extremely rare even by experienced people in
tourism. The animal the average tourist wants most to see is
moose. There are more people to see moose than there are hunters
to take them. However, he thought Mr. Willis's interests are
very well served by the current Board of Game. He was impressed
with Mr. Fleener's testimony and he would be a good addition.
Mr. Spraker has been doing a great job so he should be kept on.
5:11:02 PM
RICKY GEASE, representing himself, supported Mr. Spraker. Mr.
Gease said he is also the executive director of the Kenai River
Sport Fishing Association. He had many interactions with Mr.
Spraker as the museum manager and the executive director of the
Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center in Kenai and found him a
strong advocate of professional wildlife management in Alaska.
He thought his years of service in the department brought a good
expertise to the board and provided and excellent perspective.
In regards to the two new appointments, he said that after
listening to their testimony today, he would support both of
them. Mr. Fleener has experience on the eastern Interior
subsistence board, which brings good experience to the board
process.
MR. GEASE said on the tourism issue, that he was the executive
director of the Kenai Convention and Visitor Bureau for a couple
of years and worked with it for six years. He pointed out that
both consumptive and non-consumptive users are important. A lot
of state revenues come through the wildlife tours and marine
tours out of the Kenai Fjords, specifically. Whale watching and
birding opportunities are great for the non consumptive users.
But the number-one manner in which revenues are generated
outside of organized tours is through consumptive use. However,
game tours with guides generate large incomes and those get
distributed throughout all portions of the state along with
sport fishing.
5:13:58 PM
GARY HOLLIER, representing himself, Soldotna, supported Mr.
Spraker for reconfirmation. He said in the late 70s it was hard
to get a moose and someone with vision put in a spike for 50
inch regulation in the mid-80s and now they have a 30-day
season. Mr. Spraker was instrumental with that and had the
foresight to do something positive for the resource and the
people. If it wasn't for him, they would probably be down to
four or five-day seasons.
CHAIR HUGGINS, finding no further testimony, closed public
testimony. He read the Senate Confirmation Committee report
saying the Senate Resources Committee recommends the
appointments be forwarded to a joint session for consideration.
This didn't reflect any intent by any of the members to vote for
or against the confirmation of the individuals during any
further sessions. Committee members signed the forwarding
letters.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Huggins adjourned the meeting at 5:17:45 PM.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|