Legislature(2015 - 2016)BUTROVICH 205
04/08/2015 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
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| Confirmation Hearings: Board of Fisheries | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
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+ teleconferenced
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
April 8, 2015
3:13 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Cathy Giessel, Chair
Senator Mia Costello, Vice Chair
Senator John Coghill
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Bill Stoltze
Senator Bill Wielechowski
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS
Board of Fisheries
Robert Ruffner - Soldotna
Orville Huntington - Huslia
- CONFIRMATIONS ADVANCED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
ROBERT RUFFNER, Appointee
Board of Fisheries
Soldotna, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as re-appointee to the Board of
Fisheries.
ORVILLE HUNTINGTON, Appointee
Board of Fisheries
Huslia, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as re-appointee to the Board of
Fisheries.
LESLIE MORTON, President
Board of Directors
Kenai Watershed Forum
Kenai, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Ruffner's appointment to the
Board of Fisheries.
TOM CORR, representing himself
Soldotna, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Ruffner's appointment to the
Board of Fisheries.
REED MORISKY, representing himself
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Huntington's appointment to
the Board of Fisheries.
RICK COOK, City Manager
Kenai, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Huntington's and Mr.
Ruffner's re-appointment to the Board of Fisheries.
DWIGHT KRAMER, representing himself
Kenai, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Ruffner's re-appointment to
the Board of Fisheries.
SUZANNE LITTLE, representing herself
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Ruffner's re-appointment to
the Board of Fisheries.
MARTIN LUNDE, lobbyist
Southeast Alaska Seiners Association
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Huntington's and Mr.
Ruffner's re-appointment to the Board of Fisheries.
ED SCHMITT, Chairman
Kenai Area Fishermen's Coalition (KAFC)
Soldotna, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Ruffner's re-appointment to
the Board of Fisheries.
JOSEPH-RAYMAND SKRHA, representing himself
Kenai, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Ruffner's appointment to the
Board of Fisheries.
BRIAN GABRIELLE, Vice Mayor
Representing the Kenai Mayor and City Council
Kenai, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Said Resolution 2014 was unanimously passed
supporting the appointment of Mr. Ruffner to the Alaska Board of
Fisheries.
MIKE NAVARRE, Mayor
Kenai Peninsula Borough
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Ruffner's re-appointment to
the Board of Fisheries.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:31:09 PM
CHAIR CATHY GIESSEL called the Senate Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:31 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Coghill, Costello, Stedman, Stoltze, and
Chair Giessel.
^Confirmation Hearings: Board of Fisheries
CONFIRMATION HEARING
Board of Fisheries
3:31:37 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL announced the consideration of the governor's
appointees to the Board of Fisheries and invited Mr. Ruffner to
the table. He was appointed on March 23 and his term expires on
June 30, 2015. His reappointment would be effective on July 1,
2015, for a term that expires in June 2019.
ROBERT RUFFNER, re-appointee to the Board of Fisheries,
Soldotna, Alaska, said he knows how important fisheries are in
the State of Alaska and he is honored to serve on it.
3:32:31 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE joined the committee.
3:33:14 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI joined the committee.
MR. RUFFNER said he is 46 years old, had lived in Alaska since
1996 and had been married for 22 years. He graduated from the
University of Minnesota with a focus on geology and always had a
passion for rivers. He did modeling and statistical work in grad
school.
When Mr. Ruffner moved to Alaska, he came for the life style and
the adventure, but he found himself looking for a job. He became
a director for a non-profit that helped watersheds on the Kenai
Peninsula. It has been in his job since 1997. He has also served
on the Planning Commission and the Road Service Area Board for
the Kenai Peninsula Borough.
3:35:20 PM
He harvests most of his fish in the Kenai and Kasilof personal
use (PU) fishery and has been doing rod and reel fishing since
he was a kid; he has caught all species of salmon as well as
other species. He commercial fished in the mid to late 90s on a
Cook Inlet drift gillnet boat.
3:36:59 PM
MR. RUFFNER said he felt that he could make a positive
contribution to the board because of his commitment to public
service and ongoing interest in Alaska's fisheries statewide. He
believes in the Sustainable Salmon Policies that guides the
board's decisions. He knew this would be a challenging job, but
he knows the players. The Board of Fisheries is unique and he is
committed to that process.
3:41:06 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE disclosed that he knows Mr. Ruffner having
served with him on the Kenai Peninsula Fish Habitat Partnership
Steering Committee and having partnered with him on industrial
projects and pipeline work.
SENATOR STEDMAN wondered if he owns any power boats.
MR. RUFFNER said he has access to several power boats through
his employment and he owns a raft with a kicker.
3:42:40 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI commented that he didn't know why Mr.
Ruffner wanted this job, but appreciated him offering to take
it. His community is very reliant on sport and personal use
fishing and dip netting in the Kenai River. They don't fish in
the Mat-Su Valley very much, "because the fish just aren't
there." The big underlying issue is the balance that has existed
on the board, which some have said has existed since Governor
Hickel, with three sport fish interests, three commercial fish
interests and a subsistence interest. The debate is going on as
to whether that is still something that should be done. Most
people would agree that the person before him held a sport fish
seat. Anchorage has been represented for decades and now there
is no Anchorage person. He asked Mr. Ruffner if he identified
himself as a sport fish person and should the board continue
that balance or is it time to change?
MR. RUFFNER reflected that the rules that govern allocation
decisions are important. Each criterion is weighed differently
depending on the fishery, one of them being the number of
participants. For popular fisheries, urban populations will have
to be weighed heavily.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said Senator Stoltze has a bill to give
personal use a fishing priority and asked what he thought about
that.
MR. RUFFNER answered that he is a dip netter and appreciates the
sentiment, but the Sustainable Salmon Policy says the burden of
conservation should be shared by all fisheries in close
proportion to each fishery's respective use consistent with
state and federal law. This means when it comes time to conserve
these fish that they all need to share in that.
3:47:58 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI stated that personal use should have
priority.
MR. RUFFNER said subsistence is already a priority and creating
another priority for king salmon would be difficult to
implement, because there is some harvest of king salmon in times
of low abundance in the commercial fishery now, but not for PU.
Another consideration is if people feel like they need more area
on the Kenai River because it is getting crowded would the board
be obligated to evaluate that and allow more area for sockeye
dipnetting. The immediate concern is that when Chinook runs are
good, sport fishermen fish very close to the line where the
personal use fishery starts, which could lead to conflicts.
3:49:59 PM
SENATOR STOLTZE asked the substantive differences between
personal use and subsistence fisheries, because they are the
only two Alaska resident fisheries.
MR. RUFFNER answered that subsistence has been decided by the
courts, but he believes that Alaskans should come first. He
would want to consider how much participation comes from
Alaskans and from people outside of Alaska, and he would want to
make sure the smaller commercial boats in coastal areas have
their times and areas to fish.
SENATOR STOLTZE observed that the governor wants the board to be
represented by a majority of commercial interests and asked why
they should view this appointment as being different than the
previous one. He sees the exact same people supporting him.
MR. RUFFNER said that he hadn't heard what Senator Stoltze said
and reiterated that he has zero financial interest in commercial
fish, one distinction between him and the previous nominee. It
is important to maintain balance on the Board of Fisheries,
because they draw from the allocation criteria that the
legislature has passed that include the histories of the
fisheries and the number of participants, both which reflect
heavily on sport fishing. He said Alaska is a big state and for
a board member to readily identify himself in one camp or the
other is not the way to proceed.
SENATOR STOLTZE asked what his past position on catch and
release was and if it had changed.
3:56:18 PM
MR. RUFFNER answered that he has participated in catch and
release fisheries, but he doesn't do it very much, because once
he catches a fish he doesn't feel the need to keep catching
them. But he related that in visiting other parts of the world,
most recently, Costa Rica, where he fished for tarpon, a trophy
fish, he had spent a fair amount of money and helped out their
economy. So, he personally doesn't have any difficulty with
catch and release fisheries.
SENATOR STEDMAN said commercial fishing creates jobs, employs
thousands of people on the coast and is good for the economy of
the State of Alaska. It has been one of the steadiest income
producing sections of the economy for over 100 years and he
hoped Mr. Ruffner's zero interest in commercial fishing would
broaden, because of that.
On the subject of subsistence and priority use, he said it would
be just as dangerous to have a commercial priority, because most
of his district doesn't have the opportunity to go to Costco and
some communities don't have the cash to go to the store. He
wanted to know his thoughts on subsistence lifestyles in some
areas in the state.
3:59:18 PM
MR. RUFFNER said that the word "financial" was not in his
statement about his "zero stake in commercial fishing." He
doesn't have a lot of experience living in those rural areas,
but recognize what Senator Stedman was saying and would be
respectful of communities that don't have much cash in their
economy.
SENATOR MICCICHE asked how he feels about personal use fisheries
being shut down in Kasilof without the other fisheries being
restricted, too.
MR. RUFFNER replied that he really wants to share the burden as
provided in the Sustainable Fisheries Policy. In that case, it
wouldn't make any sense to shut down the PU fishery before
shutting the commercial fishery, because they harvest a lot more
fish.
SENATOR MICCICHE said he is unaware of any time the personal
fishery has been shut down since it opened, although the city
manager in the audience was indicating once. He asked if Mr.
Ruffner was aware of any restrictions that haven't been paired
where PU is shut down last.
4:02:11 PM
MR. RUFFNER replied that he'll agree with the city manager, but
he didn't remember it happening. It's important to have personal
use opportunities and he didn't want those to be taken away out
of proportion to the total harvest of fish.
SENATOR MICCICHE asked how he felt about the addition of a new
subsistence impact on the upper Kenai River that is important to
every user group on the Kenai.
MR. RUFFNER answered that it's a bad idea to do it in the Kenai
River, because those fisheries are in federal waters, where it
is inappropriate for that gear type. Other gear types should be
and have been used. Dip nets have been available in the Russian
River and outside of the normal PU area along stretches of the
Kenai River, but those opportunities had not been utilized very
fully because of the potential to harm other fisheries,
specifically Rainbow Trout and Dolly Varden, that have very
strict regulations.
4:04:52 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said the Kenai and Kasilof PU fisheries
have increased in recent years to the point of being out of
control and asked if he supported any of the proposals to limit
boat use, cut the number of fish that can be taken or to charge
fees.
MR. RUFFNER replied no, particularly to limit the catch. His
family of four will eat 40-50 fish and the PU limit is 55 fish,
which is an appropriate number. In places where the volume of
people coming to the Kenai River have increased the board tried
to protect the sensitive areas through securing funding for
fencing and signage and coming up with appropriate rules for
staying out of the coastal dune features that protect the City
of Kenai from eroding away.
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) owned the property on
the Kasilof River and the Division of Mining, Land and Water
managed the land. People were using those areas very heavily -
camping and riding vehicles in dunes and areas that were doing
damage - so, they worked with the state, the Kasilof Historical
Society and the legislature to get some funding to construct
some fencing that would keep people out of the more sensitive
areas but continue to allow them to camp on the beach and have
access to the fisheries.
4:07:39 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if Mr. Ruffner agreed with those
windows for the drift fleet closures so that Southcentral
Anchorage and MatSu/Eagle River dip netters could fish, usually
Friday through Saturday or Sunday.
MR. RUFFNER said he in general agreed with the concept of
limiting commercial gear in the days preceding weekends, but
wanted to look at data to see how effective the windows are. The
jury is still out on that.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI quipped that he hoped if Mr. Ruffner was
approved that he would make sure there was fish coming through
on the weekends.
MR. RUFFNER responded that he would try and added that he has a
20-year track record of putting the fish first.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said emergency openers are a frustration
when people take the weekend off or go down during the week when
it's expected to be closed and there is an emergency opener the
day before. It's, at least, perceived that the fish are caught
and don't get through to people who have made the trip down
there.
4:10:52 PM
MR. RUFFNER said he was a believer in using firm data to manage
escapement goals that have proven to be good for maximum
sustained yield. So, he didn't want to constrain the department
by limiting their authority for emergency openings on the Kenai
River. He was more concerned about the emergency openings around
the Kasilof River because of trying to get more Chinook to the
Kenai and where the managers feel like they have had to exercise
more emergency openings in the special harvest area at the mouth
of the river. That fishery makes him nervous, because there is
very little to no data on the Chinook entering there. Special
harvest areas are terminal in nature and are designed to catch a
lot of fish and don't discriminate between sockeye and Chinook.
SENATOR STOLTZE asked what he speculates is the reason
conservation groups are interested in having him on the board.
MR. RUFFNER said he hadn't paid much attention, but he hoped
they were looking at his successful record of solving
environmental issues by working with environmental groups and
industry.
4:15:55 PM
SENATOR COGHILL asked if he was familiar with the low returns of
Chinook on the Yukon/Tanana and Koyukuk Rivers.
MR. RUFFNER answered only a "very tiny bit." When he applied for
this job he tried to walk around the different areas in which
the board meets and tried to learn a little bit about each area.
When he got to the Kuskokwim he recognized that it was "another
animal" than what he was more familiar with.
SENATOR COGHILL said that some subsistence folks can get the
best of both worlds on the Yukon and can probably more easily
get commercial drift nets, but a lot of Interior people have to
go far and wide to get their subsistence, because the Tanana
River is highly impacted by what goes on in the Yukon River.
The Gulkana area in the Copper River is highly impacted by those
PU and subsistence fish rather than commercial fish. So, it
probably has a highly contentious zone with regard to the fast
incoming runs. Had he looked into the different dynamics there?
MR. RUFFNER promised him he would do his homework, but asked him
to clarify if he was referring specifically to the Copper River
subsistence and Chuitna dip net fisheries.
SENATOR COGHILL answered yes.
MR. RUFFNER said he floated on a raft by the Copper River on his
way to Cordova and was encouraged that the limits were increased
in the last cycle. Fairbanks friends have related their stories
about getting permits and fishing down there.
4:21:32 PM
SENATOR COGHILL remarked that they are probably recipients of
some benefits from commercial fishing in that the Prince William
Sound has a fish hatchery north of the Copper River. He said the
fact that Fairbanks and Glennallen-up-to-Delta depend upon two
systems of rivers is pretty significant whereas Anchorage has
the one fishery crowded around the Kasilof and the Kenai.
He asked Mr. Ruffner why he quit his previous employment.
MR. RUFFNER replied that he helped found the Kenai Watershed
Forum and believes strongly in its mission, but he had planned
on stepping down from being director for quite a while, but he
wanted something challenging and intellectually stimulating to
do next.
SENATOR STOLTZE said he wouldn't fish, because boats were trying
to drown or swamp fishermen and asked what the board could do
about that.
4:24:44 PM
MR. RUFFNER responded that he hadn't seen that happen, but had
heard from a number of people that it does. Intentionally trying
to harm another individual in any situation is criminal behavior
and they should be prosecuted.
SENATOR STOLTZE related his experience with gillnetters who
almost drowned some Anchorage individuals.
4:26:33 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL said 29 people were on line and clearly the
committee would not make it through all of them and invited them
to email their written testimony to her office. All the
testimony will go online with these appointees.
SENATOR COSTELLO said she heard great things about him, but the
biggest concern is changing the balance of the board and asked
if that is a valid concern.
MR. RUFFNER replied that it is a valid concern for people who
perceive he will not represent the sport fishing view, but the
reality is that he will support the sport fishing community
following the allocation criteria. He fully realizes the value
of sport fishing in his community.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he had a number of questions, but
would ask them in the State Affairs Committee.
SENATOR MICCICHE noted a pile of diverse support letters from
every city on the Kenai and invited him to tell about how he
brought folks together on the Kenai hydrocarbon problem.
MR. RUFFNER related that the problem started with maintaining
water quality on the Kenai River, but no data had been
collected. So, he asked for everyone to pony up some money to
collect comprehensive data. The base line data led them to
discover up to several hundred gallons of gasoline being dumped
into the Kenai River a day. They then worked with every user
group to understand the problem. It took a while, but they used
science to inform their decision and that is what brought people
together.
SENATOR MICCICHE said Cook Inlet is challenging, because a lot
of people fish in a small area that has a good amount of fish
and a couple of rivers that are pretty challenged, and asked how
he was going to use data to ensure a better return when possible
to the rivers of the Mat-Su Borough, which is where a lot of the
friction comes from.
MR. RUFFNER said he is going to use data, but the most
challenging part of his job as a scientist will be recognizing
that they don't have the data they wished they had to make their
decisions. They do know that the Valley has about eight stocks
of concern of varying degrees of severity. He will weigh that
very heavily as a guy who puts fish first. Concerns are for
yield, which means excess amount of fish that are available for
harvest. But if they get to the point of conservation concerns
he will use that data very carefully to make sure the fish will
be used to sustain the runs.
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if he is willing to restrict commercial
fishing if the data proves that returns are challenged to
northern district rivers.
MR. RUFFNER replied absolutely, and he doesn't care if he loses
his job over it, because it's more important to maintain the
state's fisheries.
SENATOR MICCICHE said he heard that Mr. Ruffner is an
environmental extremist and asked him to talk about some of his
partnerships with industry he has been partnered with for the
last 12 years.
MR. RUFFNER replied that people can label him any way they want,
but he is proud of his record of environmental work. People need
to look at the facts. He raised a lot of money from the oil and
gas industry receiving close to $1 million from Chevron, Unocal,
ConocoPhillips, Apache, HilCorp, Tesoro, and more. He said that
right now Apache is trying to build a road to access some oil
and gas and they are going to cross some salmon streams and his
organization is who they called to help figure out a mitigation
plan.
4:37:47 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL thanked him and invited Mr. Huntington to come
forward. She said he was appointed in July 2012 and his re-
appointment would be effective on July 2015 for a term that
expires in June 2018.
4:38:46 PM
ORVILLE HUNTINGTON, re-appointee to the Board of Fisheries,
Huslia, Alaska, said he serves as Wildlife and Parks Director
for the Tanana Chiefs Conference. The key issues for him are
personal use and subsistence. He grew up with it for 59 years in
the cultural context of his Athabascan ways. He also understands
adaptation to city life. Family and friends have moved to
Anchorage and Fairbanks and they have to be taken care of, too.
He was a commercial fisherman for 20 years before his permit
sunsetted. He has a lot of board experience to draw from as his
Dad, Sydney Huntington served one term on the board and one term
in the legislature. His uncle served two decades on the Board of
Game. So, he knows a lot about politics, too.
MR. HUNTINGTON said he relies on science and has a wildlife
biology degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). He
bases his decisions on science not guessing and has a lot of
traditional history to back up the science.
4:41:54 PM
SENATOR STOLTZE thanked him for carrying on the tradition of his
family embodied by his father, Sydney Huntington, who was
awarded for public service.
SENATOR COGHILL said he hoped he got appointed and brings more
good information from the Interior river ways to the Board of
Fisheries.
SENATOR MICCICHE thanked Mr. Huntington for reapplying.
4:43:02 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL, finding no further questions, opened public
testimony.
4:43:18 PM
LESLIE MORTON, President, Board of Directors, Kenai Watershed
Forum, Kenai, Alaska, supported Mr. Ruffner's appointment to the
Board of Fisheries saying he is their current executive
director. Their mission statement is working together for a
healthy watershed on the Kenai Peninsula. The forum has a three-
part approach: research, restoration and education. The members
established and maintain comprehensive research programs to
provide quality data to expand the knowledge of watershed and
fish habitat. The Kenai Watershed Forum works to restore and
repair conditions that threaten the long term health of their
watershed and their education programs reach thousands of
students annually.
In order to meet their goal of working together and investing in
their community, the Kenai Watershed Forum has always strived to
have a balanced board of directors. The current board consists
of two commercial fishermen, two sport fishermen, and she is a
dip netter with no financial stake in commercial fishing. The
board also has educators, small business owners, medical
professionals and contractors. At no time has the board had a
majority of commercial fishermen.
She said that Mr. Ruffner had dedicated his professional and
much of his personal life to improving the quality of fish
habitat. While executive director of the Watershed Forum he has
personally been responsible for the restoration of miles and
miles salmon habitats through culvert replacement and fish
passages. He is not one-sided. He is actively involved in many
aspects of their community and is well-respected on the Kenai
Peninsula. For example, Mr. Ruffner was the 2008 Soldotna
Chamber of Commerce person of the year.
Most important, his willingness to reserve judgement and listen
carefully to all sides before reaching a decision makes him well
suited to serve on the Board of Fisheries.
4:45:44 PM
TOM CORR, representing himself, Soldotna, Alaska, supported Mr.
Ruffner's appointment to the Board of Fisheries. He lives on the
Kenai River and is a 58-year resident of Alaska. He supports Mr.
Ruffner because he will represent the fish, not a user group.
But he will support all user groups fairly.
4:46:43 PM
REED MORISKY, representing himself, Fairbanks, Alaska, supported
Mr. Huntington's appointment to the Board of Fisheries. He said
Mr. Huntington had served on the board with distinction, showing
that he has the ability and skills to make balanced decisions
regarding fisheries resources. His cultural knowledge is
unsurpassed and has been a great benefit to all Alaskans, in
particular, to the board when decisions are being made. He
consistently completes the due diligence necessary to make the
decisions to fairly regulate and allocate the fisheries
resources.
4:47:49 PM
RICK COOK, City Manager, Kenai, Alaska, said the City Council
unanimously passed a resolution strongly supporting Mr.
Ruffner's appointment to the Board of Fisheries. They also
supported Mr. Huntington's appointment. His professional
accomplishments as executive director of the Kenai Watershed
Forum are impressive. They city has worked with him on a number
of fish related issues. For example, he provided the wisdom,
foresight and leadership to solve the hydrocarbon water quality
issue in the Kenai River that had been listed as an impaired
water body by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In two
years his leadership resulted in the Kenai River being removed
from the EPA's water body listing. This required him to bring
together a lot of diverse interests.
Without exception, Mr. Ruffner's goals and interests have been
based in what is in the best interests of the resource. He has
never been a representative of an industry or a specific user
group. He is the member of the Board of Fisheries that the
framers of Alaska's Constitution envisioned when creating the
board process.
MR. COOK noted that the City of Kenai also supported Mr.
Huntington. He is a wonderful representative who is approachable
and willing to share his unique knowledge related to fisheries
issues with the city.
4:50:18 PM
DWIGHT KRAMER, representing himself, Kenai, Alaska, supported
Mr. Ruffner's re-appointment to the Board of Fisheries. He is
a private angler sport fisherman from Kenai and had been
involved with the Board of Fisheries in Upper Cook Inlet issues
since 2002 and had not witnessed a better qualified candidate to
step forward for a seat on the Board of Fisheries than Mr.
Ruffner. He has always respected him for his knowledge, openness
and integrity.
Mr. Ruffner is also a very compassionate person. When he
realized that his efforts to reduce hydrocarbons in the Kenai
River would disenfranchise many participants that couldn't
afford to switch to a four-stroke motor he took it upon himself
to acquire grants and funding for a buy-back program to help
with the financial burden on these users.
He has a good understanding of the relationship with respect to
resources and management for all the user groups. He will be an
invaluable asset to the board because of his scientific
background and knowledge of Kenai River and Cook Inlet fishery
issues.
4:52:24 PM
SUZANNE LITTLE, representing herself, Anchorage, Alaska,
supported Mr. Ruffner's re-appointment to the Board of
Fisheries. She is a former Alaska State Senator elected to serve
people from the Kenai Peninsula and Mr. Ruffner was her neighbor
for almost two decades. She knows him to be a fine man, a person
of great integrity, and one who works to help opposing
viewpoints find common ground and a way forward. This is a
unique ability.
Using science in building common ground he has quietly and
respectfully accomplished big goals for the good of the Kenai
River again and again. He has a solid reputation of level-headed
leadership and bringing opposing sides together. He cares about
all fish, their health and the habitat that supports them.
MS. LITTLE said "assigned seating" was not intended in the
originating legislation for the board nor is it the best way to
manage the resource. Mr. Ruffner will prioritize science and
decision making on behalf of Alaska's fisheries resources.
MARTIN LUNDE, lobbyist, Southeast Alaska Seiners Association,
Juneau, Alaska, supported Mr. Huntington's and Mr. Ruffner's re-
appointment to the Board of Fisheries, because they are
committed to the protection of the resource, which provides
their means of income.
4:55:58 PM
ED SCHMITT, Chairman, Kenai Area Fishermen's Coalition (KAFC),
Soldotna, Alaska, supported Mr. Ruffner's re-appointment to the
Board of Fisheries. The coalition represents "Joe Fisherman,"
all people who fish on the Kenai Peninsula and its board is
comprised mostly of retired state and federal fish biologists;
its members are avid dip netters, sport fishermen and river
ecologists. From a lifetime of training, he recognizes good
practical scientists and Mr. Ruffner is an excellent scientist.
JOSEPH-RAYMAND SKRHA, representing himself, Kenai, Alaska,
supported Mr. Ruffner. He is an extremely good negotiator and
has a way of bringing adverse sides together. This is what the
board needs for the best interests of the fish.
5:00:08 PM
BRIAN GABRIELLE, Vice Mayor, Kenai, Alaska, representing the
Kenai Mayor and City Council, said Resolution 2014 was
unanimously passed supporting the appointment of Mr. Ruffner to
the Alaska Board of Fisheries. He embodies the type of person
who should be considered for this position. He spent the past 18
years as the Executive Director of the Kenai Watershed Forum and
was instrumental in identifying issues and barriers related to
successful fish propagation throughout the Kenai Peninsula. He
is a good steward of the resource, has the experience necessary
to make sound decisions based on scientific information and he
is fair to all user groups.
5:02:55 PM
MIKE NAVARRE, Mayor, Kenai Peninsula Borough, supported Mr.
Ruffner's re-appointment to the Board of Fisheries. He does his
homework and is a good consensus builder.
5:04:33 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL thanked everyone for their testimony and finding
no questions, said in accordance with AS 39.05.080, the
Resources Committee reviewed the following and recommends the
appointments be forwarded to a joint session for consideration:
Board of Fisheries: Orville Huntington (Huslia) and Robert
Ruffner (Soldotna). This does not reflect an intent by any of
the members to vote for or against the confirmation of the
individuals during any further sessions.
ADJOURNMENT
5:05:31 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL adjourned the Senate Resources Committee meeting
at 5:05 p.m.