Legislature(2017 - 2018)BUTROVICH 205
04/02/2018 04:00 PM Senate RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s): Board of Fisheries, Regulatory Commission of Alaska | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
April 2, 2018
4:03 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Kevin Meyer
Senator Bill Wielechowski
Senator Click Bishop
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Cathy Giessel, Chair
Senator John Coghill, Vice Chair
Senator Natasha von Imhof
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S)
Board of Fisheries
Orville Huntington
Al Cain
- CONFIRMATIONS ADVANCED
Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA)
Antony Scott
- CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
ORVILLE HUNTINGTON, appointee
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Re-appointee to the Board of Fisheries.
AL CAIN, appointee
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Re-appointee to the Board of Fisheries.
ANTONY SCOTT, appointee
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: New appointee to the Regulatory Commission
of Alaska (RCA)
MARK RICHARDS, representing himself
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of Orville Huntington's
and Al Cain's reappointments to the Board of Fisheries.
ACTION NARRATIVE
4:03:00 PM
ACTING CHAIR KEVIN MEYER called the Senate Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Wielechowski, Stedman, and Acting Chair
Meyer. Senator Coghill was excused. He noted the absence of a
quorum but stated that members would arrive shortly.
^Confirmation Hearing(s): Board of Fisheries, Regulatory
Commission of Alaska
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S):
Board of Fisheries
Regulatory Commission of Alaska
4:04:15 PM
ACTING CHAIR MEYER said the committee would take up appointments
to boards and commissions. He asked Mr. Huntington to tell the
committee why he wants to be re-appointed to the Board of
Fisheries.
ORVILLE HUNTINGTON, re-appointee to the Board of Fisheries,
Fairbanks, Alaska, stated that he grew up in Huslia and lives in
Fairbanks. He has worked for seven years at the Tanana Chiefs
Conference (TCC) as Wildlife Parks Director. He has served two
terms on the Board of Fisheries. He has been a subsistence
fisherman for all his life and relies on the personal use
fishery, as well. He used to have a commercial permit but
doesn't use it anymore. He wants to serve one last term, and not
more because of his health.
ACTING CHAIR MEYER thanked him for his service and opened
questions.
SENATOR STEDMAN asked if he thought his health might be
deteriorating and this may be his last term if he gets
reappointed.
MR. HUNTINGTON answered yes; he is at the age when it is a
little bit hard to stay on a board. His uncle Sidney, who is
much healthier, had a stroke at age 66.
4:06:45 PM
SENATOR BISHOP joined the meeting.
ACTING CHAIR MEYER found no further questions and invited Mr.
Cain to tell the committee why he wanted to be reappointed to
the Board of Fisheries.
4:07:12 PM
AL CAIN said he was a State Wildlife Trooper for 25 years and
spent another decade as the criminal justice planner for the
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). He has quite an
interest in Alaska's fish, game, and habitat natural resources
and has spent his entire career helping protect and manage them.
Two years ago, the Governor invited him to be a member of the
Board of Fisheries, which has been a wonderful experience. He
spent 15 years prior to that as the enforcement advisor to the
Board of Fisheries. So, he has a lot of experience and
background with the board. Further, his wife said he could do
another term, but his main interest is making sure our great
grandkids have as many or more fish to catch and enjoy as we do
today. "It's an honor to be here," he said.
4:08:34 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he had any concerns about the
changes made to Cook Inlet management and how that will impact
fish getting back to the Kenai River and the MatSu Valley.
MR. CAIN replied, "Of course, I have concerns." It is an issue
that has been worked on by several boards in recent years and
over the decades. With the establishment of the conservation
corridor and all the other concerns, Board members need to be
open and listen more carefully than ever to the issues and note
the source of the input.
He said ADF&G has done an excellent job of managing things, but
there are still a number of economic and escapement concerns.
While he didn't know that those issues would ever be completely
solved with the existing population base, an extreme level of
care needs to be given to the number of fish that are allocated
between the Kenai, Lower Kenai, and Upper Cook Inlet.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI commented that at least one of Mr. Cain's
colleagues didn't ultimately live up to what he testified to on
both those issues.
4:10:44 PM
MR. CAIN said he was not in anybody's camp but would do the
right thing for the fish and try to keep the established
populations as healthy as possible.
ACTING CHAIR MEYER thanked him and invited Mr. Scott to
introduce himself and tell them why he wants to serve on the
Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA).
4:11:37 PM
ANTONY SCOTT, new appointee to the Regulatory Commission of
Alaska (RCA), said it's a pleasure to be here and he is honored
to be considered for the position at the commission. He came to
Alaska in 2000 out of graduate school. He was staff economist
for the RCA and worked there for 2.5 years.
MR. SCOTT said he has been involved in public service for his
whole career here and is committed to serving. He is interested
in serving as a commissioner for a few reasons: in general, he
seeks work that involves hard problems that are of consequence
and where he has good people to work with. "The commission fits
the bill, certainly," he said. He spent all of his career
working to provide analysis in support of other people's
decisions, but he would "relish the opportunity to contribute
more directly to decisions myself." This work suits him
temperamentally in terms of background, skills, and capacities.
4:14:01 PM
ACTING CHAIR MEYER said that he heard the answers he provided to
the Finance Committee and knows where he stands on various
issues.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he was glad to see Mr. Scott in that
chair. He had worked with him for many years and was impressed
with him. He said, "You're straight and you're fair and you're
smart, and I think you're going to be an outstanding
commissioner. I wish you the very best."
MR. SCOTT thanked him.
ACTING CHAIR MEYER said that he also thought the state was
fortunate to have someone with his talent, education, and
experience seeking and wanting to be on this commission. He also
noted that Mr. Scott had been involved directly or indirectly on
all the different gas pipeline proposals that most of them have
heard, starting back under Governor Knowles.
4:15:40 PM
SENATOR BISHOP commented that the committee had another
appointee a couple of weeks ago who was appointed by Jay
Hammond. At that time, he said, "What's good enough for Jay
Hammond is good enough for me. So, Dr. Mark Meyer hired you and
that's good enough for me."
4:16:17 PM
ACTING CHAIR MEYER opened public testimony.
MARK RICHARDS, representing himself, Fairbanks, Alaska, said
even though he is the executive director of Resident Hunters of
Alaska he is testifying for himself in support of Orville
Huntington's and Al Cain's reappointments to the Board of
Fisheries.
ACTING CHAIR MEYER found no further questions from the
committee, thanked the appointees for their willingness to serve
on these boards and commissions and closed public testimony.
He 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: Anthony Scott
from Anchorage, Al Cain from Anchorage, and Orville Huntington
from Huslia. 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.
4:20:15 PM
ACTING CHAIR MEYER adjourned the Senate Resources Standing
Committee meeting at 4:20 p.m.