ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE  May 12, 2021 2:45 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Josiah Patkotak, Chair Representative Grier Hopkins, Vice Chair Representative Zack Fields Representative Calvin Schrage Representative Sara Hannan Representative Mike Cronk Representative Ronald Gillham Representative Tom McKay MEMBERS ABSENT  Representative George Rauscher COMMITTEE CALENDAR  CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 125(RES) "An Act relating to the transferability of hunts awarded by drawing; and providing for an effective date." - MOVED CSSB 125(RES) OUT OF COMMITTEE PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  BILL: SB 125 SHORT TITLE: HUNTING PERMITS: TRANSFERABILITY SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) VON IMHOF 04/16/21 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 04/16/21 (S) RES 04/26/21 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205 04/26/21 (S) Moved CSSB 125(RES) Out of Committee 04/26/21 (S) MINUTE(RES) 04/28/21 (S) RES RPT CS 5DP SAME TITLE 04/28/21 (S) DP: REVAK, KIEHL, VON IMHOF, BISHOP, KAWASAKI 04/30/21 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H) 04/30/21 (S) VERSION: CSSB 125(RES) 04/30/21 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 04/30/21 (H) RES 05/07/21 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124 05/07/21 (H) -- MEETING CANCELED -- 05/12/21 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124 WITNESS REGISTER INTIMAYO HARBISON, Staff Senator Natasha von Imhof Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 125 on behalf of Senator von Imhof, prime sponsor. NATALIE WEBER, Regulations Program Coordinator Division of Wildlife Conservation Alaska Department of Fish & Game Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information and answered questions during the hearing on SB 125. CHERYL BROOKING, Senior Assistant Attorney General Natural Resources Section Civil Division (Anchorage) Department of Law Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information and answered questions during the hearing on SB 125. KELLY TRENT Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 125. JEFF TRENT Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 125. RYAN MCGILLVRY Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 125. TERESA CAMPOAMOR Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 125. DANIELLE CAMPOAMOR New York, New York POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 125. WHEY BOWERSON Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 125. AARON TRENT Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 125. ACTION NARRATIVE 2:45:54 PM CHAIR JOSIAH PATKOTAK called the House Resources Standing Committee meeting to order at 2:45 p.m. Representatives McKay, Fields, Cronk, Hopkins, Schrage, Gillham, Hannan, and Patkotak were present at the call to order. SB 125-HUNTING PERMITS: TRANSFERABILITY  2:46:43 PM CHAIR PATKOTAK announced that the only order of business would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 125(RES), "An Act relating to the transferability of hunts awarded by drawing; and providing for an effective date." 2:47:29 PM INTIMAYO HARBISON, Staff, Senator Natasha von Imhof, Alaska State Legislature, presented CSSB 125(RES) on behalf of Senator von Imhof, prime sponsor. He read the sponsor statement as follows [original punctuation provided]: Senate Bill 125 would allow a hunting permit awarded by drawing to be transferred to another qualified hunter should the original permit holder die before completing the hunt. It is the intent of this bill to put an end to the trauma faced by many families when, after having lost a family member, they are further denied subsistence rights which their deceased family member applied for, paid for, and were awarded. This bill pertains exclusively to the transfer of draw hunting permits and would not impact any other license, tag, or sport fishing vessel registration. MR. HARBISON presented the sectional analysis, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: Section 1: Amends Alaska Statute adding Sec. 16.05.404, allowing for the transfer of permits awarded by drawing, to a qualified substitute, should the original permit holder die before completing the hunt for which the permit was issued.  Paragraph 1: Provides that a qualified substitute must apply for the hunting permit to be transferred or reissued.  Paragraph 2: Provides that a qualified substitute must provide acceptable proof of a persons death. (b) Be a resident of Alaska. (c) Apply for transfer or reissue before the end of the period for which the hunting permit is valid. (d) Can only be issued for the hunt which the permit was originally awarded. (e) Defines "Immediate family member". Section 2: Amends Alaska Statute 16.05.420(c) with conforming language to allow for the transfer of hunting permits "originally awarded by drawing?under AS 16.05.255(a) that has been transferred or reissued under AS 16.05.404". Provides that a transfer only pertains to hunting licenses and does not include license, tag, or sport fishing vessel registration issued to another person. Section 3: Provides for an immediate effective date under AS 01.10.070(c). 2:50:14 PM REPRESENTATIVE MCKAY expressed the belief that it's rare for a resident to pass away after being awarded a hunting permit [through a drawing and before using the permit]. He stated his support for the proposed legislation. 2:51:34 PM REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS stated his support for the proposed legislation. 2:51:47 PM REPRESENTATIVE SCHRAGE asked whether there would be a process for determining which family member would receive the hunting license. MR. HARBISON replied that the intent would be to allow ADF&G to create those regulations. REPRESENTATIVE SCHRAGE clarified his question. 2:53:26 PM NATALIE WEBER, Regulations Program Coordinator, Division of Wildlife Conservation, Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G), noted the validity of the concern and deferred to Ms. Brooking. 2:54:07 PM CHERYL BROOKING, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Natural Resources Section, Civil Division (Anchorage), Department of Law (DOL), explained that ADF&G has the leeway to adopt regulations regarding which immediate family member would receive the hunting permit; she noted that having clear regulations would prevent ADF&G from possibly being caught between conflicting family members. 2:54:42 PM REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN referred to the term "subsistence rights" in the sponsor statement and said that while one person may have a subsistence right, an immediate family member may not. She suggested that there may be a conflict between the sponsor statement and the language in the proposed legislation. MR. HARBISON responded that the use of "subsistence rights" in the sponsor statement is accurate but noted that a more appropriate term may be "food security." REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN asked whether SB 125 would affect only permits related to subsistence hunting, excluding those for trophy hunting. MR. PATKOTAK asked the sponsor's office to clarify whether the intent of the proposed legislation is to affect all hunting permits. MR. HARBISON replied, "I believe that the intent of the bill is to capture draw permits." He suggested that ADF&G clarify the different types of draw permit to be included under the proposed legislation. MS. BROOKING explained that the language in the proposed legislation would apply only to drawing hunts; as there are no drawing hunts for subsistence, those specific hunts would be excluded. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN asked for details on draw hunt groups. MS. WEBER clarified that CSSB 125(RES), as written, would be applicable to all drawing permits. She said the language does not address permits for subsistence hunts. 2:59:52 PM REPRESENTATIVE CRONK said, "Even if the family drew a brown bear hunt, they would still be planning that hunt to go with the father. So you could say it wasn't about subsistence; it's about the quality of the hunt; it's about being together." 3:00:25 PM CHAIR PATKOTAK opened public testimony on CSSB 125(RES). 3:00:57 PM KELLY TRENT identified herself as Chase Bowerson's mother and expressed her support of SB 125. 3:02:11 PM JEFF TRENT testified in support of SB 125. He identified himself as Chase Bowerson's father and said that Chase, at the time of his death, had not yet harvested his first moose. He expressed that the family had looked forward to continuing their tradition of hunting moose, but the announcement of the draw hunt winners came after Chase's death. He then learned that the awarded permit could not be transferred to a family member and asked that the law be changed. 3:05:01 PM RYAN MCGILLVRY testified in support of SB 125. He identified himself as Chase Bowerson's uncle and noted that, even with a permit, the odds of a successful hunt are low. All hunts, he said, are memorable experiences regardless of success. He expressed his belief that allowing the hunting permit to transfer to a family member would honor the memory of the deceased. 3:06:09 PM TERESA CAMPOAMOR testified in support of SB 125. She related observing a moment of hope in Chase Bowerson's family when, upon receiving notice of the draw permit, they believed the permit could be transferred to a member of the family. She expressed that SB 125 would create a "simple but very important" law that would help grieving families. 3:08:00 PM DANIELLE CAMPOAMOR testified in support of SB 125. She identified herself as Chase Bowerson's cousin and expressed that allowing hunting permit transfers in these cases would be a "healthy, honorable, Alaskan way" to begin healing. She agreed with Representative McKay's assertion that it is very rare for a deceased person to be awarded a hunting permit and said, "The rarity of the situation does not diminish the cruelty." She expressed gratitude to Senator von Imhof and said that honoring the deceased is "the Alaskan way." 3:11:39 PM WHEY BOWERSON testified in support of SB 125 and identified himself as Chase's brother. He expressed agreement with previous statements and said that it would be honoring his brother's memory to allow the family to receive the permit and hunt with the intention of providing meat for the family members and elders. 3:13:43 PM AARON TRENT stated his support of SB 125 and expressed that the proposed legislation would have a positive effect on grieving families. 3:15:50 PM CHAIR PATKOTAK, after confirming that no one else wished to testify, closed public testimony on CSSB 125(RES). 3:16:03 PM REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS moved to report CSSB 125(RES) out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSSB 125(RES) was reported out of House Resources Standing Committee. 3:16:36 PM ADJOURNMENT  There being no further business before the committee, the House Resources Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 3:17 p.m.