00SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 24                                                                                     
01 Relating to a division of game in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and                                            
02 to management of game.                                                                                                  
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS Governor Steve Cowper changed the name of the Alaska Department of                                             
05 Fish and Game, division of game, to the division of wildlife conservation on January 1, 1989;                           
06 and                                                                                                                     
07  WHEREAS, during the seven years under the new name, the primary mission of the                                         
08 division, to manage the vast game resources of Alaska, has been seriously eroded and blurred;                           
09 and                                                                                                                     
10  WHEREAS the change of the name of the division has fostered fragmentation of                                           
11 management goals that has resulted in building a bureaucracy of self-serving biologists and                             
12 administrators with nongame management agendas who justify decisions on public opinion                                  
13 polls rather than current scientific biological data; and                                                               
14  WHEREAS the fragmentation of management goals has caused serious degradation                                           

01 of the professionalism, self-esteem, and morale of the personnel of the division; and                                   
02  WHEREAS blurring of the game management mission of the division has resulted in                                        
03 serious misuse of millions of dollars of federal and state fish and game funds that are                                 
04 statutorily mandated to benefit those hunters and sportsmen whose license fees and equipment                            
05 taxes provide funding for the division;                                                                                 
06  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature finds that the number of actions                                      
07 by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to manage people, instead of game, by reducing                                
08 harvests, implementing onerous methods and means regulations, and restricting access to                                 
09 game, be kept at the lowest possible levels; and be it                                                                  
10  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature finds that the game                                                 
11 resources of Alaska have the potential to be a truly growing "permanent fund," capable of                               
12 providing the highest harvestable and viewing benefits to all Alaskans; and be it                                       
13  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urgently requests Governor                                          
14 Knowles to reestablish the division of game within the Alaska Department of Fish and Game                               
15 and to reaffirm the division's primary mission to manage the game resources of the state to                             
16 achieve and maintain high sustainable levels of game for all Alaskans.