HB 60: "An Act relating to use of traditional means of access to assist in taking game or fish and to traditional means of access for traditional outdoor activities on land and water set aside for fish and game purposes."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 60 01 "An Act relating to use of traditional means of access to assist in taking game 02 or fish and to traditional means of access for traditional outdoor activities on 03 land and water set aside for fish and game purposes." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 16.05 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 16.05.794. Regulation of means of access. (a) The Board of Game may 07 not adopt a regulation prohibiting the use of a traditional means of access to assist in 08 taking game unless the prohibition is 09 (1) temporary in nature and effective cumulatively less than eight 10 months in a three-year period; 11 (2) applicable to an area of 640 acres or less of land, water, or land and 12 water; 13 (3) biologically essential for the protection of a game resource or of 14 fish or game habitat;
01 (4) expressly authorized under this title; or 02 (5) authorized by act of the legislature. 03 (b) The Board of Fisheries may not adopt a regulation prohibiting the use of 04 a traditional means of access to assist in taking fish for sport, subsistence, or personal 05 use unless the prohibition is 06 (1) temporary in nature and effective cumulatively less than eight 07 months in a three-year period; 08 (2) applicable to an area of 640 acres or less of land, water, or land and 09 water; 10 (3) biologically essential for the protection of a fishery resource or of 11 fish or game habitat; 12 (4) expressly authorized under this title; or 13 (5) authorized by act of the legislature. 14 (c) A regulation adopted by the Board of Game or Board of Fisheries that 15 prohibits the use of a traditional means of access to assist in the taking of game or fish 16 and that is in effect on the effective date of this Act remains in effect for the period 17 prescribed by the appropriate board or until the regulation is repealed or is amended 18 to eliminate the prohibition. 19 (d) In this section, 20 (1) "biologically essential" means necessary to maintain the historical 21 sustained yield harvest level of a fish stock or game population if traditional 22 management measures, including regulation of time, area, methods, means, bag limits, 23 and similar measures, are not successful in achieving management objectives for the 24 stock or population; 25 (2) "traditional means of access" means those types of transportation 26 in an area for which a popular pattern of use has developed; in this paragraph, "types 27 of transportation" includes flying fixed-wing aircraft, boating, using snow vehicles, 28 operation of all-terrain vehicles, horseback riding, mushing, skiing, snowshoeing, and 29 walking. 30 * Sec. 2. AS 16.20 is amended by adding a new section to read: 31 Article 6. General Provisions.
01 Sec. 16.20.980. Access for traditional uses. (a) The Department of Fish and 02 Game, Board of Game, and Board of Fisheries may not restrict traditional means of 03 access for the purpose of hunting, fishing for sport, subsistence, or personal use, or 04 trapping within a state game refuge, state game or wildlife sanctuary, threatened 05 species habitat preservation area, state range area, or fish and game critical habitat area 06 unless the restriction is 07 (1) temporary in nature and effective cumulatively less than eight 08 months in a three-year period; 09 (2) applicable to an area of 640 acres or less of state land, water, or 10 land and water; 11 (3) biologically essential for the protection of a fish or game resource 12 and a reasonable alternative for the traditional means of access across the land, water, 13 or land and water for traditional outdoor activities on other land, water, or land and 14 water is available; 15 (4) expressly authorized under this chapter; or 16 (5) authorized by act of the legislature. 17 (b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, a regulation of the Board of Fisheries 18 or the Board of Game that restricts the use of a traditional means of access to assist 19 in the taking of fish or game and that is in effect on the effective date of this Act may 20 remain in effect for the period prescribed by the board or until the regulation is 21 repealed or is amended to eliminate the restriction. 22 (c) In this section, 23 (1) "biologically essential" means necessary to maintain the historical 24 sustained yield harvest level of a fish stock or game population if traditional 25 management measures, including regulation of time, area, methods, means, bag limits, 26 and similar measures, are not successful in achieving management objectives for the 27 stock or population; 28 (2) "traditional means of access" means those types of transportation 29 on, to, or in the state land, water, or land and water for which a popular pattern of use 30 has developed; in this paragraph, "types of transportation" includes flying, fixed-wing 31 aircraft, boating, using snow vehicles, operation of all-terrain vehicles, horseback
01 riding, mushing, skiing, snowshoeing, and walking.