05/09/2007 04:00 PM Senate RESOURCES

            HB 165-BIG GAME GUIDES AND TRANSPORTERS                                                                         
                                                                                                                              
4:23:39 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR HUGGINS announced HB 165 to be up for consideration.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE GABRIELLE LEDOUX, sponsor of  HB 165, said that it                                                               
rights an inadvertent wrong and  promotes economic development in                                                               
rural  areas.   It  is   an  act   related  to   providing  field                                                               
accommodations for big game hunters.  She explained in 1996, much                                                               
needed  legislation was  enacted  to  define who  is  a big  game                                                               
hunter, outfitter, or transporter  and to provide regulations for                                                               
licensing  and  other  considerations.   However,  there  was  no                                                               
provision for  the person  who merely  wants to  rent his  or her                                                               
cabin to  people who may  or may not  be hunting. Many  people in                                                               
rural  Alaska have  extra cabins  or whose  cabins are  empty for                                                               
part of the year.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX reminded them that  it is very difficult to                                                               
generate economic development  in rural areas and  this bill will                                                               
enable those people  to provide a service and make  little bit of                                                               
additional  money.  She  said  that   members  of  the  Big  Game                                                               
Commercial Services  Board have worked  with her office  in order                                                               
to craft a bill that  will protect their interests while allowing                                                               
others to do business.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
SUZANNE  HANCOCK, staff  to Representative  LeDoux, said  she was                                                               
available to answer questions.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
4:26:03 PM                                                                                                                    
BOBBY  FITHIAN, Executive  Director, Alaska  Professional Hunters                                                               
Association, supported  HB 165, which  fills a void  in statutory                                                               
language  that  relates  to legitimate  use  of  privately  owned                                                               
lodges, houses or cabins.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
4:27:05 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  HUGGINS asked  how professional  hunters have  operated in                                                               
the last couple of years without this bill.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MR.  FITHIAN replied  that the  people  who asked  Representative                                                               
LeDoux to  address this issue  have had a real  serious challenge                                                               
in  dealing with  the Division  of  Public Safety,  the Big  Game                                                               
Commercial  Services  Board,  and  with agencies  that  own  land                                                               
around their  private properties  in trying to  get the  right to                                                               
rent  their privately-owned  cabins to  big game  hunters in  the                                                               
field.  He  explained that  defining  the  laws, regulations  and                                                               
statutes pertaining  to who  can supply or  provide what  kind of                                                               
services to  big game hunters in  the field has been  complex and                                                               
challenging and  a loophole was  found that didn't  address these                                                               
cabins.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR HUGGINS asked who is doing the challenging.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MR. FITHIAN replied  that mainly the Department  of Public Safety                                                               
has been  trying to  figure out how  to address  private property                                                               
holders, because current regulations  and statutes forbid renting                                                               
of privately-owned cabins to big  game hunters. This bill address                                                               
only cabins on private land, not on public land.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
4:31:16 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR MCGUIRE said she was concerned about over-regulation and                                                                
unintended consequences. She asked if this covered cases where                                                                  
an individual owns a private cabin on public land.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX replied that those situations are not                                                                     
accommodated in this bill, which is only about private property.                                                                
She noted that this bill has a further Judiciary referral.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR HUGGINS thanked everyone for their testimony and said HB
 would be held in committee.