03/11/2014 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS

                 HCR 24-SUPPORTING DOG MUSHING                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
8:06:31 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK announced that the  first order of business would                                                               
be  HOUSE CONCURRENT  RESOLUTION NO.  24, Recognizing,  honoring,                                                               
supporting,  and  encouraging support  for  dog  mushing and  dog                                                               
mushers in the state.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
8:07:41 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
JESSIE MILLER,  Staff, Representative  Neal Foster,  Alaska State                                                               
Legislature, provided the following testimony:                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
     With the  first musher  of the  Iditarod Dog  Sled Race                                                                    
     into Nome just  a few hours ago, it is  fitting that we                                                                    
     present this  resolution.  Dog mushing  is the official                                                                    
     sport of  our state.   Dog mushing helped to  save many                                                                    
     lives during  the diphtheria epidemic of  1925 in Nome.                                                                    
     Dog  mushing  brings  thousands  of  Alaskans  together                                                                    
     every year to volunteer for  various races, to cheer on                                                                    
     its  mushers, and  to welcome  the many  more who  come                                                                    
     from  out-of-state.   We  would  ask  the committee  to                                                                    
     support HCR  24 and  recognize [the  sport] as  a past,                                                                    
     present, and future culture of our state.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
8:08:50 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
DIANA HAECKER  stated that she  is married to  four-time Iditarod                                                               
finisher,  Nils Hahn,  and is  the  mother of  a budding  musher,                                                               
Lizzy Hahn,  who is nine  years old.  She  related that she  is a                                                               
reporter for the Nome Nugget and  a musher.  Four hours ago, Nome                                                               
greeted the  2014 Iditarod  champion under  the burled  arch, and                                                               
even though she  has photographed every winner since  2003 and is                                                               
an avid musher,  she always chokes up when the  mushers arrive in                                                               
Nome.  These events epitomize the  allure of Alaska, the dream of                                                               
the north,  and the greatness of  its people, she said,  and what                                                               
these  mushers endure  captures  the essence  of  legends.   This                                                               
resolution will help preserve the  joy of mushing and its culture                                                               
so her  daughter and  future generations will  have the  right to                                                               
mush in  this great  state.  The  organizations that  have passed                                                               
this resolution  in the  last six months  include the  Willow Dog                                                               
Mushers Association, the Willow  Area Community Organization, the                                                               
Pioneer  Igloo  Number 1  in  Nome,  the  Nome Kennel  Club,  the                                                               
Association of  Village Presidents,  and the  entire body  of the                                                               
Alaska  Federation of  Natives.   She thanked  members for  their                                                               
consideration  and  said that  she  wishes  she could  adequately                                                               
convey the joy and beauty that  dog mushing brings to Alaska.  In                                                               
response to  a question,  she stated that  Dallas Seavey  won the                                                               
race today.  She related  that musher Jeff King scratched because                                                               
the winds were so horrendous.   It puts people in fear every time                                                               
the  wind starts  howling, and  these  world-class athletes  just                                                               
endured  these winds,  she stated.   She  added that  Aliy Zirkle                                                               
came  in  second,  two  minutes  after  Dallas  Seavey,  and  she                                                               
believes that Mitch Seavey arrived just a minute ago.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD thanked  her for her passion  and love of                                                               
the sport.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
8:12:46 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK closed public testimony on HCR 24.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  LEDOUX moved  to report  HCR 24  out of  committee with                                                               
individual  recommendations  and  the accompanying  fiscal  note.                                                               
[Hearing  no  objections, HCR  24  was  reported from  the  House                                                               
Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee.]