Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 124

04/05/2006 01:00 PM House RESOURCES


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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
-- Meeting Postponed to 1:15 PM--
*+ HB 464 WANTON WASTE OF BIG GAME TELECONFERENCED
Heard & Held
+ Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled TELECONFERENCED
+= HB 328 BAN MIXING ZONES IN SPAWNING AREAS TELECONFERENCED
Heard & Held
<Bill Hearing Rescheduled from 04/03/06>
+= HB 386 EXTEND NORTH SLOPE SEVERANCE TAX CREDIT TELECONFERENCED
Moved CSHB 386(O&G) Out of Committee
HB 464-WANTON WASTE OF BIG GAME                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR RAMRAS announced  that the final order  of business would                                                              
be HOUSE BILL NO.  464, "An Act relating to the  possession of the                                                              
edible meat of big game animals."                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  ERIC CROFT, Alaska  State Legislature,  Sponsor of                                                              
HB 464,  said he grew  up hunting and  learned to salvage  as much                                                              
of the  animal as  possible.  He  said most  hunters do  that, but                                                              
some  trophy hunters  don't use  the meat.   There  are laws  with                                                              
strict  penalties  to  deal  with  that,  but  hunting  is  remote                                                              
activity,  and it is  difficult  to catch someone  who is  wasting                                                              
meat.   He said there is  not enough enforcement  as well.   It is                                                              
difficult  in the  Kotzebue  area, and  it  has created  a lot  of                                                              
tension, and the bill came from his visits to these areas.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
2:55:51 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  CROFT  suggesting  using  the antlers  to  enforce                                                              
good  meat salvage  practices, by  confiscating the  trophy if  an                                                              
insufficient  amount of meat  comes out  of the field.   If  it is                                                              
done right, it will  be much easier to enforce.  Instead of having                                                              
a trooper  in  every other  field, one  only needs  to check  when                                                              
hunters come  in from the  field.  The  current wanton  waste laws                                                              
have   a   complicated   series   of   proofs.      Excuses   like                                                              
transportation  problems  and predators  are  difficult to  prove.                                                              
But  it  would be  simple  to  establish  certain standard:  if  a                                                              
hunter  doesn't have  half  the meat,  he or  she  can't have  the                                                              
horns.  He said  it would be difficult to write  a rule that would                                                              
apply  from  Ketchikan  to  Kotzebue.   He  has  provided  varying                                                              
degrees of  specificity, from  requiring a set  amount of  meat to                                                              
allowing the Alaska Board of Game to set salvage requirements.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
2:58:04 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE CROFT  said he wants the board  to make regulations                                                              
where  appropriate.   He said without  the required  meat,  no one                                                              
will need  to hear  any excuses.   He said he  has hunted  all his                                                              
life and only once did a grizzly bear get part of an elk.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:59:03 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE CROFT  spoke of four  hunters coming  into Kivalina                                                              
with 5 antlers  from caribou and  moose, and they had  two medium-                                                              
sized game  bags of meat.   Villagers stopped  them.   The hunters                                                              
obviously didn't  eat it on the  way down, and the  villagers were                                                              
mad.   There was  almost a  fight.   He said  it happens over  and                                                              
over in the  Kotzebue area and elsewhere.   He said he  would like                                                              
a concept  of developing  a concept  of using  the desire  for the                                                              
trophy as a tool for less wanton waste.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
3:00:25 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  LEDOUX asked if  hunters have  to go to  a trooper                                                              
and show the horn or antlers and the meat.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  CROFT said no;  but the Board  of Game  can figure                                                              
out how it will  be done.  The concept is to keep  the antlers and                                                              
the  meat until  arriving  home  to process  the  meat.   He  said                                                              
enforcement could  catch them at  the airport or  anywhere hunters                                                              
were in transport.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX  said there is  a limit of troopers,  so how                                                              
would the hunters get caught?                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE CROFT  said there are  many ways, but  one solution                                                              
would be  to have a trooper  in the Kotzebue airport.   Currently,                                                              
a  trooper would  have to  fly to  the kill  site; it  would  be a                                                              
criminal burden  of proof.  For  true wanton waste, the  state can                                                              
take a  person's plane,  he said.   The bill  will not  weaken the                                                              
protections,  but the times  when it can't  be proved,  the hunter                                                              
will not get the  horns.  He said it is a no-fault  deal.  Maybe a                                                              
grizzly  did get  it, but  the person  will lose  the trophy,  and                                                              
will not be thrown in jail.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
3:03:59 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR SAMUELS  agreed with  the concept.   He said  currently a                                                              
hunter must  salvage the meat and  asked how the law works  now if                                                              
a bear takes  the meat.  He  said he has seen hunters  that didn't                                                              
get picked  up in  Kodiak for  five days  due to  weather and  the                                                              
meat was  spoiled.  He  asked if the  hunters would have  to bring                                                              
in the spoiled meat.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
3:06:13 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE CROFT  said if the meat was bagged and  a bear took                                                              
it, that  would  be a defense  to the  wanton waste  statute.   He                                                              
said exceptions  can make  a rule  unfair.  He  said the  Board of                                                              
Game is struggling  with the regulation of transporters,  and this                                                              
would  be a more  market-based  approach-a conservative  approach.                                                              
"I'm not  going to  over-regulate  you, but if  you bring  hunters                                                              
out without...we  are going  to take their  horns and  we're going                                                              
to put  a list  of transporters  and who's  horn we've  seized..."                                                              
He said transporters  are carrying more than is  allowed, "and you                                                              
could  either mandate  the number  of clients  they could  have or                                                              
you could  simply say  'you better check  on your clients  because                                                              
they're going  to be  really mad  if you leave  them in  the field                                                              
too long and they lose their trophy'".                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:07:31 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
JOE  KLUPSCH, Alaska  Professional Hunters  Association, said,  in                                                              
concept, he  would support any regulation  or action by  the Board                                                              
of  Game to  deal with  wanton  waste.   The  Big Game  Commercial                                                              
Service  Board  has  discussed   reporting  requirements  and  the                                                              
amount  of  meat removed  from  the  field.    The board  has  had                                                              
testimony  from Kotzebue  and other  areas.   He is curious  about                                                              
the  public safety  enforcement  position on  the bill.   He  said                                                              
there are  current regulations that  allow a trooper in  the field                                                              
to  cite  a hunter  for  wanton  waste,  but there  aren't  enough                                                              
troopers.   Wanton waste  has extenuating  circumstances,  but too                                                              
often there  is simply an  excuse to leave  meat.  A  trooper must                                                              
get to  the site in  time because ravens  and bears work  fast, he                                                              
said.   His only potential  reservation is  that a person  without                                                              
meat  is presumed  guilty.   He said he  would like  the board  to                                                              
address  it and  doesn't  like the  legislature  dictating to  the                                                              
board.   He  said everyone  wants to  eliminate deliberate  wanton                                                              
waste, which  is a big problem.   He said his board  is working on                                                              
bringing transporters into the issue.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
[HB 464 was held over]                                                                                                          

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