Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 124
01/23/2006 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Board of Fisheries | |
| Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission | |
| Department of Natural Resources | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
January 23, 2006
01:05 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Jay Ramras, Co-Chair
Representative Carl Gatto
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux
Representative Kurt Olson
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Harry Crawford
Representative Mary Kapsner
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Ralph Samuels, Co-Chair (excused)
Representative Jim Elkins (excused)
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S)
Board of Fisheries
Jeremiah Campbell - Seward
- CONFIRMATION(S) ADVANCED
Chair, Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
Bruce Twomley - Juneau
- CONFIRMATION(S) ADVANCED
Commissioner, Department of Natural Resources
Michael Menge - Juneau
- CONFIRMATION(S) HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to report
WITNESS REGISTER
JEREMIAH CAMPBELL, Appointee
to the Board of Fisheries
Seward, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee.
BRUCE TWOMLEY, Appointee
to the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee.
MICHAEL MENGE, Commissioner
Department of Natural Resources
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CO-CHAIR JAY RAMRAS called the House Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:05:57 PM. Representatives Gatto,
Olson, Seaton, Ramras, Crawford, LeDoux and Kapsner were present
at the call to order. Representative Bill Thomas was also in
attendance. Representative Elkins and Co-Chair Samuels were
excused.
^CONFIRMATION HEARING(S)
^Board of Fisheries
CO-CHAIR RAMRAS announced that the first order of business would
be to consider the appointment of Jeremiah Campbell to the
Alaska Board of Fisheries.
JEREMIAH CAMPBELL, Appointee, Board of Fisheries, said he owns a
sportfishing and sightseeing business and has recently purchased
a commercial fishing tender and plans to participate in
commercial fisheries in Togiak and Bristol Bay. He noted that he
is on the Seward Charter Boat Association and was previously on
the Fish and Game Advisory Committee.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked Mr. Campbell of his knowledge of
Gulf of Alaska groundfish rationalization.
MR. CAMPBELL said he is only "a little bit familiar" with the
issue.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if he has a position on it.
MR. CAMPBELL said he does not have a formal position, but he is
"not a huge fan of rationalization." He said Alaska fisheries
are changing, but stakeholders are looking for stability. He
said that safety is a concern too, but he believes that "once
you go to rationalization...the turnover is just going to be
very, very small," even more so than limited entry. He said he
does not want to see any Alaskan fisheries become investment
fisheries.
1:12:25 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said the state philosophy is that access
to the fisheries is for participating fishermen, and federal
programs give access to vessel owners and investors. He asked
which side Mr. Campbell might take on that issue.
MR. CAMPBELL answered that it is important to have stability for
stakeholders so they can plan their futures. He said there are a
lot of Seattle and foreign interests in the federal fisheries,
and he doesn't want to see that in state waters. "You would
definitely need to be an active participant." He said he doesn't
know how it will shake out with rationalization, but a key
component is dedicated access privilege, where the fishermen are
leasing from the state. He said he doesn't want what happened in
federal fisheries to happen in state waters.
1:15:49 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked Mr. Campbell if stability is better
for the industry than a changing free market system.
MR. CAMPBELL said many fisheries are processor driven, and what
he meant by stability is for fishermen to be sure that they can
sell their fish for a reasonable price and make a good living.
He said there are a lot of permit holders who would love to fish
in some of the salmon fisheries, but the processors won't take
on any more fishermen.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO said he heard that Ford Motor Company laid
off workers, and the company would like the stability of people
always buying its cars, but that may not happen in a free
market. He asked Mr. Campbell about reserving the resource for
people who are already participating and not allowing new users.
MR. CAMPBELL said as a charter boat owner he can relate to what
Representative Gatto said. There has to be room for growth and
for other people. He said his concern with an investment fishery
is the lack of opportunity for new Alaskans, including "my
children, your children." He added, "You have to have stability
but there has to be room in all of the fisheries programs to
allow for new entrants."
1:19:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked Mr. Campbell if he is familiar with
the issue of mixing zones.
MR. CAMPBELL said he has read a lot about it, and he knows it is
a hot topic. He said the state stresses the quality of the
resource, "but suddenly we have this mixing zone issue...putting
a lot of our quality issues in jeopardy."
1:20:56 PM
MR. CAMPBELL concluded that he is learning, and he looks forward
to serving all the interests of all the user groups. He said it
ultimately comes down to protecting the resource and keeping
things balanced.
1:22:03 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON moved to advance the name of Jeremiah
Campbell for confirmation. Hearing no objection, it was so
ordered.
^Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
CO-CHAIR RAMRAS announced that the next order of business would
be to consider the appointment of Bruce Twomley for Chair of the
Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission.
BRUCE TWOMLEY, Chair, Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry
Commission, said he was first appointed to the commission by
Governor Jay Hammond in 1982, and he has been reappointed by
governors elected under three political parties. He said he used
to sue Alaska for a living as a lawyer with Alaska Legal
Services. That gave him a good sense of being on the receiving
end of agency actions, he noted, but it also helped him learn
how to keep the agencies out of trouble. Mr. Twomley said his
job is challenging because it is a difficult area of law. The
limited entry law has been called arcane, he noted.
MR. TWOMLEY said the primary duty of the commission is limiting
entry into fisheries when doing so would help prevent economic
distress among fishermen and help promote the conservation of
the fisheries. He said he has to determine a maximum number for
a fishery, which would be the highest number of units of gear in
one of the four years prior to limitation. That is the target
number for the commission, but lots of people come and go, so
when the commission limits a fishery, there are many more
applicants for the limited opportunities. The statute directs
the commission to rank the applicants by the level of their
dependency on the fishery. It is a heavily legal progress, he
noted. Many rejected applicants get evidentiary hearings, and
some of them then go before the commissioners who are all
administrative law judges. If the applicants are not happy with
the commissioners' decision, they can take the case to court.
1:27:10 PM
MR. TWOMLEY said there are 68 fisheries under limitation, and
the commission has a duty to limit entrants when there is a
basis for doing so. There are 75 supreme court cases addressing
limited entry, he added.
1:28:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX noted that Mr. Twomley visited Kodiak and
asked how he would look at rationalization now.
MR. TWOMLEY said the visit to Kodiak dealt with SB 113, but the
commission has always tried to operate where "we actually have
real live fishermen come to us seeking something. If we can do
it under the limited entry program...we would try to do what we
could; if it's something that required legislation, we would try
to facilitate those real live fishermen going to their
legislators." He said his experience in Kodiak chilled him on
the idea of dealing with task forces instead of fishermen. He
stressed that limitations come from fishermen petitioning the
commission.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if Gulf of Alaska groundfish
problems can be solved through traditional limited entry instead
of rationalization as defined by the federal government.
1:30:54 PM
MR. TWOMLEY said each fishery is different. There may be
fisheries that would be well served by a license limitation
system within the Gulf of Alaska, but, he said, that system was
designed for salmon fisheries and works less well in quota
fisheries. The state should consider some form of individually
assigned shares to help manage a quota fishery, he stated. It
doesn't have to be the same as the federal system, "and it can't
be, because we've got a constitutional provision that makes it
clear that if we're going to do limited entry in any form,
you've got to be serving conservation and you've got to be
benefiting real live fishermen." For fisheries managed by quota,
like the Gulf of Alaska, he recommends the additional tool.
1:33:05 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked him to explain "some sort of a quota
system."
MR. TWOMLEY said, "It would be the ability to limit entry, and
you have a fishery managed by one overall quota, if the state
could have the power to assign shares of that quota to
individual participants, according to their past participation
so that the shares related to past participation." In the
federal system, some shares automatically go to vessel owners or
investors, but in Alaska the constitution requires participant
fishermen to get shares. "You might be able to find, create, an
opportunity for vessel owners as well, but I think that,
clearly, the system would have to be directed to the benefit of
individual participants if it were going to meet the standards
set in the Alaska constitution and survive any legal
challenges."
1:34:47 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked about the fate of parallel fishermen
if the resource goes to the people on the vessels. "The people
who have been fishing in the federal fishery, but they've been
fishing in state waters during that federal fishery. And so, if
the state gave the IFQ [individual fishery quota] based upon who
was actually fishing on the boat, and then the Feds gave the IFQ
based upon who owned the boat, then you've got a class of
parallel fishermen who thought that they were fishing in a
federal fishery, who are going to end up, maybe, actually, with
nothing."
MR. TWOMLEY said the state has managed the parallel fishery and
if the state were to set up limitations through legislation, the
state would be constitutionally required to benefit the
fishermen and not exclude anybody. No one should be a "complete
loser," he added. He said it should be possible to craft a
program where people take shares out of a fishery that represent
the shares they now take. There are owners, operators and crew
currently taking shares, and it ought to be possible to
construct a program where "everyone can share in roughly the
fashion they're sharing now." The program would need to make
sure that fishermen are the primary beneficiaries, he noted.
1:37:47 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked about someone inheriting a commercial
fishing vessel, and asked if it was Mr. Twomley's job to protect
the "existing fishermen" and prevent any new entrants to a
fishery.
1:38:27 PM
MR. TWOMLEY said there is another constitutional dimension to
limited entry which prevents a closed-class system. "People have
to be able to come and go. You have to preserve entry-level
opportunities in a fishery." Transferability of the privileges
needs to be protected, and the commission has a duty to put more
"permits into the water" if a fishery becomes too exclusive.
1:39:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS said he came to the meeting because the
previous witness "made some comments I didn't agree with." He
told Mr. Twomley that [the commission] has never increased
permits in two fisheries that Representative Thomas thinks are
lucrative, "and that's Sitka sac roe herring fishery and the
Chatham Strait permit, which are in excess of $400,000 in value,
and one is $250,000." He said he was in a gillnet fishery and
"the permits went to 15,000," and he has seen that happening
around the state. He asked Mr. Twomley why there hasn't been an
increase in permits in those two lucrative fisheries.
MR. TWOMLEY said the commission has not found the need to do
that yet, but it has addressed the issue. He said with Chatham
Strait black cod, the commission decided on an optimum number,
and that decision was upheld by the supreme court in the Simpson
case. "Granted, that's a profitable fishery, but our optimum
number decision was supported by some very strong testimony of
the manager of the fishery, who said that for the sake of being
able to manage the fishery and to be able to conserve the
resource, that is was critical that we contain the numbers
within the limits of the optimum number decision we finally
made." If there had been no compelling conservation interest the
results would probably have been different, he added.
1:41:58 PM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS said the black cod fishery has a 25,000-
pound quota, and if there are 50 boats and black cod sells for
three dollars a pound, that provides $75,000 per vessel. He said
it is a "side" fishery, and it could be reduced to 15,000 pounds
per boat to allow more people to participate. He said a "true"
commercial fisherman has more than one permit, reducing the
impact of the loss of income to each boat currently in the
fishery. "I think [the current limits are] wrong," he stated.
1:43:15 PM
MR. TWOMLEY said the fishery is managed by overall quota, and
the commission tried to apply the license limitation system, and
it failed. It reached a point where the manager "was afraid to
open the fishery because it was too much amassed fishing power.
She was afraid she was not going to be able to contain the catch
and conserve the resource." The manager prevailed on the Board
of Fish to divide the fishery up into equal shares, which has
allowed this fishery to open when it wouldn't otherwise do so,
he stated. The shares are assigned by the season, and everybody
gets an equal share of the harvest, he said. But there is still
a race for the fishery. "The manager was running scared. There
was some difficulty containing the catch, especially bycatch."
He said the big purpose under the constitution is conserving the
resource and preventing economic distress to fishermen, so "we
thought we had a duty to do that."
1:45:10 PM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS said there were talks about transferring a
limited entry system in the shrimp fisheries to an IFQ system.
He said he opposes it. He noted that he has a shrimp permit, but
he doesn't fish all year round with it. He said, "What they were
trying to do is take a limited entry permit and turn it into an
IFQ system that benefits the long term fishermen, not the
recreational, commercial" fisherman. He asked if anyone has come
to the commission regarding that issue.
1:46:00 PM
MR. TWOMLEY said some of the participants recruited the
commission to participate in discussions with the shrimp task
force. He said there are individuals in the fishery who would
like to see that change, but the time might not be right.
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS said, "I would say so. I think when you
buy an open-access permit, you were talking about earlier, then
close the door on people..." He explained that if he retires and
gives someone his permit that he just paid $30,000 for, that
person would not be able to fish because "he doesn't have any
quota of his own."
1:47:06 PM
CO-CHAIR RAMRAS asked about the future of the resource.
MR. TWOMLEY said the big element is world competition. To help
fishermen compete, the commission has looked at options for
fleet reduction of Alaskan fisheries to make each opportunity
more lucrative. He said the commission has limited tools, and he
is counting on the resourcefulness of fishermen and the virtue
of the wild salmon product, which should be able to compete on
the world market. Another big issue will be the Gulf of Alaska
fisheries, and he recommends using the additional tool of
assigned shares. In assigning shares there are ways of taking
into account past participants and new entrants, he said.
1:50:30 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if Mr. Twomley would support a
rationalization program in the Gulf of Alaska that treated
different fisheries differently.
MR. TWOMLEY said the commission looks at individual fisheries to
see what their needs are. He said, for example, if the jig
fishery could go on happily without economic distress or
conservation problems, the commission would not apply limited
entry. But if that fishery is a concern because of spillover
effects from limiting at the federal level, the answer may be a
license limitation instead of a share system. He said some
fishery definitions have not been created.
1:53:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if there may be spillover effect
between state and federal fisheries, and if Mr. Twomley would
"consider rationalizing certain state fisheries without
analyzing the spillover effect that you would have on the other
state fisheries from rationalizing that one."
MR. TWOMLEY said all those factors would be considered.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said there is a vessel license system for
Korean hair crab and scallops. The crab program is not open, and
there are only four vessels harvesting all the scallops in the
state. "At what point does this...few number of vessels
harvesting an entire resource of the state, become such that you
would say that you need to expand the number of licenses?" He
said that the state restricted the harvest to only four vessels,
but because there is no owner-on-board provision, one vessel can
harvest many vessels' quota. "At what point does that become a
constitutional problem?" he asked.
1:55:25 PM
MR. TWOMLEY answered that it is a problem at the point at which
someone can demonstrate that it is not benefiting fishermen and
is harming conservation.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked about changes that need to be made
with the limited entry law or the moratorium implementation.
MR. TWOMLEY said there has been consideration of a temporary
moratorium to protect the resource prior to studying a problem
and enacting legislation. He also promoted the ability to assign
individual shares in a fishery managed by quota.
1:57:29 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON noted that "when the scallop and Korean
hair crab proposal went forward, there was an analysis that the
number of vessels would constrain the fisheries better, and yet
if we look at the numbers by just requiring two years of
participation, you had almost the same--in fact it was a couple
of fewer permits that would have been issued--you would have
required that...for a person to get a permit they would have
just had to participate two years in the fishery. Do you have
the authority to do that?" He asked, "What were the reasons for
not having two years of participation to establish hardship?"
1:58:27 PM
MR. TWOMLEY said there is some indication that the commission
should try to consider at least four years, but that is a
guideline. He stated it wasn't the primary reason "we went the
way we did." He said there are many more applicants than places
to fill. He said the legislature established vessel limitation
systems in the hair crab and scallop fisheries in part because
it served conservation. He said the hair crab fishery is a good
example because it can't be open despite having a license
limitation in place, "and that was exactly the fear. The notion
was that if you couldn't limit the number of units of gear from
the outset, there would be too much fishing pressure and the
fishery would close. Which is exactly what happened." He said
the commission was persuaded to go with the vessel limitation
system because that was the one tool it had. He continued, "If
you went with people, you have this whole array of applicants
who had to be ranked. Everyone of those applicants could jump on
a new vessel, and you would see more fishing pressure in the
fishery than you had ever seen." He said he did not like vessel
limitation because it is messy and may not protect participants.
"If you had the ability to assign individual shares based on
past participation, you wouldn't need to mess with vessels," and
he added that each person would have their own limit.
2:01:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said the federal Fishing Vessel Safety Act
requires a signed agreement for the distribution of shares for
any large fishing boat prior to leaving the dock. He asked Mr.
Twomley if the state needs a similar requirement.
MR. TWOMLEY said that would fill a void in information and be
helpful to the commission.
2:02:34 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER noted that Mr. Twomley wrote a paper
about keeping Alaska limited entry permits in local rural
communities. She said there has been a significant out-migration
of permits and wondered what the problem is. The legislature has
instituted low interest loans and other measures to help
fishermen keep their permits, but "what else can we do?"
MR. TWOMLEY said the commission has advocated the same thing and
that the legislature has provide some good tools, but the best
tool is the guaranteed loan program within the Alaska Division
of Investments. Local groups can help put forward deserving
applicants, people who they know can perform, he said, and he is
unhappy that very few people have taken advantage of it.
2:05:34 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO said after looking at Alaska Public Offices
Commission reports, he determined that the limited entry
commission seems to favor one particular political group over
another. He said he is concerned about entrenched people not
giving sufficient regard to opposing views. He expressed concern
that people who want to compete on a level playing field can't,
and that the state is reserving privileges to a very few who are
getting very rich. He said both sides should be heard.
2:08:19 PM
MR. TWOMLEY asked if Representative Gatto was speaking to the
dividing line between those who support limited entry and those
who do not.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO said that would be one. He said the
government makes people rich by passing legislation making
restrictions on competition. He noted that Mr. Twomley has been
in his position a long time, and "you certainly have made a
great deal of friends who are making their living and need you
to help them."
2:09:57 PM
MR. TWOMLEY said that message is well taken, and the commission
does not have a stake in creating entrenched interest or wealthy
fishermen. The constitution is strict and reinforces what
Representative Gatto is saying, he added.
2:10:46 PM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS said limited entry caused the Lynn Canal
fleet to grow from 20 to 50 or 60 vessels. "We had people who
hadn't fished for several years selling and buying permits for
nothing, and the active fleet got the shaft because all of a
sudden there were more permits issued than actual people fishing
for several years. At the same time, I halibut fished when it
was open access, starting in 1975, and when they went to IFQs I
got the shaft on the other end because the bigger
boats...displaced the guys who had been fishing longer. So I
went from 50-60,000 pounds of halibut" to 13,000. "It has it
merits," he said, but it doesn't always work.
2:13:37 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON moved to advance the name of Bruce Twomley
for confirmation. Hearing no objection, it was so ordered.
2:14:19 PM
^Department of Natural Resources
CO-CHAIR RAMRAS announced that the final order of business would
be to consider the appointment of Michael Menge for the
Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources.
2:15:32 PM
MICHAEL MENGE, Commissioner Appointee, Department of Natural
Resources (DNR), said he was raised on a cattle ranch and has a
degree in geology. He noted that he has respect for working
people. His first job out of geology school was on an oilrig in
the Gulf Coast, and he stated that lease owners are entitled to
a fair share of proceeds. He worked for the United States
Geological Survey (USGS) on coal exploration, delineating
federal coal reserves in Wyoming and Montana. He noted that he
came to Alaska in 1980 with the USGS to map coal reserves, and
he worked well with the state. He said the federal government
and the state need to work together or developers will suffer.
2:21:11 PM
COMMISSIONER MENGE said he then worked on the first lease sales
on the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). Congress
passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, and
so he went to work for the Bureau of Land Management on the 10-
02 area of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. He said
Representative George Miller worked him up and down during a
Congressional hearing, and then Congressman Miller told him not
to take it personally. He said he learned that everyone is
important and deserves respect.
COMMISSIONER MENGE said he started working at the Trans-Alaska
Pipeline System and put together the joint monitoring program.
He stressed that it is a powerful tool when federal and state
workers work together. He spoke of the Exxon Valdez oil spill
and said he learned the valuable lesson of being prepared for
the unexpected.
COMMISSIONER MENGE said Governor Hickel offered him the job of
the Director of Environment Quality under the Department of
Environmental Conservation. He worked on revisions to state
water quality regulations and the air quality program where he
learned to bring everyone along. The best ideas need consensus
building and communications, he stressed. When Governor Hickel
left, Mr. Menge left the state, and then Senator Frank Murkowski
hired him a year later to work on the Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee. He said he appreciates the role of the
legislative branch.
2:34:02 PM
COMMISSIONER MENGE said he will work on concerns of individual
members. He noted that the mission of DNR is to develop,
conserve and maximize the use of Alaska's natural resources
consistent with the public interest. He said that tells him that
DNR has a huge responsibility on land resources and has a large
role in sea resources. He said he is guided by these tenets:
accountability, accessibility, efficiency and partnerships. He
said he is accountable to the people, politicians and his own
conscience. He said his department will be accessible 24 hours
each day, and he tries to answer every phone call by the end of
the day. He stated that it is DNR's duty to stretch every dollar
from the legislature into "a buck and a half."
2:37:46 PM
COMMISSIONER MENGE said the budget process is healthy, and he
supports defending expenditures to the legislature. He pointed
out the importance of partnerships between the private sector
and government.
COMMISSIONER MENGE mentioned three programs that are the heart
of DNR: large projects, coastal zone consistency and habitat.
The world has gotten complex and to get permits an entity runs
into a miasma, he opined. Small projects can be infuriating, he
said, and it is orders of magnitude more frustrating for large
projects. Anyone going through the regulatory process needs
help, and he said DNR will carry out that role without cutting
anyone a "sweetheart deal."
COMMISSIONER MENGE noted that the gasline is the "800 pound
gorilla." He was one of the principle drafters of the federal
gasline statutes. The Alaska gasline will be the biggest job in
his career. When the contract is presented to the legislature,
it will not be simple or easily understood, he said, and "we
will have to work you through the pathway of how we got to where
we got." He said his goal is to explain the process to the
legislature. He stated that oil and gas are the cash register in
the state, and DNR does hundreds of approvals, permits and
actions daily to facilitate ongoing operations. He noted that
DNR will not forget its underlining responsibilities. He said
DNR is doing everything it can to bring new explorers to Alaska.
Opening new basins is very important, and there are new basins
"that we can get into, and we will work diligently to try and do
that."
COMMISSIONER MENGE said, "It's also about getting land from the
federal government--fulfilling the statehood compact. It's
putting land into the hands of the boroughs so they can build a
sustainable tax base." Alaska has a fraction of land ownership
in private hands, he added. Mining is the most permit intensive,
represents the most impact to the environment, has huge
financial benefit to the developers and to the state, and is
very emotional. He told the committee that he worked on the AJ
Mine project in Juneau which did not work well, and on a
Colville project that did work well. The right way always
involves consensus between all agencies and the communities, and
you can't run over the top of local individuals, he said.
2:45:42 PM
COMMISSIONER MENGE said it used to be that geologists and
operators would begin a project and then think about hiring an
environmental engineer. "That doesn't work anymore," he said.
Environmental folks need to show up at day one, he said, and DNR
will continue to foster that. He noted that State Parks have not
had a strategic plan since 1971, and they are floundering and
have lost their vision. "We love our parks," he said, and they
need to be protected. A strategic plan will let park managers
understand what is expected of them. The plan will be born of
public meetings across the state, he stated. Forestry is all
about getting ready for the fire seasons, he said, and climate
change has had a traumatic effect on Alaska's firefighting with
longer, hotter seasons and more lightning. He noted the problem
of increased development in fire-prone areas, so the state needs
to provide more education.
COMMISSIONER MENGE pointed out geological maps and said Alaska
has huge mineral potential. He said individuals or small
companies are the first to find minerals, so DNR has "seed
programs," like flying aeromagnetic and geophysical surveys,
which provides free information to the public. He stated that
the state gets the money back in the long run.
2:50:43 PM
CO-CHAIR RAMRAS said he has many questions for Mr. Menge and
will continue the hearing on January 25, 2006.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Resources Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 2:52 PM.
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