Legislature(2015 - 2016)BUTROVICH 205
03/02/2015 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing: Alaska Department of Fish and Game (adf&g) Commissioner, Sam Cotten | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
March 2, 2015
3:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Cathy Giessel, Chair
Senator Mia Costello, Vice Chair
Senator John Coghill
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Bill Stoltze
Senator Bill Wielechowski
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Bert Stedman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARING
Commissioner-Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Sam Cotten
- CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
SAM COTTEN, Commissioner-Designee
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Commissioner-Designee for the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G).
OLIVER HOLM, representing himself
Kodiak, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Sam Cotten's appointment as
commissioner for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G).
PAUL SHADURA, II
South Kalifornsky Beach Independent Fishermen's Association
Kasilof, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Sam Cotten's appointment as
commissioner for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G).
GEORGE MILNE
North Pacific Fisheries Association
Homer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Unanimously supported Sam Cotten's
appointment as ADF&G commissioner.
JEFF FARVOUR
Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association
Sitka, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Whole-heartedly supported Sam Cotten's
appointment as Commissioner of ADF&G.
RICHARD DAVIS
Seafood Producers Cooperative
Sitka, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Strongly supported Sam Cotten's appointment
as Commissioner of ADF&G.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:30:19 PM
CHAIR CATHY GIESSEL called the Senate Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Stoltze, Costello, Micciche and Chair
Giessel.
3:30:46 PM
^Confirmation Hearing: Alaska Department of Fish and Game
(ADF&G) Commissioner, Sam Cotten
Confirmation Hearing: Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G)
Commissioner, Sam Cotten
3:30:51 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL announced the confirmation hearing for Sam Cotten,
commissioner designee for Alaska Department of Fish and Game
(ADF&G).
3:30:58 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI joined the committee.
SENATOR COGHILL joined the committee.
CHAIR GIESSEL welcomed Mr. Cotten to the table.
3:31:50 PM
SAM COTTEN, Commissioner-Designee, Alaska Department of Fish and
Game (ADF&G), Juneau, Alaska, said he was excited about the
opportunity of heading the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
He was born and raised in Alaska and except for a couple of
stints in Viet Nam he has lived his entire life here. He brings
a balanced approach to this job with a lot of hands-on
background at hunting and fishing, as a sportsman, as a personal
use fisherman and as a commercial fisherman. He also has a
background in fisheries management having been a member of the
North Pacific Fisheries Management Council that manages
fisheries from 3 to 200 miles off Alaska's coast. In addition,
he spent many years serving in the legislative branch of
government and has a good appreciation for it does.
He said the department has a huge responsibility to a lot of
people in this state and he is taking that very seriously. His
goals include doing an outstanding job of managing and
protecting the state's fish and game resources. The better
information they have and the better science they have the
better job they are able to do of providing access to the fish
and game resources.
His other priorities include work on Chinook salmon research to
find out why historical runs are not returning. Another goal is
to try and diffuse some of the polarization among fisheries user
groups by making as many decisions as possible in the open so
people can understand how and why those decisions were made. He
has already been doing some of that in meeting with different
interest groups around the state on issues they feel
passionately about.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said he is hoping to have better success
working with federal agencies and has already had some success,
at least, with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). He
said he is hoping to establish a sustainable budget for the
department.
3:35:34 PM
SENATOR STOLTZE asked if he could recall some of the folks he
voted against for major appointments when he was in the
legislature and what went into his thinking when he decided not
to give the governor deference.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that he couldn't remember how many
he had voted against, but it was a few.
3:37:10 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL said that the federal government is putting forth
the concept of ocean zoning and is expressing a great deal of
concern about ocean acidification and climate change. It is
conceivable they could use that theory to actually regulate the
harvest of salmon that spend much of their life out in the
ocean. Then, they would take control of the state's harvests.
This may seem like a long way off, but they seem to be moving
quickly in usurping Alaskans' access to resource and she asked
how he would balance this approach with management of the
state's fisheries.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN responded that the state has an opportunity,
as a working majority on the North Pacific Fisheries Management
Council, and often interfaces with the National Marine Fisheries
Services on issues like ocean zoning, and he didn't think there
was a serious threat or even an interest on the part of the U.S.
government to get involved with salmon management. But other
issues in ocean zoning could affect Alaska like the recent case
with Steller sea lion mitigation measures that closed a lot of
areas to fishing.
He explained that ocean zoning is a federal initiative that
Alaskans can express their views on and the Council (including
Oregon and Washington) has been regularly against it.
CHAIR GIESSEL asked where he comes down in terms of technique -
lawsuit or talking - on pushing back on any of the designations.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that he evaluates issues on a case
by case basis. Sometimes going to court is the only option, but
other efforts have had varying degrees of success, too. The
North Pacific Fisheries Management Council has a direct
relationship with at least one federal agency, the National
Marine Fisheries Service (within the Department of Commerce's
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)). So,
they have had some success in avoiding lawsuits by working
closely with them, presenting alternative ideas, joining with
them on committees that study different things like sea lions.
His approach would be to try to exhaust possible successes in
those areas, but in the case of the sea lions, the state had to
go to court.
3:40:57 PM
SENATOR COGHILL said sometimes two federal agencies don't agree
with each other on how things should be done and that the state
has a lot of memorandums of understanding (MOU) with the federal
government and that maybe he could explore using more MOUs.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that he hadn't done that, but it
sounds like it might be a fairly effective tool. It makes sense.
SENATOR COGHILL said the state may be at the table, but the feds
are working around us on the Endangered Species and Marine
Mammal Protection Act issues.
3:43:21 PM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN agreed and said the state might have to go
back to court over a couple of ice seal species in the Arctic.
He is in internal discussions now on the next step; they are not
missing any deadlines and are well aware of the situation. The
premise that the NMFS and USFWS are using is that climate change
is going to eventually (a 100-year horizon) destroy their
habitat (ice) and therefore, they should be put on the
Endangered Species List and mitigation measures be considered
for them.
SENATOR COGHILL said his office watches what the federal
government is doing in coming into state waters so the state can
at least comment. He asked if the commissioner had had a chance
to look at what that means to Alaska's fisheries.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN answered that an extra territorial
jurisdiction (ETJ) effort has never been done in Alaska, but now
one is pending in Southeast Alaska for Chatham Straits that
suggests the federal government ought to take over management of
fisheries in that area to protect subsistence use. The issue is
actually in front of the Board of Fisheries in Sitka, but it is
getting worked out. Alaska doesn't need help in managing its
fisheries in its own waters, he said.
SENATOR COGHILL said he is "a kid from the Tanana River" and is
tied to the Yukon where fish in general, especially Chinook,
have been hard to come by, and while raising Chinook as a stock
is more difficult, the hatchery up there could possibly be used
for that. He asked if anything in his thinking could enhance
salmon runs in the upper parts of the Yukon/Tanana River.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that the Fairbanks hatchery is
capable of producing Chinook salmon, and he has responded to
folks with information on that subject, but it comes down to
having the money to do it. You have to decide what kind of
investment you want to make for the return that is expected, and
part of the expense is identifying those fish and determining
how successful programs have been.
SENATOR COGHILL said they had done some studies on those stocks
and asked if they are tagging fish or just counting them.
3:48:23 PM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN answered there had been several different
efforts; one is "mark and recapture" that tags a fish and later
catches it and figures out information from that and they can
count fish with weirs located in several different places. That
is a big part of the management effort and it has been happening
for some time.
SENATOR MICCICHE said after the fire of 1969 game is becoming
increasingly scarce in his district and asked how he felt about
a systematic plan for creating habitat on state lands.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that intensive management statutes
allow for habitat manipulation, but then it becomes a budget
issue and there are probably a lot of other considerations. He
was at that fire and would be glad to work with him and his
staff on specific efforts.
SENATOR MICCICHE said he was coupling two concerns: one is
public safety and the other is habitat. He asked if the "Sam
Cotten leadership team" would be willing to look at the area
north of the highway wearing both sets of glasses. It's not
something that has been done aggressively in the last 20 years
or so.
3:51:44 PM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN answered that he didn't have any specific
plans at the moment. He thought there would be a lot of public
interest if they moved ahead with things like controlled burns.
He was sensitive to the fact that moose numbers on the Peninsula
are drastically down.
3:52:35 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said his district in East Anchorage and
JBER has a lot of sport fishermen and dip netters and the
closest place for them to go is the Mat-Su drainage. But many
people take the drive down to Kenai to fish and there are
increasing concerns over the availability of sport fish and
kings in the Kenai. A lot of different things have been tried
over the years and he asked what efforts the department is
undertaking to ensure strong returns to those areas.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said everyone likes to promise more fish,
and the Board of Fisheries put a new management structure in
place this summer and there were good coho returns. But one year
doesn't tell the whole story. He hopes to continue seeing
success in the Valley, but the Habitat Division is looking at
ways to improve habitat and other agencies are involved in
restoration activities like culvert removal and pike
eradication. He welcomes ideas on improving Mat-Su fish returns.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he had heard anything about
changing the Cook Inlet management structure from the Board of
Fisheries.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that he hadn't heard that, but they
are on a three-year cycle. If the Board were take it up out of
cycle and make some changes that would be a big surprise to him.
3:55:36 PM
SENATOR STOLTZE asked him to explain the structure for fish and
game management in this administration and who he gets his
marching orders from.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN responded that the constitution and the
statutes prescribe a lot of his marching orders. Previous
administrations have had a designated person on the Third Floor
that would interface with the governor on fisheries issues and
those folks have had different levels of participation over the
years. This year the governor cut his budget significantly and
although Lieutenant Governor Mallott has some interest in
fisheries issues, he isn't taking an active role in day-to-day
management. He is heading up a task force on trans-boundary
river issues because of concerns about Canadian mines on rivers
that flow into Alaska.
SENATOR STOLTZE said he heard there is a conscious effort to
realign commercial fishermen as the majority of members.
3:59:53 PM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said he hadn't been informed that there is a
policy to skew the board in any way. The governor is just
looking for good people who will do a good job.
SENATOR STOLTZE asked if it would be improper to change the
balance.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN responded that he would have a chance to
decide on whoever the governor appoints.
SENATOR COGHILL said hunting in his area in the Interior gets
pretty interesting because there are a variety of different
rules and some of the enforcement can get pretty tough based on
some subjective things; people are advised to take a GPS and a
lawyer hunting with them. He asked how that situation could be
smoothed out a little bit.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN responded that he was reluctant to say too
much, but he hoped public safety personnel would use common
sense.
4:03:24 PM
SENATOR COGHILL said that is a dialogue that needs to keep
happening. People who turn themselves in, especially for a
common sense error, are still being treated like criminals.
These close enforcement calls should be worked on, because so
many people in his area depend on hunting to fill their
freezers.
COMMISSIONER COTTON said he appreciated the fairness issue and
it seems like there could be some way to recognize that someone
turned himself in.
4:04:49 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE said the commissioner has the authority to
operate with emergency orders somewhat outside of the management
plan and that never goes well on either side. His district has
all of the user groups, a lot of whom hate each other, and he
asked the commissioner if there is any value to bringing groups
together independently outside of the board process to find some
agreement on some issues.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said he absolutely wants to do that and has
already done some of that in meeting with many representatives
of his neighbors, but he hadn't figured out how best to get them
together and asked for his advice. He wanted to get as much
consensus as possible.
4:07:57 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL turned to the National Park Service's (NPS) impact
on access to Alaska's game in a couple of national parks. John
Sturgeon using his hover craft on the National River to go moose
hunting and the federal government is now saying they have
jurisdiction over navigable waters, which places a barrier for
citizens reaching hunting grounds. The NPS has also preempted
state subsistence hunting regulations in a couple of national
parks addressing bears in den sites and wolf seasons. What would
he do?
COMMISSIONER COTTEN answered that he already had conversations
with the assistant director, Burt Frost, at the last Board of
Game meeting and it didn't go real well. The Park Service either
doesn't want to or doesn't understand what the state's goals are
for intensive management. He'll keep trying to educate them, but
it hasn't gone well yet. Some of their personnel refer to
intensive game management as game farming, so people can get
trophy animals and mount them on their wall when in fact, the
primary purpose is for consumptive uses and food security.
Obviously, they are not going to allow hunting in Denali Park,
but the preserve lands are of recent concern. He said the
department had not missed any deadlines or opportunities to
comment on this issue.
CHAIR GIESSEL said one of the strengths of going to court is
that then they have to talk to you and you are at the same table
as the NGOs who are already at the table with the federal
agencies. The state has had some success in court with the
Endangered Species issues. Landscape Conservation Cooperatives
are being put together that manage the land and the animals and
fish on it under very a broad climate change premises and said
that is something we have to be prepared to push back on.
4:11:51 PM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN agreed and added that the department has
tried to figure out a way to make those work to the state's
benefit, but hadn't had a lot of success.
SENATOR STOLTZE offered that he didn't think Alaska would talk
its way out of this one and asked if he had assembled the
strongest possible team in defending Alaska's position against
the feds.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied yes; the ADF&G has excellent folks
that have a lot of experience with this issue. He explained that
the Department of Law (DOL) makes the lawsuit decision, but
ADF&G provides whatever evidence and biological information
needed to support their case.
SENATOR STOLTZE noted that Commissioner Cotten had been an
active supporter of his party had done a commercial supporting
the former junior senator from Alaska. His quote referencing HB
77 in the commercial said, "This idea was obviously cooked up by
somebody who wasn't from here." It had the tag Sam Cotten as a
commercial fishing representative. He asked if he would do that
commercial again.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that he would do it again, but he
wasn't talking about a candidate in particular; he was referring
to issues.
4:16:38 PM
OLIVER HOLM, representing himself, Kodiak, Alaska, said he had
been a commercial fisherman and hunter around Kodiak Island for
over 50 years, had been on the Kodiak Fish and Game Advisory
Committee for more than 35 years and the local salmon
enhancement association for 25 years. He ran into Mr. Cotten
over the years and was quite confident he would do a fine job as
ADF&G commissioner.
4:18:03 PM
PAUL SHADURA, II, South Kalifornsky Beach Independent
Fishermen's Association, Kasilof, Alaska, said their mission is
to protect and promote the fishery resources returning to the
Kasilof River and the Tustumena Lake watershed. He said the
State of Alaska is fortunate to have an ADF&G commissioner with
such sound, long-time continued involvement with resources
within the state and up to the 200-mile limit. Commissioner
Cotten has an ability to listen to many different views and to
respond in a fair, concerned and reasonable manner. He is
approachable, clearly a requirement to be able to communicate
with all resource use interests.
MR. SHAUDURA said his concern with the ADF&G as a whole is that
with these apparent lead times important assessment projects
will not be actuated. Clearly, less science means less
opportunity for all Alaskans. But he was confident Commissioner
Cotten would be able to chart a course through these shallow
waters and work with all individuals and groups - to have them
work with the department and not apart. Less conflict can only
be accomplished with strong, cooperative, honest and transparent
communications.
4:20:26 PM
GEORGE MILNE, North Pacific Fisheries Association, Homer,
Alaska, said the board voted unanimously to supported Sam
Cotten's appointment as ADF&G commissioner. They are quite
familiar with him as he is from their area. As a board member of
the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association, he had personally worked
with Mr. Cotten. He said, "Sam Cotten knows fish and game; Sam
Cotten knows Alaska and he is compassionate about our
resources." His experience on the NPFMC is invaluable to the
state in protecting its interests and his experience in the
legislature is also invaluable to the entire process.
4:21:43 PM
JEFF FARVOUR, Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association, Sitka,
Alaska, whole-heartedly supported Sam Cotten's appointment
supported as Commissioner of ADF&G.
4:23:10 PM
RICHARD DAVIS, Seafood Producers Cooperative, Sitka, Alaska,
strongly supported Sam Cotten's appointment supported as
Commissioner of ADF&G. He said they are a vertically integrated
trade association of 550 commercial fishermen, 450 of whom are
Alaskans who harvest a wide variety of seafood products. They
are the oldest and largest fishermen's cooperative in North
America. They have participated in processing and marketing fish
for Alaskans since 1944 and have worked with Sam Cotten and have
observed his leadership and management capabilities. During his
time on the NPFMC he was knowledgeable, as well as accessible to
fishery participants and he was courteous in his exchanges with
them. He is an ideal fit for this position.
4:25:11 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL, finding no further comments, closed public
testimony and noted two letters of support from the United
Fishermen of Alaska (UFA) and the Southeast Alaska Fishermen's
Alliance.
4:25:31 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE remarked that Mr. Cotten had lots of support
from commercial groups and asked if he knew why the committee
hadn't heard from personal use, subsistence and sport users.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said he didn't know of any opposition, but
he hadn't solicited any comments from anybody.
SENATOR MICCICHE observed that normally he gets many letters
from different sides and his email has been quiet, which he took
to be a good sign.
CHAIR GIESSEL observed that a lot the letters and testimony have
been from fishing interests versus the game interests.
4:27:30 PM
SENATOR STOLTZE said he couldn't think of anyone he would rather
have as commissioner to manage Alaska's commercial fisheries
than Sam Cotten. But he had some concerns about some game
issues; there had been a shift on some level of the philosophy
of management of game just by the change of appointments. He
said he had known the commissioner for his entire life and had
worked with him at one time and valued the experience he gained.
Any contentions he has with him have almost always been on the
issues of intensive management.
4:31:09 PM
SENATOR COGHILL said he was grateful that Mr. Cotten would step
up, especially during tough budget times. Some of the more
astute game people continually remind him that the regulations
don't often line up well enough with the statutes. It burns him
when people go out with good faith trying to follow the rules
and find out later that an interpretation of a regulation was
the third movement down from what they thought the law was.
SENATOR MICCICHE advised that he couldn't spend enough face time
in communities that are impacted by fisheries decisions.
Transparency and early warning is key for closures as many
people plan their lives around these activities.
4:34:17 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL said her past district included Cooper Landing
that has significant issues with trapping and multi-use; sled
dogs have been caught in some of the traps and pets have
disappeared. A lot of multi-use land in that area is federal,
state and Native, so it is a complex issue. She hoped he would
vigorously defend Alaska's state lands use, the use of its fish
and game resources and the constitution.
Finding no further comments, Chair Giessel, said in accordance
with AS 39.05.080, the Resources Committee reviewed the
following and recommends the appointment(s) be forwarded to a
joint session for consideration: Commissioner, Department of
Fish and Game, Sam Cotten. This does not reflect an intent by
any of the members to vote for or against the confirmation of
the individual during any further sessions. There were no
objections.
4:36:14 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL adjourned the Senate Resources Committee meeting
at 4:37 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Resume-Commissioner DFG - Cotten.pdf |
SRES 3/2/2015 3:30:00 PM |
|
| Letter of Support-Sam Cotten-SEAFA.pdf |
SRES 3/2/2015 3:30:00 PM |
|
| Letter of Support-Sam Cotten-UFA.pdf |
SRES 3/2/2015 3:30:00 PM |