HJR 32-REMOVE WOOD BISON FROM ENDANGERED LIST    4:32:10 PM CO-CHAIR WAGONER announced HJR 32 to be up for consideration [CSHJR 32(RES) was before the committee]. CO-CHAIR PASKVAN moved to bring CSHJR 32(RES), version 27- LS1234\X before the committee for purposes of discussion. CO-CHAIR WAGONER objected for discussion purposes. 4:33:04 PM REPRESENTATIVE ALAN DICK, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of HJR 32, explained that until their extinction over 100 years ago, wood bison inhabited a greater portion of Interior Alaska, particularly in the heart of District 6, but recent efforts to bring them back to Alaska have met with strategic and political questions. Only 104 wood bison are in Turnagain Arm waiting to be released and these are the only wood bison in the whole United States. He explained that wood bison are similar to but genetically different from and much larger than the plains bison that exist in Delta, Kodiak and other places in Alaska and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has managed them quite well for the last 70 years. REPRESENTATIVE DICK said there are two concerns. One is that wood bison is on the Endangered Species list and two, well over $70 billion worth of resources lie within 50 miles of where they are being proposed to be relocated. The state has negotiated in good faith with the federal government on wood bison for years, but has yet to reach a satisfactory agreement. The federal 10J exemption of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) would declare them non-essential and experimental and the federal 4D exemption would allow them to be hunted once the herd attained a healthy population. The huge question is whether they can trust the 10J and 4D exemptions to withstand court challenges. In the distant and recent past, gavels in Washington, D.C. have beaten a rhythm that is often unfavorable to Alaska's efforts to develop its resources. The paradox is that the listing of the wood bison as an Endangered Species is the element that most endangers them after years of trying to get agreements to protect the state's concerns about delaying their relocation into the wild. HJR 32 calls for Congress to exempt the wood bison from the Endangered Species Act an exemption used by Idaho and Montana to solve a long standing problem with restoring the Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf to their states. REPRESENTATIVE DICK said he wanted to introduce wood bison back into the habitat where they once lived, but without risking the problems that Beluga whales, sea otters and Polar bears face. HJR 32 gives our Congressional delegation the support necessary to create a win/win situation by exempting the wood bison from the Endangered Species Act. The State of Alaska wins when it gets to work with this fascinating resource, the people of the Innoko River drainage win by eventually being able to hunt these bison, the Native corporation that wants to develop the nearby valuable resource can breathe a sigh of relief and fourthly, the wood bison themselves would like to get out from behind those bars. They looked really bored. 4:36:10 PM He said this resolution had one hearing in the House Resources Committee; it received 8 do passes and 1 amend; it went across the House floor by a vote of 38 to 0 and was supported by Doug Vincent Lange, Director, Division of Wildlife Conservation, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if there was any opposition to the resolution.   REPRESENTATIVE DICK replied no. It was controversial at first, but the conversation was elevated to the point of coming up with this solution, which seems to make everybody happy. There wasn't any opposition from the environmental community. CO-CHAIR WAGONER asked what the game is like where these bison will be released and if there will be enough for subsistence purposes. REPRESENTATIVE DICK said the problem they face now is a shortage of moose. Because predator control is not allowed on the Innoko Wildlife Refuge, the feeling is that the wood bison could stand in the deeper snow far better against predators than moose and the smaller plains bison. CO-CHAIR WAGONER removed his objection. CO-CHAIR PASKVAN asked if this resolution helps Congressman Young become successful. 4:39:31 PM REPRESENTATIVE DICK replied the bison can be released as soon as there are no consequences of long-term litigation. CO-CHAIR PASKVAN asked if determining whether the bison could be hunted or not would come under the sole jurisdiction of the state. REPRESENTATIVE DICK replied yes. 4:40:25 PM PAUL VERHAGEN, staff for Representative Dick, Alaska State Legislature, agreed that was correct. 4:40:54 PM CO-CHAIR WAGONER asked how the bison would be managed. DOUG VINCENT LANGE, Director, Division of Wildlife Conservation, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Anchorage, AK, explained if these animals are exempted from the ESA they would fall under the jurisdiction of the ADF&G and the Alaska Board of Game to set harvest restrictions. He said they would be managed just like they are managing the plains bison, but initially the population would have to grow large enough to have a harvestable surplus. They could probably harvest some animals, like the older bulls, before reaching a number based on maximum sustained yield and that. CO-CHAIR PASKVAN asked where the herd will be released. MR. LANG replied in three areas without having to deal with the ESA: one near the Innoko Drainage, the Fort Yukon area and the Minto Flat area. The habitat in all three areas is suitable for wood bison release. CO-CHAIR WAGONER removed his objection. CO-CHAIR PASKVAN moved to report CSHJR 32(RES) from committee to the next committee of referral with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There were no objections and it was so ordered.