SB 10-HUNTING/TRAPPING/FISHING: DISABLED VETS  1:05:33 PM CHAIR MCKAY announced that the first order of business would be SENATE BILL NO. 10, "An Act providing for trapping licenses for active members of the Alaska National Guard and military reserves without charge; making sport fishing, hunting, and trapping permanent identification cards available to certain disabled veterans without charge; and providing for an effective date." 1:06:27 PM SENATOR JESSE KIEHL, Alaska State Legislature, as prime sponsor, said SB 10 would add trapping licenses to the lifetime hunting and fishing licenses for veterans that have a 50 percent or greater service-related disability. At the request of the Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G), he said the bill would add trapping to the annual hunting and fishing licenses that active duty members of the national guard and reserve receive. He referred to his staff to answer a question posed at the last meeting by Representative Saddler. 1:07:20 PM CATHY SCHLINGHEYDE, Staff, Senator Jesse Kiehl, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Senator Kiehl, prime sponsor, stated to the committee that SB 10 would apply only to members of the armed forces, not all uniformed services. 1:07:39 PM REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked how many applicants there would be if all disabled veterans in the state applied for the license. MS. SCHLINGHEYDE answered that the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs doesn't have an exact number. She said the department knows the number of people who receive trapping licenses, but does not know how many service disabled veterans are among the license recipients. 1:08:11 PM SENATOR KIEHL noted that the number is fewer than the about 77,000 veterans in Alaska. 1:08:26 PM CHAIR MCKAY opened public testimony on SB 10. 1:08:44 PM DAVID SUMMERS, Veteran, shared that he is a veteran of the United States Army, and had served during the operation Desert Storm era. He recounted that, after [the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001], he had decided to "re-up" as a veteran and was deployed during operation Iraqi Freedom. He told members that he holds a disabled veterans hunting and fishing license, as he is a disabled veteran. He stated, "Just a generation or two ago, a disabled veteran looks different. Today, we don't look the same." He elaborated that historically one can see veterans' disability in their eyes, but that is not the case today. He said care for wounded soldiers has become so advanced that the types of injuries a veteran would typically have, have become more survivable. He told members that there are new kinds of injuries that disabled veterans encounter, including traumatic brain injury and concussions. In answering the question, why a disabled veteran is doing a physical intensive activity like trapping, he said veterans do not look the same as they used to. Further, he stated that trapping is good for disabled veterans and ADF&G, in that it helps ADF&G meet its goals, and for the veteran, there is the benefit of being in the outdoors. Historically, buying a hunting, fishing and trapping license has been simple, but he said the current process can be confusing or difficult. He explained that the individual not only needs to get the disabled veteran license, and the standard hunting and fishing license, but also the trapper license. He urged members to pass SB 10. 1:10:55 PM REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE thanked Mr. Summers for his testimony. 1:11:31 PM CHAIR MCKAY after ascertaining that no one else wished to testify, closed public testimony on SB 10. 1:11:43 PM REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked Senator Kiehl if the legislation addresses veterans that must shoot mechanically because of a limb injury. He said he is unsure if that is legal in Alaska. SENATOR KIEHL answered that SB 10 doesn't address the methods or means of trapping. He said the bill speaks only to how disabled veterans could obtain a lifetime trapping, hunting, and fishing card as a service disabled veteran. 1:13:00 PM REPRESENTATIVE WRIGHT asked for the percentage of veterans who partake in trapping. SENATOR KIEHL responded by stating that there have been 700 standalone trapping licenses sold in Alaska, and that only a subset of the cards were sold to service disabled veterans. On the thought that having a less confusing system would lead to more service disabled veterans attaining a trapping license, he said the impact of that may be small. He said that, while he does not have a strong estimate on the percentage of veterans who partake in trapping, ADF&G estimates a negligible financial impact. Further, he speculated that the increase in those receiving licenses would be small. 1:14:21 PM REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER spoke on a bill that passed in the legislature that allowed state hunting and fishing licenses to be displayed digitally on a cell phone, over having to display a physical license card. He asked if, under SB 10, the courtesy would extend to disabled veterans with a trapping license. SENATOR KIEHL answered yes, and said ADF&G plans to offer these same licenses on the department's phone application "app". He concluded his testimony by thanking the committee for hearing the bill. 1:15:22 PM REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER moved to report SB 10 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, SB 10 was reported out of the House Resources Standing Committee.