SCR 16 - AVALANCHE AWARENESS MONTH CHAIR JAMES announced the first order of business is SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 16 Relating to Avalanche Awareness Month. JERRY BURNETT, Staff to Senator Lyda Green, Alaska State Legislature, read the sponsor statement for SCR 16 as follows: Alaska is avalanche country. Each year Alaskans lose their lives as a result of avalanches. One of the worst years was 1999 when 14 people were killed by avalanches in Alaska. Senate Concurrent Resolution 16 would proclaim November as "Avalanche Awareness Month." This proclamation would raise public awareness of the hazards associated with avalanches and the opportunities to participate in avalanche safety training at the beginning of the winter recreation season. It is hoped that public participation in avalanche safety programs would be increased and that this increased participation would result in saved lives during the winter. The need for this resolution was brought to our attention by the Backcountry Avalanche Awareness Response Team (BAART). Number 0191 ANGELA REAVIS testified via teleconference from the Matanuska- Susitna (Mat-Su) Legislative Information Office (LIO). The sister of Keith Coyne, who was killed in an avalanche in December 1999, she feels that passing SCR 16 can really raise awareness in Alaska for many backcountry travelers. She hopes that people understand how much family members of the dead support raising awareness in the general public. Number 0267 PAT COYNE testified via teleconference from the Mat-Su LIO. The mother of Keith Coyne, she asked the committee to please think about passing SCR 16 because the community had just lost another young man to an avalanche. She noted that Alaskans need to have awareness and need it badly. CHRIS NOOKES testified via teleconference from the Mat-Su LIO. A good friend of Keith Coyne and president of the Backcountry Avalanche Awareness Response Team, she asked the committee's support in passing SCR 16 to make November "Avalanche Awareness Month." She indicated that in the wake of all the deaths in the last year, Alaska really cannot afford any more deaths. She agreed that there is need for more awareness, especially because there is no longer an avalanche warning center in the state, even though federal law mandates one. Number 0432 REPRESENTATIVE OGAN made a motion to move SCR 16 out of committee with individual recommendations and the attached zero fiscal note. There being no objection, SCR 16 moved from the House State Affairs Standing Committee.