Postmark: Mar 03,95 10:05 AM Delivered: Mar 03,95 10:04 AM
Status: Previously read
Subject: Subsistence News-3/3/95
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Message:
*Addressing a recent joint session of the Alaska State Legislature, Senator Ted Stevens stressed that if the state hopes to regain its right to manage fish and game on federal public lands-and not lose the authority to the federal government-then they had better reach a consensus on the issue of subsistence.
*The proposed moratorium on all new federal regulations could mean the cancellation of the 1995 subsistence hunting season.”Unless new regulations for the 1995 season are allowed to go through, there won’t be a season–and no legal meat on the table for tens of thousands of rural Alaskans who depend on the federal subsistence hunt to make it through the winter” (Anchorage Daily News).
*The Designated Hunter concept is moving through the federal interagency committee. The committee recommends a federal harvest permit. There are advantages and disadvantages with the system, but it is felt that the federal permitting will better serve the rural Alaska subsistence users.
*The southcentral Federal Regional Advisory Council (RAC) recently met in Anchorage. The RAC recommended a series of Customary & Traditional use determinations for the Kenai Penninsula. The Federal Subsistence Board (FSB) is expected to adopt the recommendations.
During a special legislative session called by Governor Walter Hickel in 1991, state lawmakers agreed to a partial remedy to the subsistence impasse. The legislature passed a bill which split the state into zones where subsistence was allowed, and other areas where it was banned. People who lived in urban areas could conceivably be allowed to travel to rural areas and subsistence hunt and fish. In times of shortages, the rural residents would have the priority for the taking of fish and wildlife for subsistence. Allocation of these resources was based on formulas that were to take into account how close the individual/family lived to the resource(s), and what access there was to other food(s).
On May 29 1992, Final Federal Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska (Subparts A-General Provisions; B-Program Structure; and C-Board Determinations) were published in the Federal Register. Subpart D regulations were published on May 28, 1992, and deal with definitions,prohibitions, methods and means, individual species seasons and bag limits, and fish and shellfish. The distinction between the two regulations is required because Subpart D is subject to an annual public review cycle.
In October of 1993, state Superior Court Judge Dana Fabe ruled that the state’s concept of non-subsistence zones was unconstitutional. This ruling was made following legal arguments made by the Kenai-area Kenaitze Indians. The Kenaitze argued that the law lacked sufficient access to hunting and fishing areas, as much of the Kenai Peninsula was set aside as a non-subsistence zone. The effect of the ruling means the State’s subsistence dilemma continues without an end in sight.
Postmark: Feb 24,95 7:59 AM Delivered: Feb 24,95 9:58 AM
Status: Previously read
Subject: Subsistence News-2/24/95
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Message:
*The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Alaska state legislature “is not empowered under state law to intervene in the appeal” of “Alaska v. Babbitt”. Alaska’s governor dropped the lawsuit, but the state legislature voted to continue the appeal.
*The state legislature and governor agree that fish and game management on federal public lands needs to be returned to the state. But they disagree on how to accomplish this goal.
*The state legislature believes the issue can be resolved by continued litigation, and the governor is committed to complying with ANILCA’s subsistence provisions. The governor believes the way to comply is to amend the state constitution to allow for a rural subsistence preference.
*Carol Jorgensen, southeast Federal Subsistence Advisory Council Coordinator, has been offered and accepted a position as District Ranger on the St. Igance/Souix St. Marie RD, Hiawatha NF. Her scheduled reporting date is April 16th.
*Secty’s of Interior and Agriculture have been asked to draft rulemaking to allow them to: 1. regulate fish & game on state & private lands for subsistence; 2.conveyed and unconveyed Native lands be treated as public lands subject to ANILCA subsistence priority.
