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.
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.
Postmark: Feb 17,95 8:47 AM Delivered: Feb 17,95 9:58 AM
Status: Previously read
Subject: Subsistence News-2/17/95
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Message:
*The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has heard final arguments in the Katie John v. U.S. lawsuit. In 1994, Federal District Court Judge H. Russel Holland ruled that federal jurisdiction in managemnt of subsistence fisheries extended to all navigable waters within Alaska. Recently, attorneys for the Federal government argued that jurisdiction should only extend to waters on and around specific Alaskan National Parks and Wildlife Refuges. The court is expected to rule on the appeal by early April.
*The southeast Alaska Federal Subsistence Advisory Council met recently in Hoonah. The council took action on five separate proposals:
Allowed the harvest of one doe in the four deer limit for Prince of Wales Island (GMU-2);
Supported a designated (proxy) deer hunter provision for all southeast Alaska;
Supported the continuation of the antler restriction on Stikine River moose;
Supported the designated (proxy) moose hunter provisions for residents of Yakutat, but amended the proposal limiting it to those over age 55 or physically disabled; and
Supported the reopening of marten, mink, and weasel trapping on Chichagof Island, but amended the proposal to apply vehicle restriction on trapping to the entire island.
