Politics at the Anchorage game and fish committee

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One-third of the committee that represents the people of Anchorage at the boards that regulate hunting and fishing in Alaska resigned this week, saying their advice is consistently ignored.

Six of the Anchorage Fish and Game Advisory Committee’s 17 members resigned Tuesday at an annual meeting. Two members serve as alternates.

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Wildlife Interests Worth $4.1 Billion to Alaska's Economy, New Study Finds

Wildlife - Animal - Dall Sheep in Denali National Park (Photo credit: blmiers2)

 Almost a million resident and visitor households embarked on at least one trip in Alaska to hunt or view wildlife in 2011, according to research presented in the recently published report, “The Economic Importance of Alaska’s Wildlife in 2011.” Along the way, the $3.4 billion spent by those hunters and viewers accounted for $4.1 billion in economic activity statewide.

“Visitors reported that wildlife is one of the main reasons they visited Alaska,” said Doug Vincent-Lang, director of the state’s Division of Wildlife Conservation, “and residents said wildlife contributes to their quality of life and reasons for living here.”

Of the $3.4 billion spent by hunters and wildlife viewers in Alaska in 2011, resident hunters and wildlife viewers each spent more than $1 billion. Visiting wildlife viewers spent $1.2 billion, while visiting hunters added some $150 million. That spending generated more than 27,000 jobs and $1.4 billion in labor income.

“This study demonstrates what many instinctively know: Alaska’s wildlife is important to Alaskans and visitors. Because people value it, they’re willing to spend a lot of money here to hunt, view, and experience wildlife,” Vincent-Lang said.

The report will be featured in a presentation at the Alaska Board of Game meeting on Friday, March 14, at the Dena’ina Civic Center in Anchorage, and the public is invited to attend.

The research was conducted by economic consulting firm ECONorthwest, which gathered core data for its analyses through six interlocking surveys in 2012. The surveys were conducted by phone, Internet, and mail and information was provided by about 7,000 residents and 2,000 visitors.

To see the report summary, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website atwww.adfg.alaska.gov/static/home/news/ongoingissues/pdfs/the-economic-importance-of-alaskas-wildlife-in-2011-summary-report.pdf (PDF 1,204 kB)

Alaska State Trooper and veteran trapper center a suburban snare uproar

Were it not for the fact Rick Ellis's trapping buddy is a TV star, albeit a minor one, and an Alaska State Trooper to boot, the Wasilla outdoorsman believes he would not find himself and his trapping debated in the news.

In his heart of hearts, Ellis believes he and Alaska Wildlife Trooper John Cyr were performing a public service by trapping coyotes and foxes on some undeveloped property in a rural area going suburban near Colony High School in the Matanuska Valley north of Anchorage.

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Alaska Outdoor News

• A 79-year-old man who splits his time between Alaska and Pennsylvania is facing a litany of illegal hunting charges dating back five years after shooting a bull moose last month near his summer home in the mining enclave of Eureka, about 150 miles northwest of Fairbanks.

Alaska Board of Fisheries to Meet in Anchorage, October 18 - 22, 2013

The Alaska Board of Fisheries (board) will meet October 18 - 22, 2013, at the Hilton Hotel, 500 W. Third Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska. During this five-day public meeting, the board will meet to consider 36 proposals regarding Alaska Statewide Pacific cod submitted by the general public, fishing organizations, local Fish and Game Advisory Committees, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

In addition to submitting written public comments, the board also invites members of the public to give oral public testimony during the meeting beginning October 18. Any person intending to testify must sign up at the meeting site at the Hilton Hotel in Anchorage by 2:00 p.m., Friday October 18. Public testimony will continue until members of the public who have signed up before the deadline and who are present have been given an opportunity to testify.

All portions of the meeting are open to the public and a live audio stream is intended to be available on the Board of Fisheries’ website at www.boardoffisheries.adfg.alaska.gov. Documents submitted to the board are intended to be posted online throughout the meeting. Copies of advanced meeting materials including the agenda and roadmap can be obtained by contacting Boards Support Section at 907-465- 4110 or viewed online at: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.meetinginfo.

The board encourages the public to submit written comments on specific proposals. Written public comments limited to 10 single-sided or 5 double-sided pages in length from any one individual or group will be accepted as a record copy (RC), but will not be inserted in board member workbooks until the beginning of the meeting, and will only be accepted until the board begins deliberation of proposals.

NEW PUBLIC COMMENT STANDARD: Once deliberation of proposals begin at a board meeting, the board will ONLY accept written public comments that are not more than five single-sided pages, or the equivalent double-sided pages, unless specific information is requested by the board that requires more pages than allowed under this standard.

During the meeting, written public comments from any one individual or group may be submitted by hand delivery at any time if 27 copies are provided; as a practical matter, comments submitted after the board begins deliberations on relevant proposals are likely to receive less consideration than comments submitted earlier. Individuals not attending the meeting can submit written comments by fax to (907) 465-6094.

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BLM-Alaska Celebrates 150 Years of the Homestead Act

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Anchorage—Alaska Governor Sean Parnell has declared May 20, 2012, Federal Homestead Day in Alaska.  In addition to the Governor’s proclamation, BLM-Alaska is marking the 150^th anniversary of the Homestead Act with several local events and a new Webpage.  Grab the family and jump in the wagon (or station wagon!) this 4^th of July and join BLM-Alaska as we honor 150 years of the Homestead Act.  BLM-Alaska will participate in the Anchorage July 4^th Parade and will host a Homesteading in Alaska-themed booth at the Festival on the Parkstrip from Noon to 6:00 p.m. at the Anchorage 4^th of July Celebration on the Delaney Parkstrip.  The last female homesteader in America, Elizabeth M. Smith, and other Alaskan homesteaders will join us at the booth to talk about their experiences homesteading on the Last Frontier.  The booth will also feature interpretive displays and materials on homesteading and its history.  BLM-Alaska has also developed a Web page that covers the origins, opportunities and legacy of Homesteading in Alaska.  The page features an interactive timeline, videos, photos and a downloadable poster.  The page can be found on the BLM-Alaska website at www.blm.gov/ak.

Homesteading in Alaska began when President William McKinley signed legislation in 1898 extending homestead laws to the District of Alaska.  In the rest of the United States, homesteading began when President Lincoln signed the 1862 Homestead Act, enabling over 1.6 million people to claim federal land intended for small farms. By the time the last Alaska homestead claims were made in the 1980s, approximately 3,500 people had homesteaded in the Alaska territory.  Potential homesteaders traveled by boat, car, and later by airplane, some north of the Arctic Circle where grizzlies outnumbered humans, some to a plot accessible only by train, most settling near areas close to roads or where boats could land.  They included Gold Rush era miners who resumed prior careers as farmers in the early 1900s, and some WWII soldiers returning to Alaska after 1945 having become enchanted with their memories of a sportsman’s paradise.  Others came just wanting the adventure of Alaska, some arriving as late as the 1970s.  Most Alaska homesteaders came overland, some dragging trailers up the Alaska Highway after it opened in 1947, they were the only ones who avoided building a house from scratch with no indoor plumbing.  All faced the brutal Alaskan winters, some found it to be too much and abandoned their dreams of living in the wild, leaving Alaska or settling in a town where life was easier.

The distinction of being Alaska and America’s last female homesteader to receive a homestead requiring cultivation of the land belongs to Elizabeth M. Smith.  She received a homestead patent on Oct. 18, 1984, for land near Big Delta, Alaska.  The distinction of being Alaska’s last male homesteader, and the last homesteader in the entire nation to receive a homestead requiring cultivation of the land, belongs to Kenneth W. Deardorff.  He received a homestead patent on May 5, 1988, to land on the Stony River near Lime Village in southwestern Alaska. He filed his homestead claim in 1974, but its remoteness caused delays in his receiving patent to the land until the spring of 1988.  Descendants of homesteaders today are estimated at about 93 million Americans, with many thousands still living on farms claimed by their ancestors.

11th Overflights Advisory Council Meeting

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The eleventh meeting of the Denali National Park Aircraft Overflights Advisory Council is taking place on Monday, February 27 and Tuesday, February 28, from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm at the Marriott Residence Inn Midtown, located on 1025 E. 35th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska.

On February 27th, the public is invited to participate with council members in a work session to map out air traffic patterns over Denali National Park. The council will hold a more formal meeting with presentations from members and agency staff the following day.

The Denali National Park Aircraft Overflights Advisory Council advises the Superintendent, through the Secretary of the Interior, on mitigation efforts that should be made to reduce the impacts from aircraft overflights at Denali National Park and Preserve. The group is developing voluntary measures for assuring the safety of passengers, pilots, and mountaineers and for achieving desired future resource conditions at Denali that were outlined in the 2006 Backcountry Management Plan. Council membership contains broad representation of interested stakeholders and has a balance of local, state, and national interests.

Information on the Advisory Council can be found athttp://www.nps.gov/dena/parkmgmt/currentprojects.htm.

Information on Denali's 2006 Backcountry Management Plan is located athttp://www.nps.gov/dena/parkmgmt/gmp.htm.

For additional information on the meeting, please contact Miriam Valentine at 907- 733-9102 or via email.

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2012 Artists-in-Residence Announced

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Three visual artists and three writers were selected from over 300 applicants to participate in this year's Artist-in-Residence program at Denali National Park and Preserve. Deborah Bouchette, Trine Bumiller, Kim Heacox, Marybeth Holleman, Rika Mouw, and Linda Schandelmeir will each have the opportunity to experience and be inspired by the park during summer 2012. They will stay at the historic East Fork cabin, where they can look out onto the braided channels of the East Fork River, multi-colored rock formations of Polychrome Mountain, and the snow-capped peaks of the Alaska Range.

Deborah Bouchette is a painter from Hillsboro, Oregon. Her drawings and paintings appear abstract, but they incorporate sound, beat, wave, and reverberation as metaphors for experiencing life. During her residence at the park, Deborah plans to create map-like seismographic records to recall the ordered chaos of animal tracks and the flock-and-flight patterns of birds. She also will make an audio journal of the park's unique natural chatter.

Inspired by the environment, Trine Bumiller of Denver, Colorado creates multi-paneled oil paintings of abstracted and recombined images by using layers of transparent glazes. She draws inspiration from the environment, and while in Denali she plans to record the landscape, weather and plant life with sketches, watercolors and photographs to develop into a series of paintings.

Kim Heacox of Gustavus, Alaska is a writer, photographer, musician and conservationist. He is the author of eight books, and numerous articles that have appeared in a wide range of publications. His most recent title, "The Only Kayak", a memoir about finding home in Alaska, was a 2006 PEN SA Literary Award finalist in creative non-fiction. His writing often focuses on the interplay between mankind and the natural world, the power of place and community, and the importance of critical thinking.

Marybeth Holleman from Anchorage, Alaska is the author of The Heart of the Sound and co-editor of Crosscurrents North. Her essays, poems, and articles have appeared in dozens of journals and anthologies and been heard on National Public Radio. She writes, "I like to work at the edges of nature and culture. I'm endlessly inspired by the intricate relationships of the natural world, and seek to illuminate what I find there, to see what hasn't been seen, to awaken wonder."

Rika Mouw, from Homer, Alaska has been a studio artist and jewelry designer for over 30 years. She has recently transitioned from working with metal to almost exclusively using organic materials such as wood, shell, stone, bone or fibers. As a passionate environmental advocate, her work mostly speaks about issues relating to human dependency on, reverence for or disregard of the natural environment. 

Writer Linda Schandelmeier has lived in the Fairbanks, Alaska area for over 40 years. She is the author of Listening Hard Among the Birches, a book of poetry published in 2002. Her poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies, and she received a Rasmuson award to work on her second book, Homestead, about the 160-acre homestead near Anchorage, Alaska, where she was raised. "I write because it compels me to see the world around me more clearly, and because it helps me make sense of both the exterior and interior landscape," she states.

"We are pleased to offer these talented individuals the opportunity to immerse themselves in Denali," said Superintendent Paul Anderson. "The work they will create from their intensive experience in the park will be a source of inspiration to all who view or read their work."

Each artist will offer a public presentation for visitors during their residency. They will also each donate a work inspired by their time in Denali to the park's collection. Pieces created by artists-in-residence from previous years will be on display in the Denali Visitor Center, Eielson Visitor Center, and the Murie Science and Learning Center during the 2012 visitor season. Information about the public presentation schedule as well as an online gallery of artist-in-residence artwork is available atwww.nps.gov/dena/historyculture/artist-in-residence.htm.

The Artist-in-Residence program is a national program that enables established artists to reside in a park while they create park-related art. Artists have played a significant role in raising public awareness of the natural wonders preserved within the National Park System and the need for their protection since the creation of Yellowstone, the first national park.

This is the 11th year of the Artist-in-Residence program at Denali National Park and Preserve. A total of 35 artists, including 21 from Alaska, have participated in previous summers.

Artists interested in applying for the 2013 season are encouraged to visitwww.nps.gov/dena/historyculture/arts-program.htm for information and to apply. The call opens on May 1, 2012.

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