Alaska Conservation Voters

Conservation Watch

Alaska Conservation Voters
works to protect Alaska's environment through public education and advocacy, and supports pro-conservation candidates for public office.

"It's good public policy for people to know what they're being exposed to."
---Kristin Ryan, Environmental Health Director for the Department of Environmental Conservation. Ms. Ryan testified in favor of pesticide right-to-know bill HB 19 at House Finance on 3/17/05.

• Weakened Pesticide Right-To-Know Advances
• Hunting Advocacy Bill Raises Questions
• Fish and Game Budget Threatened

In Every Issue

• Bills on the Move
• New Legislation
• Hearing Schedule

Weakened Pesticide Right-To-Know Advances

Overcoming strong opposition from a few members of the Finance Committee, a less comprehensive pesticide right-to-know bill appears headed to the House floor. HB 19, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Meyer (R-Anchorage), was amended and moved from the House Finance Committee on March 17th.

One of three amendments restricts the public notice requirements for pesticide spraying to common areas of apartments with greater than 4 units, public areas of government owned facilities; and plazas, parks, and public sports fields. Previously, HB 19 had provided notice for most "areas the general public may frequent."

The two Finance Committee members from Fairbanks are still not convinced that protecting public health through the regulation of pesticide spraying is something the government should be doing. Rep. Jim Holm (R-Fairbanks) grumbled "do we want a state that spends money looking for problems?" Rep. Holm owns a landscaping business that might be affected by the new law, and to date he is the only lawmaker who has recommended "do not pass" in any committee reports.

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Fairbanks) back-peddled slightly on previous statements against the measure, saying, "I'm not against this bill...[but] there are two camps, people who are scared to death of chemicals and live their lives in total fear and other people who don't care as much and somewhere in between we make law." Rep. Kelly gave HB 19 "no recommendation."

HB 19 may soon be scheduled for a vote on the House Floor.

For more on pesticides visit the ACV webpage on HB 19.

Hunting Advocacy Bill Leaves Raises Questions

Legislation mandating the Commissioner of Fish and Game shall "promote fishing, hunting, and trapping and preserve the heritage of fishing, hunting, and trapping in the state" is raising serious questions on its way through the House.

HB 75, sponsored by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Fairbanks) and backed by the Alaska Outdoor Council, moved from the House Resources Committee March 14th. Many wildlife advocates are concerned about the bill's purpose and potential impact on sound management of the state's fish and game resources.

Citing the influence of Outside wildlife groups over hunting policy, Rep. Kelly asserted that HB 75 "creates a greater statutory clarity...to adopt regulations and enforce existing statutes." The Department of Law's Kevin Saxby testified that the bill "doesn't trump other duties," such as the Alaska Constitution's sustained yield and common use provisions (Article VIII, Section 3-4), but may allow the agency to engage more fully in future citizen initiative debates.

Bills like HB 75 are increasingly popping up around the country. The full impact of these so-called "right to hunt" bills and constitutional amendments is unclear, but they might be used as the basis for litigation against existing regulations in the courts, or as a challenge against bag limits. Conversely, they might be used by the state to defend challenges from environmental groups, according to the bill's sponsor.

Rep. Paul Seaton (R-Homer) raised the potential that the bill might weaken protection of wildlife viewing areas like the McNeil Bear Refuge.

Given the unanswered questions on HB 75, expect serious consideration of amendments to the bill to clarify the purpose and impact of the measure.

HB 75 is waiting to be scheduled in the House Finance Committee.

Click here for more information on right to hunt bills.

Fish and Game Budget Threatened

The numbers are in from the Fish and Game House Finance Subcommittee, and they don't look pretty. Rather than fully funding the agency's requested $400,000 increase for the Subsistence Division, the subcommittee cut $250,000 in General Funds while allocating over $630,000 from the Fish and Game Fund into newly created Wildlife Conservation Shooting Ranges. Even though the two pots of money are separate, the implicit support for urban shooting ranges over the rural Subsistence Division is clear.

"That is really out of control. That is outrageous," commented committee member Rep. Beth Kerttula (ADN 3/6/05), when chairman Rep. Jim Holm initially suggested dumping $575,000 from Subsistence: half of the Division's entire budget. Holm doesn't appear to be motivated by strict cost-cutting, because the overall recommendation increases the Department's General Fund budget as a whole by $1.2 million, including almost $300,000 for administrative costs and $900,000 for Commercial Fisheries.

"The ironic thing is the subsistence division is the research division. Without it you could have dramatic impacts to commercial fisheries, subsistence fisheries, hunting," Kerttula commented Friday. As for the appearance that the subsistence money is being transferred to urban shooting ranges, Kerttula says, "You shouldn't be taking from Peter to pay Paul, and that's what this does."

Supposedly the urban hunting ranges will bring in an additional $250,000 to the dedicated Fish and Game Fund, where license and other fees are deposited.

Fortunately this isn't the end of the line for the budget process. The subcommittee's recommendations will be considered by the whole House Finance Committee in the next week or two, giving an opportunity for the essential Subsistence Division funding to be restored. The budget also has to survive scrutiny in the Senate.

So much for the state's subsistence priority.

Bills on the Move

---Fish labeling bills are swimming through the Legislature. HJR 6, a resolution supporting country of origin and wild v. farmed labeling swam all the way out of the Legislature this week and onto the Governor's desk. Meanwhile, SB 25, which would require genetically modified fish to be branded as such, has passed its first House committee and will be heard in Labor & Commerce, then Resources, before hitting the House Deck, er, Floor.

---Bills weakening the people's ability to challenge poor government decisions have started moving through the House. HB 117 hampers public interest litigants by only allowing them to recover 20-30% of their attorney's fees. HB 117 was okayed by the House Committee on Community & Regional Affairs on March 17. The next House committees to hear HB 117 are State Affairs and Judiciary, both of which have shown their lack of support for public suits against the state by passing HB 103 this week. HB 103 removes the right to a jury trial for claims against the state.
For more on public interest litigant bills, visit the ACV legislation page.

---At the same time legislators are trying the hands of people who sue on behalf of the public, they are moving through HB 107, which would give full attorney's fees when folks sue someone who disrupted their fishing, hunting, or trapping activities. HB 107 has cleared all of its House committees and is waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote.

---Communities may get a break from their rush to revise coastal management plans if SB 102 continues its journey through the Legislature. The bill, which would extend the deadline for compliance with new state rules to one year after federal approval, passed out of the Senate Committee on Community & Regional Affairs on March 16. Next, Resources will take it up.

New Legislation

SB 145 Commercial Fishing Tender Loans - Sen. Bert Stedman (R-Sitka)
This bill would allow the Department of Fish and Game to make loans to commercial fishermen for upgrading tenders to improve seafood quality.

HB 218 Private Hatchery Cost Recovery Fisheries - Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Haines)
In order to recover some of their operating costs, this bill would allow private non-profit hatcheries to harvest and sell surplus salmon.

HJR 16 Oppose U.N. Land Designations in Alaska - Rep. Jim Elkins (R-Ketchikan)
This resolution would state Alaska's opposition to the United Nations designating any area of Alaska as a world heritage site, biosphere reserve, or other designation without the Legislature's consent. The resolution specifically mentions a possible creation of "Beringia" across parts of Russia, Alaska, and Canada. The resolution argues land designations could serve as international mandates to conserve habitat and protect wildlife, for example.

Hearings this Week

Click on the date in the table below to get the most current schedule information for that day, or check the BASIS hearing schedule. Once a bill has been heard in a particular committee it may be brought up again without public notice or listing on the weekly committee schedule. You can click on a committee name to see a list of its members.