Cliff Eames and Ruth McHenry April 4, 2005 Re: SB 85 Dear Senate Resources Committee Members: We are writing to ask you to oppose SB 85, which would repeal the ban on the use of certain off-road vehicles within five miles of the right-of-way of the Dalton Highway. The repeal would have a number of adverse effects. It would encourage additional sport hunting and sport trapping in the area, which would compete with local subsistence activities. It would also move game away from the highway corridor. This would have several harmful effects. It would reduce success for those without ATVs, and it would deprive game of the use of the habitat. Both of these effects have been of concern to the Department of Fish and Game in other parts of the State. The department raised these issues with regard to the Talkeetna Mountains almost two decades ago, and they are of concern to the department at the present time in other parts of the Copper Basin. Furthermore, pushing game away from the highway corridor would also make it less likely that those driving the highway for pleasure, both Alaskans and visitors, would be able to view wildlife on their trip. Finally, we have seen the effects of virtually unregulated cross country (off-trail) ATV use, most of it for recreational purposes, in the Talkeetna and other mountains off of the Glenn and Denali highways, and in the Susitna Valley, and we don’t believe that these effects should be tolerated. Vegetation is destroyed, soils are degraded, water quality is reduced (with ADF&G predicting adverse effects on fisheries as a result), and beautiful Alaskan landscapes are made ugly. We have no reason to believe that ATV use in the Dalton Highway corridor will be any more responsibly managed than it has been on general State and BLM lands elsewhere in Alaska. Please oppose SB 85, and thank you for your serious consideration of our concerns. We would appreciate it if this letter were distributed to all committee members and were included in the administrative record for the bill. Sincerely, Cliff Eames Ruth McHenry |