Today is the Day to Be Heard.
~~~Photo by Florian Schulz~~~
Today is the day that confirmation hearings have been scheduled for Al Barrette to the Alaska Board of Game. This post is designed to help you speak up and make your voice heard regarding how you feel about that decision. The Board of Game is one of the most powerful boards in the state, and the decisions it makes affect not only hunters and trappers, but wildlife viewers, photographers, tourists and the tourism industry, small business statewide, and anyone who loves Alaska’s wildness and wants to see balance in its management.
Al Barrette owns a commercial tannery and a wolf trap company, and he cast the deciding vote to eliminate the Denali National Park wolf “buffer zone” that added additional protection for the packs that live within the park boundary. These are the wolves that tourists come to see, and Mr. Barrette if confirmed will continue to be allowed to vote on issues like this by which he profits financially. This is simply outrageous.
If you need reminding about why this is a devastating choice for Alaska’s wildlife, and a bold statement of the intentions of the Parnell administration to step up predator eradication in our wild lands at the expense of tourism, and the small businesses that depend on it, you can read my previous posts:
Parnell Administration Targets Wolves and Alaska’s Economy – Time to Howl
Sean Parnell is Killing Local Business from a Helicopter
Here is the schedule of the confirmation hearings for Al Barrette:
House Resources – Monday April 5 (TODAY) at 1 pm.
Senate Resources – Wednesday April 7 at 3:30 pm.
Legislative Call In Number: (877) 763-5073
Legislators in the House and Senate need to hear what you think. To assist you in preparation of your spoken or written comments which are desperately needed, there is some information listed below.
PLEASE DO NOT simply cut and paste. Your effectiveness comes when you demonstrate that you understand the issues and have formulated your own opinions based upon the facts and on Mr. Barrette’s qualifications and history. Think of the right wing and their mass faxes, all saying the same thing, and all getting it WRONG. Find a point or two below that speaks to you, and talk about it. Or give an overview of why you think this choice is bad.
This appointment is SO controversial that thinking and reasonable people on both sides of the aisle are against this confirmation, which means your voice will actually really matter!
Emails for the legislators making the decision are listed at the end of the email. Support wildlife, support tourism, and support local business. Please be respectful, and please don’t be silent.
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Science Now Project! adventure(at)alaska(dot)com has done an amazing job of laying out the issues.
Overview of Mr. Barrette at the Interior Board of Game Meeting – His first sitting on the BOG:
1. Significant questions regarding his owning a tannery and his subsequent conflict of interest regarding liberalizing harvest regulations for fur bearers and big game;
a. He declared a conflict and did not vote due to having voted as a Fairbanks Advisory Committee member on one proposal yet it appears he did not preclude himself on all the proposals the Fairbanks Advisory Committee voted on;
b. He also declared a conflict of interest regarding a trapping proposal stating he stood to profit from the regulation but did not declare the same conflict regarding the Denali Wolf Buffer Zone and other proposals liberalizing trapping and harvest regulations;
2. Clearly opposed rural subsistence priority for fish and game as a member of the BOG;
3. A very “liberal” (read pro predator control) Board of Game voted 1 – 6 against Mr. Barrette four times in his first sitting on the board;
4. Founding Principle appears to be: “Nature Cannot Run Wild”
“It specifically puts out in the first book of the Bible, in Genesis, that we should subdue nature and control it. We should be the managers of the animals and through the sin of Adam and Eve is what brought it on”
– Al Barrette / January 2009 Interview / Backpacker Magazine
Record regarding Wolf and Bear Management:
1. After voting in favor of revoking the Denali Wolf Buffer Zone Mr. Barrette petitioned the board to authorize using a snow machine to harvest wolves in the “old” buffer zone region (GMU 20C) along the border of the park;
a. Not one member of the board would support Mr. Barrette’s proposal;
“I just cringe at the thought of a snow machine running down the park boundary chasing wolves – it’s almost beyond me. It might be something to do but I don’t know if I could it.” - Cliff Judkin’s Chairman of the BOG responding to Al Barrette
2. Voted to revoke the ADF&G’s statewide bear management policy that guides the department’s scientific management of Alaska’s Bears March 6 – Afternoon Session
a. This policy prohibits the snaring of bears unless conducted under the authorization of predator control program. The Board did not agree with him.
3. Voted in favor of removing brown bear tag fees in all interior GMU’s. Tag fees are an important source of revenue for the ADF&G: March 1;
4. Voted to authorize the baiting of Brown Bears. Every other member of the Board strongly opposed it: March 3 – Proposal 129;
5. Liberalize the baiting of black bears during the entire month of July. Amended a proposal to allow baiting in interior Alaska when residents / tourists and families are actively fishing, hiking and camping. Every BOG member opposed Mr. Barrett’s radical amendment: March 1;
6. Voted in favor of allowing commercial guides to register up to 10 bait stations. The first time this has ever been authorized outside the boundaries of a predator control area. A significantly more liberal allowance than resident Alaskan’s are given. Promoting preferential status for the guiding industry. This may be illegal under the State Constitution’s equal access clause and what about his conflict of interest regarding profiting from tanning bear hides: March 1;
7. Voted in favor of eliminating Black Bear sealing requirements in interior Alaska: March 1 – Proposal 11;
8. Opposed a National Park Service request to make it illegal for Non Native urban hunters to kill black bears, including sows and cubs, in their dens using high intensity lights in Denali National Preserve.
9. Approved of citizens using helicopters to support the killing of wolves in the Upper Yukon Tanana Predator Control Program March 4 – UYTPCA Department Overview Testimony
Record Opposing Rural and Native Subsistence:
1. Aggressively lobbied to revoke the Kanuti Control Use Area designation near Bettles: March 6 – Afternoon Session.
a. There was no formal public announcement or public testimony regarding revoking the CUA;
b. The Kanuti CUA was created to protect local subsistence moose harvest and is strongly supported by the local residents;;
c. Division of Subsistence warned Barrette that prior to such an action the Board must address meeting subsistence needs in the region;
d. No other member of the Board of Game supports Mr. Barrette’s attempts;
2. Voted to increase the harvest in the Central Alaska Caribou herd along the Haul road from 2 to 5 caribou;
a. While simultaneously supporting the opening the haul road controlled use area to snow machine access:
b. The village of Anaktuvuk Pass lies within the migration route of the Central Arctic Caribou herd;
“All those villages that are in that area are only on the outside migration of the Central Arctic Caribou herd. Not really one village relies on the Central Arctic Caribou herd – it only supplements their take … and here’s an opportunity to allow more Alaskan’s and non residents to have greater access or opportunity to harvest more caribou and maybe help relieve some of our problems in the Nelchina, Mulchatna, and the Fortymile Caribou. To take an additional few more caribou to make the cost justifications here” – Al Barrette
3. Voted against an Amount Needed for Subsistence of only 2 – 4 sheep for interior Native villages in Game Management Unit 19: March 2 – Proposal 82;
a. The Board found a positive Customary and Traditional Use of sheep in this region but would not designate an Amount Necessary for Subsistence;
b. The ADF&G supported an ANS of up to 10 sheep;
“Their subsistence needs are being met by other things but they want to add sheep to it?” – Al Barrette
4. Opposed a Customary and Traditional use finding for Native subsistence harvest of the Chisana Caribou herd, in particular the community of Northway: March 4 – Proposal 18;
a. The ADF&G Division of Subsistence provided strong evidence of traditional Native harvest. The Chisana herd will have no preference for subsistence harvest on State lands:
“Of the eight criteria we get to pick from it defers to reliance and I could not find a definition in the codified for reliance so I have to depend on my own until I get a dictionary and I did not think it fit on relying on that resource.” – Al Barrette
5. Voted against finding a positive Customary and Traditional use of black bears for rural subsistence hunters in two Game Management Units (GMU 20 & 12) despite the documented harvest of 78 black bears by rural village communities. These are the same GMU’s where he supported allowing guides to have up to 10 bait station!: March 1 – Proposal 8;
6. Voted to repeal important Native moose harvest traditions: March 3 – Proposal 89
a. In the Koyokuk Controlled Use Area the local Native community considers it disrespectful to waste the head of a moose. When the Koyokuk CUA was established the regional advisory councils formed a working group and developed a moose management plan that requested the heard of a moose be harvested in their area. AHTNA Native Corporation also requires the harvest of a moose head on their lands in the region.
b. Al Barrette opposed not only this salvage requirement but voted to repeal ALL discretionary salvage requirements in the Koyokuk CUA;
7. Opposed setting a limit on beaver harvest in the Yukon Flats region. March 2 – Proposal 95
a. The Yukon Flats Citizen Advisory council requested a limit be set on beaver harvest. Local communities felt it was disrespectful to have an unlimited harvest opportunity for beaver. Mr. Barrette opposed them;
Record of Conflict of Interest/ Disenfranchising Citizens:
1. Conflict of Interest Declarations by Mr. Barrette Personally:
a. Proposal 2: Modify Trapping Season: He wrote the proposal:
b. Proposal 3: 72 hour trap check requirement – Conflict due to potential profit: March 1;
c. Proposal 14: Modify the Fortymile Caribou Hunt – states he voted on the proposal as a Fairbanks AC member: The Fairbanks AC Notes (AC 5) state that all the voting took place at one meeting. The Fairbanks AC submitted 11 pages of comments to the Board of Game: March 4
d. Proposal 70: Authorize off road vehicle access to the Wood River Controlled Use area. Both the Board of Game and the Fairbanks AC (of which he was a member) opposed Proposal 70 that Mr. Barrette personally drafted and submitted to the Interior Board of Game meeting: March 5;
2. Key vote to oppose and revoke the Denali Wolf Buffer Zone. March 5 – Proposal 63;
a. Mr. Barret stands to profit from the decision of liberalizing trapping harvest by owning the local tannery;
b. Mr. Barrette likely voted on the proposal as a Fairbanks AC member which excludes him from voting on the proposal as a board member;
c. Mr. Barrette previously declared a conflict of interest regarding proposal 3 stating he stood to profit from a 72 hour trap check requirement. Why did he not use the same logic on this vote;
3. Opposed restricting trapping in residential areas in the Healy area
a. Even though there was extensive public comment regarding pets being caught and killed in traps and even people being caught in traps;
4. Supported a six year moratorium on accepting or discussing Denali Wolf Buffer proposals;
a. The Board is mandated by the legislature to address public concerns and this moratorium not only rebukes the legislatures intent upon establishing the board it also is quite likely illegal;
5. Actively involved in lobbying for sponsorship and passage of HB 267 prior to being appointed to the Board of Game where he voted to approve of the bill.
a. This bill would allow snow machine use in the Dalton Highway Controlled Use Area – the same region Mr. Barrette voted to increase.
b. Voted in favor of the BOG supporting HB 267. Al Barrette was tasked with drafting the letter of support. There was no public announcement regarding discussion of this bill, no public testimony, and the public never saw a copy of the letter nor has letter ever been posted to the BOG website;
“I think more access in the area would certainly be advantageous to people that like to hunt caribou, bears and moose etc. I just hate to see another Denali Highway where it’s just like a bunch of locust inundating the whole country up there. That is how we move forward on this earth.” – Cliff Judkins / Testimony in support of the HB 267 / March 6
Biblical References Regarding His Game Management Philosophy:
1. Regarding cow caribou hunting in the Fortymile Caribou herd in the Upper Yukon Tanana Predator Control area: March 4 – Fortymile Working Group Overview
“Speaking of teaching and training the next generation of hunters that are coming up, you know, to bring the younger generation out to the field to make them shoot a bull, and to teach them to shoot a bull even though there is ample opportunity to harvest a cow… I think it relates right back to our moose cow harvest where we are having to teach, like my generation, and maybe the one prior to mine, that it is acceptable to harvest cows and female deer of the cloved and hooved species…” – Al Barrette
2. In an interview for Backpacker Magazine in January 2009 Mr. Barrette quotes from Genesis:
Watch the video HERE.
“It specifically puts out in the first book of the bible, in Genesis, that we should subdue nature and control it. We should be the managers of the animals and through the sin of Adam and Eve is what brought it on”
– Al Barrette
House Resources Committee:
Representative_Craig_Johnson@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Mark_Neuman@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Bryce_Edgmon@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Kurt_Olson@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Paul_Seaton@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Peggy_Wilson@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_David_Guttenberg@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Scott_Kawasaki@legis.state.ak.us
Representative_Chris_Tuck@legis.state.ak.us
Senate Resources Committee:
Senator_Lesil_McGuire@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Bill_Wielechowski@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Charlie_Huggins@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Hollis_French@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Bert_Stedman@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Gary_Stevens@legis.state.ak.us
Senator_Thomas_Wagoner@legis.state.ak.us
Excellent. They’ll be hearing from me (again).
Please report back the vote!
Good luck to all of you on this vote. And what a beautiful, absolutely stunning photo of a wolf!
i wish you all good luck too, i feel such despair when i see what we do to this earth and it’s creatures
E-mails sent.
POM sent! This so sucks. I’m so tired of Alaska mismanaging our live resources – it’s been a really bad record! Short sighted idiots, the lot of them.
It’s ironic that those who always have to quote from the Bible to make their points never seem to grasp the wisdom the Bible is trying to reveal to them.
Thank you AKM for such a comprehensive and informative post – an excellent piece of journalism!
Shamus..ain’t that the truth..
e-mails sent.
Thanks AKM for posting this and getting the word out! Now everyone get busy on this!
Godspeed to all of you there in Alaska. We’re with you in spirit.
Emails sent, despite being from the borough that had the killing by a wolves.
Not taking the need for “predator control” on a case by case basis AND backed up by SCIENCE is unacceptable!!
Some of these methods are just WRONG!
Killing for the sake of killing is NOT right!
e-mails sent here from the interior as well, and once again, your posting is not only outstanding in its research and presentation, but highly inspirational as well
In obedience to our esteemed muckraker, here is what I sent them all. (Please correct me if I said anything out of line, & I will send it again)
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Greetings from longtime Anchoragian:
I am FOR rural subsistence priority for fish and game.
To hide behind a Bible verse and translate it without regard to the changes over time, the culture of THAT time, and actually thinking through humane management………seems like there is a lack of reasoning and indepth study.
I am OPPOSED to hunting wolves with snowmachines, and to elimination of the ‘buffer zone’ …… And very much FOR The Yukon Flats Citizen Advisory council requested limit to be set on beaver harvest. Local communities should be listened to, and they “felt it was disrespectful to have an unlimited harvest opportunity for beaver.” Mr. Barrette opposed them;
In a nutshell, from my study on these issues, I am opposed to pretty much all that I have read of Barrette’s style of management….. It is no longer an option to continue killing for sport, and because it has always been done that way. We needn’t continue the mistakes of the past. And the 6 year moratorium on accepting/discussing the Denali Wolf Buffer Zone? I would like this to be looked into regarding its legality.
Respectfully,
my name address phone and email
PS. I need no paper or phone response, just that my voice be heard.
I may not be a resident now, but I made my feelings felt in a civilized and coherent manner.
Thanks a million, AKM.
AKM thank you so much for this. I am posting at my face book group.
This is so important I love how they try to keep it all secret until the last minute!
Excellent and informative post on Mr. Barrette and the issues at stake.
Mr. Barrette’s record on his positions and votes on wildlife issues is an orgy of killing and exploitation. Unbelievably short-sighted and ignorant.
How anyone can enjoy killing wild animals for sport or anything else besides self defense is just unspeakable lunacy…!!!
When there is little or nothing in the way of Wildlife left for we photographers to capture on film. Maybe, then, you’ll change your destructive policies. But, it will be too late for your economy, won’t it?
Amazing, concise and urgent. Thank you AKM.
So. Does anyone know how it went today?
The legislature meets in joint session on Friday to consider confirmations to all boards.
What happened at the House Resources Committee hearing yesterday, I don’t know yet. Anybody?
Here’s an excellent letter posted to the Fairbanks News-Miner. (Keep those comments flowing as legislative floor vote is Friday.)
Allen Barrette Confirmation to the Alaska’s Board of game…Oppose
Jack Reakoff
114 Newhouse Street
Wiseman, Alaska 99790
Dear Alaska Legislative Senate and House Resource committee members,
I have been involved in Fish and wildlife advisory committee and Regional Advisory Council’s work for over 20 years. I am currently the Co-chair of the Koyukuk Advisory Committee, and chair of the Western Interior RAC.
I will be commenting from my personal perspective regarding Allen Barrette’s appointment to the Alaska Board of Game (BOG). I will state first off he is a nice enough guy and is industrious. That is not the question before the Legislative Resource Committees though, but whether he will uphold the legal mandates, and has the conservation ethic to perform the role as protector of sustained yield of our game, for Alaskans.
Mr. Barrette acted as a voting Board of Game member after March 1, 2010, in Fairbanks’s Interior meeting. I attended the public comment portion of the meeting and commented on many proposals for both Advisory bodies. The members of our advisory bodies are leaders in their communities, many of them chiefs. We spent several days deliberating the proposals and making recommendations to the BOG. Mr. Barrette discounted local recommendations and at times ridiculed, on the record, concerns expressed. I listened on the Internet, so am aware of his actions during deliberating the BOG proposals. I had to return home to tend my wolf traps.
Mr. Barrette several times motioned to reduce the Amounts Necessary for Subsistence, or voted to suppress the ANS amounts. These amounts are used to give Alaskan’s their priority uses, which are their constitutional right. If these amounts are reduced down ward the resource is then reallocated to non-residents. Mr. Barrette and other BOG members continually suppressing ANS because they think it is the hated subsistence priority. The reality is the Alaskans are being disenfranchised of their game resource.
Mr. Barrette voted to allocate to non-resident use or suppress resident use seasons on several occasions. This occurred for caribou season use for Chisana, 40 mile and Central Arctic herds, and Dall sheep seasons for resident hunters. Obviously Mr. Barrette does not think Alaskan’s deserve the use of their game.
Mr. Barrette demonstrated a complete lack of conservation ethic by not questioning the ADF&G alternate proposal # 104A in GMIU 26B on the North Slope, allowing 5 caribou including cows with 3-week old neonate calves after July 1. He did not question the fact that the public did not see the alternate proposal, regarding harvesting lactating cows. He voted to allow non-residents to kill five cow caribou that are skinny and nursing., leaving the calf to die.
This proposal was put forward as a caribou control strategy, yet the ADF&G’s own data states the herd is very healthy. The Department has not done a range assessment and high productivity is a primary indicator of ungulate population health. If there would be a need to reduce the herd, there are thousands of Alaskans that would like to harvest caribou. If it were necessary, and it is not, to reduce the herd, killing cows in October after the calf is weaned and the cow is in good harvest condition would be the wisest use of OUR resource. The public was not informed or allowed to comment on this new proposal, otherwise we would have been pointed out this was a bad idea, but we were not!
The Legislative Senate and House Resource Committees should not confirm Mr. Barrette. He has already done tremendous damage to the Alaskan’s priority, sustained yield, and the valid perception, that the public’s wishes are not being listened to. The current majority of the BOG has violated the public’s confidence, acts with impunity while violating sustained yield biologic parameters, and the resident subsistence preference. Mr. Barrette did not recuse him self from voting on issues benefiting him self monetarily. Mr. Barrette is a compounding factor of a building problem with the BOG process. The cumulative affect to the resources and Alaskans is damage and loss. There are many qualified Alaskans that would do a much better job working to manage our wildlife for sustained yield, with preference for Alaskans beneficial uses, and listen to make informed decisions.
Be it clear I have not applied for a BOG seat, or any one I know, my ONLY interest is heath of the resource and use by Alaskans.
Do not Confirm Allen Barrette to the Alaska Board of Game.
Here’s the link to the Fairbanks New-Miner story and comments:
http://newsminer.com/pages/full_story/push?content_instance=6950684&need_to_add=true&id=6950684#cb_post_comment_6950684
Fairbanks is home to Barrette and deep in the heart of the controversy. The article and comments are representative of the passions and insanities on all sides here.
Here’s the testimony at yesterday’s House Resources Committee hearing on Board of Game appointments.
Lots of compelling testimony as to why Barrette would be an unwise appointment. Stacks of emails and letters received. Two, as I recall, older Fairbanks residents in favor of Barrette. Two Alaska native speakers, from very different areas of the state, opposed.
While listening to the whole thing takes awhile, hearing Mr. Barrette describe himself was quite revealing. Yikes. For instance – anyone disagreeing with his beliefs about trapping is basically “uneducated.”
And in his subsequent answers to questions from representatives, one later speaker pointed out a couple of outright lies as well as deliberate waffles.
http://www.ktoo.org/gavel/archive.cfm?audio=16092&request=E53CBE4421CE2047460B109FC99467CD
However, the committee chair pointed out that it was not within the committee’s authority to _not_ forward Mr. Barrette’s appointment to the vote before the entire legislature this coming Friday. They could not quash the nomination, it has to be voted on by the entire legislature.