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Friday, January 28, 2022

Fish & Game Advisory Meeting TONIGHT – (this is not a joke)

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Why would I have to tell you that this is not a joke?  Read below.

“The Anchorage Fish & Game Advisory Committee will hold their elections for regular seats on January 4th at 7:00 pm at the Anchorage Baptist Temple Children’s Ministry Gym, located at 6575 E Northern Lights Blvd. The public that is interested in serving on the advisory committee is encouraged to prepare and provide an 81/2 x 11 bio for posting at the meeting for public review. Also on the agenda will be an opportunity for public testimony. For more information contact Steve Flory at 727-3762.”

Where to begin…

Voting is currently open for the 2010 Muddy Award for the most nefarious miscreants in Alaska politics. Guess who’s winning at the moment? Al Barrette is winning. Who is Al Barrette? He’s the guy that went on camera skinning wolves while quoting the Bible. God gave Adam and Eve fur apparently, and so it’s perfectly natural that we take this divine mandate to slay tourist wolves in Denali National Park. And, oh yes… he owns a tannery and a wolf trap company in the area.

The notion of religion and game management going hand in hand is not confined to the likes of Mr. Barrette apparently. For full effect, the advisory commission is going to elect its members (those citizens who advise the Alaska Department of Fish and Game) at the Anchorage Baptist Temple, one of Anchorage’s two evangelical mega-churches. The Reverend Jerry Prevo of ABT was one of the organizers of the “Red Shirts” who overwhelmed the Anchroage Assembly two summers ago, lining up to give public testimony on the equal rights ordinance (64), talking about how giving the LGBT community the right to employment, housing, education and use of public facilities is an outrage against good Christian folk. Yes, THAT church.

The fact that the meeting is in the Children’s Ministry Gym and that the contact person is a convicted (in his 30s) sex offender with a 15-year old paper girl involved is just a little bit of irony icing for this big crap cupcake. How did he get voted in there last year, you ask? He was endorsed by the Conservative Patriots Group! Silly.

Needless to say, with public testimony being taken and the meeting announced last minute in a venue that many progressives will be loathe to darken the doorway of… we don’t know quite what to expect. Two years ago there were 65 people at the meeting. Last year, when the meeting was held at the School District Building (I know! How secular.) there were over 500, and things could have gotten a little hinky.

I wrote up last year’s meeting HERE, and noted several things relating to the election integrity of the vote. Yes, election integrity is important everywhere. Here are my thoughts from last time:

While I was driving home, eating my brownie, I didn’t turn on the radio.  My internal dialog was going – creating a list of what I thought went wrong at this meeting.

  • No numbered ballots
  • No checking of IDs to ensure proper residency
  • No checking of IDs to verify age requirement
  • No checking of IDs to make sure names matched to avoid multiple voting
  • Improper number of spaces on the ballot
  • Electioneering happening on line with “who not to vote for” lists
  • No ability for residents of places like Homer (5 hours from Anchorage) who are represented by this group to vote absentee
  • No candidate statements available on line or in writing
  • Votes cast before nominations were even made
  • A facility which would have been unable to contain all those who showed up had they cared to stay and listen to the candidates speak
  • AND, they would not allow me to bring brownies into the meeting room, despite the fact that others brought coffee in there!  An outrage if you ask me
  • Comments

    comments

    Comments
    63 Responses to “Fish & Game Advisory Meeting TONIGHT – (this is not a joke)”
    1. Polarbear says:

      The F&G Advisory Committees used to be required to post 30 days notice before a membership election. I say “used to be required” because I have not checked the regulations recently, but such was the case in the 1990s. When the subsistence priority issue was raised 30 years ago, many Local F&G Advisory Committees used to blatantly manipulate membership by not posting notice of membership elections.

      • Man_from_Unk says:

        Polarbear, I think the 30 day notice is still required but like everything else, we have slackers in the State system. The people have to hold our public servants accountable. One or two complaints doesn’t cut it – bombard the Advisory Committee support person’s office with questions and complaints by the hundreds and maybe then something will be done about the lack of responsibility to the public.

    2. Moose Pucky says:

      Local Fish and Game Advisory Committees in Alaska are a joke. One would have to love beating their head against a brick wall to waste hours with them. Better to respond to their ridiculous recommendations once they get to the State Fish and Game Board level. Sometimes that helps turn a sorry tide–and puts much less stress into one’s own life. To those who have the stomach for attending these meetings–kudos!

      • Man_from_Unk says:

        Yup, your right on about F&G advisory committees being a “joke”. Heck up in our area, the guys vote themselves in time after time. One dude has reelected himself for going on 20 years and if you try to talk to him about issues, he is too busy checking mail at 4 PM when he should be at his job until 5. What a “joke”!

    3. Rick says:

      Just a thought about ABT’s tax exempt status. Do they have to declare the money made on the use of their facility since it wasn’t a religious meeting? And do they have to pay taxes on it? I mean, if they don’t have to pay taxes, they can basically underbid anyone as far as rental of space goes. That would seem to be an unfair advantage.

    4. marlys says:

      Too sad to be funny, though a joke all the same. a joke of the worse kind.
      Justice
      Obscured
      Kidnapped
      Embezzled

      …I am usually a lil late to the forum:)

    5. Don’t be surprised to find a little jewel of a flattop floating on Palin Pond in the near future. I suspect secret negotiations are under weigh for the Religious Right Navy to re-base the “Enterprise” in someone’s back lake until the little problem about raunchy videos is settled. When you are as important to Sarah as Sarah is, you need your own Navy and Flagship.

      • slipstream says:

        What is even funnier is that during the vice-presidential run, the US Coast Guard actually patrolled the lake with a machine-gun equipped patrol boat. It didn’t stop Katie Couric from taking her down, though.

    6. Kat says:

      AKM, hate to say it but – You’re mistaken. This IS a joke. A sick, demented joke on the State of AK – wildlife, people & the environment.
      Gawd said it’s ok to slaughter, rape the landscape & drive the people into poverty & discrimination. Jerry Prevo & Palin brought the pronouncement down from the mountain & said it was good.

      Too sick to continue!

      • Sarafina says:

        Well, to be truly subversive, why don’t a bunch of people join Prevo’s cult and destroy it from the inside? IMO it’s not like God is anywhere near that place, it would be like a hostile takeover, only getting membership in his cult instead of stock.

        Bemoaning the state of affairs on here is fun*, but with a large enough supply of Tums and other substances one could stomach the bilge and a) learn enough to expose the nuts or b) find overwhelming evidence of corruption and evil – I bet Shannyn would give exposure of adequately documented activities.

        I don’t know, but maybe shame would work. Jon Stewart managed it for the Zadroga bill.

        *I attended church twice the first four years I lived in Texas, just because I didn’t think the people in the small town around me had any knowledge of the Christianity I had grown up with near the Canadian border. It was the time of the Andrea Yates’ sentencing, and all I heard was talk of revenge and the torture they would like to put her through.

        • Kat says:

          I don’t think these people feel any shame. They revel in their actions as the “annointed ones.” Satan rules in that “church.”

          I couldn’t handle going undercover there. Never have been a good actor and am too darn blunt to contain my contempt for everything they stand for. But it’s a good idea for someone with stronger discipline. Superman – where are you now that we need you? =)

    7. arctic fox says:

      The meeting was much smaller than last year, and the board clearly had no use for anyone with ideas different from their own. The police were summoned, and from what I understand, the only remaining member with a conservationist’s bone in his body was removed from the boards table. He later re-entered the room, and sat with the crowd in silence. It was so sad to see all of these hunters and fishermen hellbent on conserving the only species they wish to kill themselves, without regard to how the animals are to continue to survive in an unbalanced ecosystem well enough to propagate enough to continue the existence of their species.

    8. Irishgirl says:

      I have given up on Alaska. Brian tells me that it is corrupt and I believe him. What a pity for a beautiful state to be labelled with this.

      • AKPetMom says:

        It’s okay, Irishgirl. Many Alaskans don’t vote for anything any longer, or we never did. We love our state and its’ beautiful countenance, however we don’t engage in any political counting process in any of the political counting exercises put forth by our state or country. Just living life and enjoying it is enough. This whole politics thing is a real downer and I and others I know are happier not being part of it.

        • Irishgirl says:

          So true…thanks for the dose of reality. I’m looking from a political standpoint only,and that is not right.

        • Diane says:

          I’m sorry you feel that way, but if you don’t vote, others will and do.
          I’f you don’t want to live in a theocratic state, where the jerry Prevo’s rule and the laws are based on the bible instead of the rule of law, then you must at least VOTE!

        • Man_from_Unk says:

          I’m sorry to say AKPetMom that your attitude is probably 99% of why we have a political mess in our state. Study Civics and see that you are not taking your responsibility as a citizen of our great country seriously. Too bad we can’t count on you and the 98% of other passive Alaskan’s to help protect our Civil Rights!

    9. Really? says:

      Since the State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game needs a large meeting area, maybe they could hold their meetings in one of the State of Alaska run Public schools in the area. This way the location of the Public meeting would be inviting and welcoming to the voting Public. The money the State of Alaska would be spending for the use of a meeting room (rent) would be put back into another State of Alaska agency. Alaska Public schools have easy to fill out forms to request the use of their building space after school. Schools are always needing extra revenue for books, supplies etc… How generous to offer a donation of some Brownies, a gift from the heart. REALLY? a religious establishment refusing a donation of food.

    10. AKPetMom says:

      Ick, ick. That’s all I can say. Jerry Prevo can pretend that he’s a normal person all he wants to; all the live long day this man can pretend to be normal but he’s a fundy freak with a tax exempt status because of his “beliefs” and he spreads hate around like it was an edict from his god.

      I have absolute hate for very few people but I do hate him and his establishment. There is no heaven or hell. I wish for him there was a terrible place for him to spend eternity, but alas, he will just be dead like the rest of us that inhabit the Earth.

    11. I See Villages From My House says:

      This venue. . .is insulting and sickening. I couldn’t think of a more inhospitable atmosphere and I’d been going to F&G meetings for years, not always, but often the only woman in the room for 8 to 10 hours a day for weeks long sessions.

      To be honest, I wouldn’t say there was sexism, but this obvious religious branding with the special interest groups, this is not the way public discourse should be conducted. Welcome to the Parnell Administration carnival, fundies to the left, fundies to the right, xtian Alaska just dug in their heels a little harder and are emboldened more than ever.

      • fishingmamma says:

        It would be interesting to see how much the state paid for the use of the building, who authorized the room rental and which other vendors were allowed to bid on that job. In organizing meetings of this kind, the state is REQUIRED to use the lowest bidder and is REQUIRED to use an open process to ensure fair competition. Seeing the meeting in a church, when there are many publicly owned venues available, makes my skin crawl.

      • tigerwine says:

        Where is Jay Hammond when you need him? I miss that man.

        • Rick says:

          Jay was a fine old time Alaskan. I had the pleasure of meeting him twice and he was a very cordial man.

        • Man_from_Unk says:

          I miss him too. He was a great leader – honest and kind but very able to hold his own. RIP Governor Hammond.

      • Sarafina says:

        Just because I don’t know, is the situation under Parnell different from previous administrations (like $arahs)?

    12. Rick says:

      I did find reference to the case tho.

      http://www.touchngo.com/sp/html/sp-5264.htm

      • Sarafina says:

        Could Flory’s non-appearance on the list be due to continuing appeals?

        • Rick says:

          Not sure what he’d be appealing? After all, he plead out and admitted his wrong doing. Maybe appealing his name on the registration?

    13. Rick says:

      I don’t find Steve Flory on the sex offender registry Jeanne. Are you sure he’s the same guy? and why isn’t his name listed on the registry?

      • John says:

        people convicted before the registration law was passed don’t have to register, I think.

        • Sarafina says:

          While I’m not doubting you, how useful is a registration that only lists new offenders? And is this a state by state or a national law?

      • calaz says:

        The reason he is not on the registry is because he is flying “under the radar”. He is in church, so it is O.K. and so is he.

    14. jimzmum says:

      Ick. I am so sorry. What a mess! I have to tell you, Illinois even grades higher here.

    15. aeroentropy says:

      As they say on the intertubes… SRSLY??

    16. WakeUpAmerica says:

      An outrage indeed!! I’m going out to rage right now on your behalf!! I’m still blown away by the blatant corruption in Alaska. Seems that the sludge slides into Florida or the crap rises to Alaska, the two most corrupt states in America.

      • ks sunflower says:

        I love your image: sludge slides into Florida or the crap rises to Alaska.

        Soon, though, Kansas may be the cesspool for the overflow from both. We here are bracing ourselves once Kobach gets his mojo working as Sec. of State under Gov. Brownback. We may give both states a breather as we become a sinkhole of despair.

        Thanks, WakeUpAmerica, for your post. I will remember your words and the images they engender for at least the next two years. Perhaps people will finally come to their sense by 2012.

        I do think all this madness makes President Obama look even better. His poll numbers are rising as the stink from the right begins to waft over the land. I had hoped he’d be able to continue work on his campaign promises, but even if he is blocked in doing so, he will still benefit from the shameful spectacle brewing on the right.

        I hope Alaskans will lead the country by example by rejecting fools like Al Barrette, Dan Sullivan, and all the others paraded before us here. If Alaska will stand up against corruption at every level, it will be noted across the nation. Wouldn’t it be grand to have our next-to-the-youngest state remind us all how to have integrity in elections, elect honest, decent people and keep corruption to a minimum in our elected offices?

        With guardians of democracy such as AKM and the other progressive bloggers, Alaska has a good chance to do so. The readers of these blogs are re-learning the importance of fair and honest elections, good and decent candidates by watching Alaskans master the lessons the hard way.

        • leenie17 says:

          The right seems to have been overwhelmed by Teh New Crazy (newly elected TPers) and Teh Old Crazy (who were always that way deep down but have carefully hidden it until now). They’re not embarrassed by their bottomless well of idiocy and they almost seem to be proud of how outrageously extreme they can be, competing with each other for the Wingnut Award of the Week.

          Like you, my consolation is that the current contest for the person who can fall off the edge of the far right will clearly demonstrate the true colors of these people. Hopefully, the independents and more moderate Republicans will join us progressives in horror at what these lunatics are trying to do to our country and to all of us middle class Americans. We should have enough time before the 2012 elections for the RWNJs to show the true depth of their Crazy, to try to obstruct even more positive and popular legislation, and to demonstrate their complete, callous disregard for anyone other than the wealthy and powerful, and for anything other than their singleminded quest for political power.

          It’s gonna be a loooong 2 years…

        • WakeUpAmerica says:

          KS Sunflower,
          Seriously? Brownback is his name? How unfortunate yet apparently descriptive. ROFLMAO!!

      • calaz says:

        Come on Arizona wins hands down. The next board they form should be used to smack them up long side the head. Then some good could happen.
        As far as the sex offender goes. They were probably in love (without her parents consent ) Pastor Prevert’s church is probably just full of all these pious types.

    17. So far as I know, Homer is represented by its own F&G Advisory Board, as are the Kenai-Soldotna and Seward areas. I served on the K-S board for two years. When I first joined, rules for board seats had just changed to broaden representation. Previously, nearly all seats had been controlled by commercial fishermen. About the time I joined, they even had a seat for personal use fisheries, to which i was elected. However, with the next big election, river sport-fishing guides swamped nearly all the seats on the committee. As is all too common in politics, the only people who want democracy are those out of power. Those powerful enough to control things use every trick available to dominate the system and divert as much public benefit to themselves as possible. I tried again and again to address predator control. I had been there nearly 2 years before I was allowed to address it. I was given 5 minutes. Then the board voted to support the Board of Game decisions to wipe out most wolves and black bears, plus a lot of grizzly/brown bears.

      It’s a pity that people who want to maximize moose and caribou populations refuse to learn about the role of predators in the ecology of these hoofstock species — that optimum predator abundance is not minimum predator abundance.

      Rates of birth and survival for moose calves depend heavily on nutritional status of the cow during spring.

      Protein supply is especially critical — which comes mainly from willow. Much of the protein in willow along many streams comes from salmon, by way of dung from salmon eating bears and wolves; also important is scat from salmon-eating scavengers that clean up scraps left by bears and wolves.

      A second big factor determining willow availability for moose is competition from snowshoe hares that may be consuming 10-fold as much willow as moose do. Fluctuations in hare numbers may be especially great in habitats where predators — especially wolves — are scarce. In other words, wolf predation on hares benefits moose.

      From the standpoint of managing wildlife scientifically rather than politically, the goal should not be wolf extermination, as currently occurs in Alaska, but optimizing wolf-prey and bear-prey relations.

      But since when did facts sway the “thinking” of Palinites? Look at their choice for head of F&G. Another travesty!

      • Note: That should read “salmon eaten by bears” rather than “salmon eating bears”

        • Sarafina says:

          Although I found your explanation fascinating (what a tangled web life is!) I was disappointed by your Note, I was enchanted by the notion of bear-eating salmon.

          Thanks for sharing good information!!!!!

          • From watching some nature programs-bears on Kodiak Island have taken a”hands-on” approach to bear-prey relationships during deer season and apparently are plumb unparticular where their protein comes from.

      • leenie17 says:

        But those are well documented and researched facts! We don’t need any of those pesky things cluttering up our heads and getting in the way of our decisions, silly boy!

      • iheartart says:

        “Willow availability” is probably right up there with “Bristol availability”, and I’m sure we’ll be learning about that in short order. Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.

      • arctic fox says:

        This was an awesome explanation. I hope you don’t mind me copying it and sharing it…

      • Man_from_Unk says:

        Hopefully the Legislature will not approve the appointment of Ms. Campbell to “head F&G”. She’s young, inexperienced and not even qualified for the position. All users of our Natural Resources should be contacting their law makers about that appointment. Perhaps the thought is that the Politics surrounding the management of fish and game in Alaska is so nasty that her nice, cute face will defuse issues? Nice and cute is for popularity contests. Managing our fish and game is more than that.

    18. Lacy Lady says:

      Maybe someone will bring brownies—made using Alice Toklas’s receipe. (she was the romantic friend of Gertrude Stein.)
      Then they would all get high!

    19. John says:

      The school district needs to fix that “no brownie” rule.

    20. Vicki Penwell says:

      If Steve Flory is a convicted sex offender, how can he even be IN a childrens area?

      The whole system of advisory committee’s needs to be revamped. And who did Gov. Parnell appoint to head ADF&G? An inexperienced Cora Campbell. The Board of Game, ADF&G and the advisory committees need to be brought into the 21st century and be compelled to follow simple rules for conducting public business – in PUBLIC! I wonder if the legislature has the stomach to do it? On the other hand with such a short session and the obsession with the natural gas pipeline, perhaps that kind of governing is too much to ask.

      • Man_from_Unk says:

        I agree that “The whole system of advisory committee’s needs to be revamped.” By some backdoor twist, the Norton Sound has two advisory committee’s – Northern Norton Sound and Southern Norton Sound. Both work as separate entities even though residents of the sound go back and forth. So in the long run, ADF&G knows that they are being guided by a handful of men and ADF&G knows that these advisory committee members serve for themselves or Special Interest. It’s all invalid because it’s a farce that the public is involved in policy making for the management of fish and game. It’s a control issue up here and the advisory committee members don’t go around advertising their meetings – sometimes 2, 3, 4 people attend and they like it like that.

    21. wavelength says:

      Alaska is a state FULL of WONDERMENT!!

    22. silverball says:

      ….WHAT!!??!….brownies NOT allowed…you know something was not right….who in their right (or left) mind wouldn’t want a brownie???….sheesh

    23. Mo says:

      Maybe a whole bunch will show up packing side arms and shotguns under the open carry law, and a gunfight will break out leaving the kids’ gyn as riddled with bullets as a roadside sign.

      Is it OK to pray to Jesus to allow that in a church? Maybe if goons only got shot in their feet, either during drawing their weapon or trying to make their opponent dance?

      • St. Elias says:

        Remember when Prevo delivered his “Kill a liberal for Christ” sermon? In case you don’t, I’m not joking, he actually did that. Must have been at least 15 or 16 years ago.

        What happened was that during the course of the message he got going on gun control. (Of course, a huge percentage of his congregation are gun whackos, and a significant number probably have ammo reloading operations in their basements.) During the delivery he mentioned that he had a hand gun and he would never give it up. “After all, I might need to kill a liberal someday.”

        If you have ever listened to one of Prevo’s sermons you will note a characteristic of his is to throw cheap shots. When challenged, after the public ire has been stirred, he essentially back peddles by disguising his remarks with indications that he was “joking” or speaking “tongue in cheek”. He is the ultimate theological and political cherry picking ideologue. Almost every sermon I have heard him utter is terminated with some sort of hate rhetoric.

        In that instance, he really did get folks stirred, it took two weeks for the word to leak out, but the Anchorage Daily News even went so far as to print the sermon in its entirety.

        Nope, that is not a Christian Church. Some call in the Anchorage Temple of Hate.

    24. Sarafina says:

      Is this for real? I’m in Texas, no bastion of modernity, transparency, or nonpartisanship, and you guys sound primitive. Although South Carolina and Arizona are definite competitors for Sheer Ignorance/Bigotry, you all definitely win in the Electoral Dirty Tricks category.

      WTF?

      • Man_from_Unk says:

        Alaska – the land of “Electoral Dirty Tricks”. Several of us are working on cleaning it up a little at a time. Alaskan’s in general dislike politicians because they coat their words with too much BS.