AK Outdoor Council alert

The Alaska Outdoor Council is advising hunters and anglers that the proposed budget allocation for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is insufficient and could diminish future hunting and fishing opportunities.

Here is the text of the alert:

Please contact Legislators TODAY!
Decisions will be made this week!

Without adequate funding Intensive Management may fail…and your hunting opportunity may fail, too.

House and senate finance committees have provided the Wildlife Conservation Division, ADF&G, with only part of the funds necessary to carry out the survey and inventory work that supports predator management. An additional fund of $1.6 million in General Funds is needed as a Capital Budget allocation.

Without full funding of a survey of the socio-economic aspect of recreational fishing in Alaska the Board of Fisheries will continue to use 13 year old data to allocate fish harvest among personal use, sport, guided sport, and commercial.

The rules governing the allocation of fishery resources says the board shall adopt criteria for allocation of fishery resources and shall use the criteria as appropriate to the particular allocation decisions. The factors included in the criteria are determined by the data gathered from this survey. An additional $200,000 from our own Fish & Game Fund is needed.

Please contact the legislators listed below TODAY with a message something like this—


Dear Senator_____________________

Please approve capital budgets requests to ensure that predator management plans can be implemented under Alaska’s Intensive Game Management Law and completion of a 2007 Economic/Satisfaction Survey for Sports Fish Division can be conducted.
And please give the Board of Game funds to work with the public to fix the Tier II regulation mess in the Nelchina Basin.

Thank you.



Senator_Lyda_Green@legis.state.ak.us -- 877-465-6601
Senator_Gary_Wilken@legis.state.ak.us == 907-465-3709
Senator_Con_Bunde@legis.state.ak.us –
Senator_Gene_Therriault@legis.state.ak.us – 800-860-4797
Senator_Ralph_Seekins@legis.state.ak.us – 800-336-7383
Senator_Fred_Dyson@legis.state.ak.us – 800-342-2199