8-5-16 Feds Attack On Alaska Is Unrelenting

Agency Uses Regulatory Process to Seize Control of Wildlife Management in Alaska Refuges

Lisa Murkowski -cu-left- 5-17-10 - Chamber Cong Del - by Dave Harbour 190-1 4898x3265

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. NGP stock photo by Dave Harbour.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today slammed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for finalizing a new rule that preempts the State of Alaska’s jurisdiction over wildlife management in national refuges within Alaska. The rule grants the FWS broad authority over predator control, bans science-based practices developed by the State of Alaska in consultation with the public, and will ultimately threaten wildlife populations that are vital for both subsistence and non-subsistence purposes.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service has once again decided that it knows what is best for us, and is trampling Alaska’s long-standing right to manage wildlife in refuges,” Murkowski said. “What we know, from experience, is that this will not end well for anything but predator populations. I find it shocking that this administration’s policies are pointing to a future where we can fill our freezers with genetically engineered salmon, but not the moose and other game we have traditionally harvested in a sustainable manner from our refuges.”

Among other fatal flaws, the FWS rule fails to recognize that the State of Alaska, not the federal government, has clear primacy over wildlife management under legal authority provided by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the Refuge Improvement Act, and the Alaska Constitution. The implications of the FWS rule are also far-reaching, as Alaska has 76.8 million acres of refuges, and it will likely serve as a model for similar takeovers in the Lower 48.

The FWS rule was accompanied by an unusual opinion piece written by Director Dan Ashe, which attempts to make a case for the new rule but does not contain a single statistic to demonstrate that state wildlife management practices are ineffective. The piece is titled “Keep Public Lands Public—And The Wildlife They Protect!” – which is ironic, as the agency initially sought to extend the maximum length of temporary closures from 12 months to three years, and in its final rule extended the maximum length of emergency closures.

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About the Author: wpnorthern

Dave Harbour, publisher of Northern Gas Pipelines, is a former Chairman of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, a Commissioner Emeritus of NARUC, NARUC's Official Representative to IOGCC and Vice Chairman of NARUC's Gas Committee. He served as Gas Committee Chairman of the Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners. He also served as commissioner of the Anchorage Bicentennial Commission and the Anchorage Heritage Land Bank Commission. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree: English, at Colorado State University, a Master of Science Degree: Communications-Journalism at Murray State University and graduated from Utility Regulatory School for Commissioners at Michigan State University. He served as a Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs at Alaska Pacific University, taught bank marketing classes at the University of Alaska and was an English teacher at Los Alamos High School. Harbour served in ranks of Private - Captain during a 4-year assignment with the Army in Korea, Idaho, Georgia and Fort Meade and received the Meritorious Service Medal among other commendations. Harbour is also a past Chairman of the Alaska Council on Economic Education, the Alaska Oil & Gas Association Government Affairs Committee, the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, the Export Council of Alaska and the Department of Commerce's District Export Council. He is a past President of the Alaska Press Club, American Bald Eagle Foundation, Consumer Energy Alliance-Alaska and Common Sense for Alaska. Harbour was instrumental in founding the American Bald Eagle Research Institute (UAS), the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, the Downtown Anchorage Business Partnership, and Arctic Power. He also served as CEO of several small Alaska organizations, including the Anchorage Parking Authority and Action Security, Inc. Harbour is also Chairman Emeritus of the Alaska Oil & Gas Congress. Harbour's wife, Nancy, is a professional, performing arts administrator and his three boys, Todd, Benjamin and William work in the fields of environmental management, energy marketing and medicine.