Advisory committee ponders game proposals

PALMER — The Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee already has had a busy 2016, and it promises to get even busier in the coming weeks.

The local advisory panel to the state boards of fish and game is currently working on commenting on a raft of statewide proposals ahead of a March 18-26 Board of Game meeting in Fairbanks. The group has two more meetings scheduled this month.

In 2015, the Board of Game changed its meeting schedule from a two-year to a three-year cycle, with proposed regulations for the five regions of the state to be considered every three years along with all statewide regulations. Those statewide regulations will be addressed at the March meeting.

At its Jan. 6 meeting, the committee focused on 23 Dall sheep and mountain goat hunting proposals that ranged from changes to harvest limits and seasons to the highest profile issue: proposals to amend or eliminate a Board of Game measure from last year aimed at regulating aerial sheep spotting.

Last March, the board approved a regulation for the 2015 season that prohibited hunters from using planes to scout for sheep from Aug. 10 to Sept. 20.

Labeled proposition 207, the measure was brought forward by the board in what it called a response to complaints of overcrowding among guides, transporters as well as resident and nonresident sheep hunters. It was based in part on a board-sanctioned survey by the University of Alaska Fairbanks which revealed that aerial spotters disturbed ground-based hunters by a disproportionate amount.

The part of the measure in contention reads:

“From August 10 to September 20 aircraft may only be used to place hunters and camps, maintain existing camps, and salvage meat and trophies while used for the purpose of Dall sheep hunting. Using an aircraft for the purpose of spotting sheep or locating Dall sheep during the open season is prohibited.”

The measure was widely opposed by hunters who use aircraft to spot sheep as well as the 2,400-member Alaska Airman’s Association, a general aviation group. It also drew opposition from several advisory committees, including the 16-member Valley group.

Among the proposals headed for Board of Game review in March comes from the Valley advisory committee, which is calling for the repeal of the restrictions on the use of aircraft. The committee’s proposal points to a lack of support of the measure from Alaska Wildlife Protection Troopers due to enforcement issues, a potential disruption of some mid-season sheep draw hunts and “does not help at all with the crowding problem, which was the number one complaint that came from …. (the) sheep hunter satisfaction survey. If anything, this proposal will make crowding worse during the early season period.”

Member and hunting guide Dan Montgomery said in the Jan. 6 meeting that the Board of Game “still voted for this despite what I think was 3-1 public opposition against it.”

Committee member Israel Payton is the Valley representative to the statewide Dall sheep working group, established by the Board of Game last year to address potential sheep regulations. He told the panel he needed a clear message from the Valley group in defining its position on proposition 207.

“Proposition 207 isn’t going away,” Payton said. “It has had plenty of opposition, but it is a classic example of the system working but the board not listening.”

The committee’s next meeting set for 7 p.m. Jan. 13 at the MTA building at 480 Commercial Dr. in Palmer.

Contact reporter Steven Merritt at 352-2269 or steven.merritt@frontiersman.com