ATV hearing, moose opening timing is coincidence, mayor says

WASILLA — A public hearing on a proposed ATV ban will go forward despite coinciding with the first day of moose hunting season.

Conspiracy-minded opponents of the ban and Facebook users had pointed that out as a peculiar coincidence. Some ban opponents say out of necessity they will be moose hunting at that time instead of attending the public meeting.

Mayor Verne Rupright’s office responded to inquiries on the subject with a two-page fax showing that the city council approved the 2014 schedule in Oct. 14, 2013, and among the dates approved at that time was Aug. 25.

The idea that officials had conspire to arrange the dates in their favor was laughable, he said.

“Tactical strategic operation, that’d be better than Patton and Eisenhower, and they could only see three to six months in advance,” Rupright said.