Blue ribbon committee includes a choir of voices

I’ve mentioned the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Sportsmen’s Committee (MBRSC) in past columns, but this relatively new group isn’t a well-known entity around the Valley. A lot of folks have never heard of it and don’t know exactly what this committee is or what it does.

I’ll be quoting information you can find on the MSB website. The quickest way I’ve found to get to the MBRSC homepage is to do a search from the MSB homepage. Type in “Blue Ribbon Committee” in the search box and hit the “go” button. A Google page appears. Click on “Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Sportsmen’s Committee” and you should be there. I’ve bookmarked the page for easy future access. I’d give you the website address, but it’s incredibly long.

I’ve given these directions to the MBRSC homepage because there are two listed reports the committee has contracted for that will be of interest to anyone concerned about how some of our Northern District salmon fisheries are managed (or not) and the direct economic impact of sportsfishing on the borough’s economy.

If you enjoy sportsfishing our Northern District waters or you own or work in a business related to tourism in the valley, you might be surprised at what you’ll read in those two reports. The website also has information on how to contact the MSB staff person who works closely with this committee. I’ll explain that later.

Quoting from the website, “The Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Sportsmen’s Committee was formed in February 2007 for the purpose of representing the interests of the borough in the preservation and allocation of available fish, game and habitat for sportsmen’s purposes. The Sportsmen’s Committee advises the MSB assembly and the state of Alaska Boards of Fish and Game regarding fish and game practices and policies that affect the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.”

The MBRSC is comprised of seven members: one borough assembly member, one sportsfishing representative, one hunting representative and four at-large positions. Meetings usually happen once a month from September through May and are open to the public. Watch the MSB meetings page in this paper or on the borough website for specific dates, times and locations.

The current membership of the MBRSC has one MSB assembly member, Jim Colver, and five folks with strong backgrounds in our Northern District fisheries. The seventh position is currently vacant. One of the five occupied positions is a sportsfishing guide and another is a retired sportsfishing guide. Both of these individuals have years of experience in dealing with Northern District fisheries issues on local Fish and Game advisory committees and representing those committees in front of the Board of Fisheries (BOF). Two others are retired Fish and Gamers and also former BOF members. The fifth person is a professional fisheries biologist currently working in the private sector specializing in fisheries habitat restoration projects.

While the current membership is heavily weighted toward fisheries, experience wise I think everybody also hunts and a few have trapping experience as well. The committee hasn’t put a lot of effort toward hunting issues recently because the main natural resource concerns/problems affecting large numbers of borough residents have been fisheries oriented.

By now, you’re probably thinking this is nice, but how does this all affect me? The MBRSC is looking to recruit for that seventh open position. If you are interested in submitting an application for that position, you can contact Frankie Barker, the MSB staffer listed on the MBRSC website mentioned earlier. Frankie can also answer general questions you might have about the committee. Her number is 745-7439.

I am privileged to hold a seat on this committee. Speaking from experience, if you’re thinking of applying, you should know members are expected to come to meetings prepared to work on the issues previously identified to them. This can involve a significant commitment of time in reading and studying the issues. You will be expected to represent the MBRSC through public testimony and interactions with other agencies and groups, specifically the Boards of Fisheries and Game and, occasionally, the assembly. This is a voluntary, unpaid position and joining the committee is contingent on approval by the MSB assembly.

You don’t need any special credentials or degrees. What the committee is looking for is a person with a strong interest in and passion for our borough fish and game resources and a willingness to work toward achieving better research, management and utilization of those resources by interacting with the public and the agencies tasked with managing those resources.

If you’re still interested, give Frankie a call. She’ll tell you it’s not as bad as I’m making it sound.

Let’s shift gears. Don’t forget the Wasilla Hockey Boosters’ gun show coming up. The show is scheduled for Jan. 15-16 at Wasilla High School. The hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission is $5. There are supposed to be around 150 vendors with lots of tables. I usually like to spend a part of my Saturday browsing the items, checking pricing and availability of various firearms and shooting components. I’ve even been know to buy stuff. Figure on stopping by and looking around. Your admission fee benefits the hockey boosters’ efforts and you might even find just what you’ve been looking for to complete that special shooting or fishing project.

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by e-mailing sports@frontiersman.com.