DNR has time to sue, but not serve Alaskans?

I am very concerned that the Parnell administration refused to process water rights applications from Alaska fishermen for the Chuitna River. During the same time period that the Department of Natural Resources was refusing to process water rights permits for Alaskans, it was granting outsiders permits for Pebble mine exploration.

Under Dan Sullivan’s management, Department of Natural Resources has refused to process fishermen’s water rights permits for more than four years, claiming it didn’t have enough staff. Yet during the same time period, the Parnell administration had no trouble finding staff to sue Bella Hammond and Vic Fischer — Alaska icons — for $1 million. As the court found, DNR has a statutory responsibility to process water rights applications submitted by Alaskans, and it is absurd to suggest that the state doesn’t have the staff to do so.

The Department of Natural Resources processed dozens of permits for Pebble mine without delay, even while Pebble violated conditions of permits it already had. DNR and Dan Sullivan produced fancy presentations urging the legislation to pass House Bill 77, which would let the DNR commissioner override any other state law to permit projects like Pebble and Chuitna. DNR had staff time to plan press events like a “federal overreach” conference. Under these circumstances, it simply isn’t believable that DNR didn’t have time to process water rights applications submitted by Alaska fishermen.

Fishermen and residents of Cook Inlet have submitted water rights permits known as “water reservations” for the purpose of protecting Chuitna’s salmon run. The Chuitna is an important part of Cook Inlet’s vibrant fishery. All five species of salmon spawn in the Chuitna, and what happens in the Chuitna will have a direct impact on fishermen who are based throughout Southcentral Alaska.

Cook Inlet residents and fishermen have been fighting this battle for years. When Dan Sullivan’s DNR ignored Alaskans’ water rights applications, Chuitna advocates sued and won in court. Even while refusing to process fishermen’s applications, Sullivan was spearheading radical legislation (HB 77) that would give the DNR commissioner unprecedented authority to green light projects like Pebble and Chuitna. With Sullivan running for Senate, it is unfortunate to see that DNR continues to push for mining through the Chuitna River and for legislation, which would expedite its approval.

Here in the Mat-Su, we have seen salmon runs return to Moose Creek partly because the Chickaloon Village Council has obtained water reservations for those salmon. HB 77 would eliminate those water reservations and could reverse the progress that we’ve made improving salmon runs in the Valley.

The Parnell administration should process water rights permits for Alaskans now, in the interest of protecting our salmon. Alaska fishermen should be at the front of the line at DNR. We should put Alaska fisheries first, not sacrifice them for shortsighted projects that harm the fishing industry and our Alaska heritage. Most of us aren’t commercial fishermen, but we all benefit when the state’s largest private sector employer — seafood — is growing. And many of us fill our freezers with salmon, whether we work on the seas or on the Slope.

Beverly Serrano lives in Wasilla.