Legislators accused of favoring special interests

Second public hearing doesn't quell controversy over proposed management plan for Knik River basin

October 23, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

BUTTE - People at a public hearing regarding two pieces of legislation designed to create a management plan for the Knik River public-use area said they believe the wording of the bills unjustly favors motorized use and firearms discharge in the area.

A few people who attended Thursday's event at Butte Elementary School accused state Sen. Charlie Huggins and Rep. Bill Stoltze, who introduced Senate Bill 197 and House Bill 307, respectively, of being swayed by off-road-vehicle lobbyists.

&#8220How this bill is written, who do you represent? Your constituents or special-interest groups? Is this a land-management plan or a recreational-user plan?” Mark Simpson asked the lawmakers. &#8220I'll support your bill the day I can park my truck on the sandbar and not worry about it getting trashed.”

After the meeting ended, Huggins, who is a member of the National Rifle Association and is an avid hunter, denied being influenced by lobbyists during the crafting of this legislation.

&#8220If I was a captive to special-interest groups, I would have filed this legislation at the beginning of the session instead of at the end. This way, it gets public input,” he said.

Still, some citizens suspect groups with money and people in Juneau have tainted legislation that should have been designed to protect all user groups, in addition to the wildlife and the environment.

&#8220I think the biggest issue is that the process of arriving at a public-use area has been circumvented by a couple of legislators who've been lobbied really hard by special-interest groups. The motorized lobbyists have the ear of Sen. Charlie Huggins and Rep. Bill Stoltze,” Chris Whittington-Evans said Wednesday during a phone interview prior to the meeting.

Whittington-Evans, who lives on Lazy Mountain and is a member of watchdog group Friends of Mat-Su, testified as a local user at a public hearing two months ago.

&#8220The idea of doing something good has turned sour. It's taking a turn to be more of an exclusive right that one group has over others. There needs to be a certain amount of fairness, not the person with the biggest machine wins,” Whittington-Evans said. &#8220I'm not encouraged as a user to take my kids for a walk out there.”

Todd Clark, with Alaska Outdoor Access Alliance, disagreed that lobbying influenced the legislation. The motorized users are also constituents, he said after the meeting.

Clark said AOAA members aren't trying to drive out or deny access to nonmotorized users, and they want the same for themselves - access. There are plenty of ways to provide multi-user areas, where nonmotorized groups can enjoy the outdoors, he said.

&#8220There are trails where off-road vehicles don't want to go. We can build those for hikers,” Clark said. &#8220The way this legislation is written puts motorized users' minds at ease,” Clark testified.

The majority of the people who favored unrestricted off-road-vehicle use supported the legislation, while several people who want amendments to the bill said the wording had excluded nonmotorized users.

Many said the proposal's language only polarizes the groups more.

&#8220It's implicit that non-motorized use is allowed almost everywhere,” Rep. Bill Stolze on Saturday.

He said that was the reason that some non-motorized activities were omitted from the proposal. The non-motorized users and the people who don't use firearms will be accommodated when user-conflict is tackled during the planning process, he said.

About seven of the 35 people who testified - for three minutes each - mentioned unrestricted shooting and off-road riding activities being grandfathered in without the damaging effects or dangers being considered first.

&#8220Everyone owns this land, not just the ATV users. This legislation grandfathers in all ATV rights without studying the trails,” resident Carrie Gray-Wolf said.

Huggins said he wanted to start with legislation that allows as much access as possible to motorized users so those groups wouldn't have their access to the area whittled away.

A few argued that the number of motorized users has grown exponentially,

and the ensuing conflicts

have created a situation in which it's less enjoyable and less safe for nonmotorized recreationists.

&#8220You leaders are protecting the rights of motorized users. You need to restore the rights of hikers who've lost their rights to motorized users,” Robin McLean, of Sutton, said.

Mike Erickson, an Eagle River resident with the Alaska All Terrain Vehicle Club, said his group didn't lobby Huggins.

&#8220The first time I saw the bill was in its present form. We didn't want a management plan, but we wanted an arena for enforcement to happen. They promised this was an avenue to get enforcement,” Erickson said after the meeting.

In order for enforcement to be effective, the state Department of Natural Resources, which manages the land, would need state dollars. A fiscal tag, or cost, won't be attached to the legislation until next session in January. If the legislation passes, DNR would spend 18 months gathering more public input.

As the fine-tuning of the land-use plan continues, all types of recreationists will partake in pinpointing a solution, according to Wyn Menefee, central region chief of operations with DNR.

&#8220It's a long process. I don't want to kid anyone. We want to end up with concrete steps through meaningful participation,” Menefee said.

Some of the options might include creating safe areas, banning bonfires, closing certain trails to protect the environment, and enforcing rules more effectively, Menefee said.

In the end, participants in the process will find out whether the public-meeting forum and the language of the legislation will lead to the &#8220necessary” changes everyone is defining differently.

&#8220We look to our leaders to help bridge the groups, and we're still waiting,” Whittington-Evans said.

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252 or dawn.debusk@

frontiersman.com.#