Looking back on the last 12 years

I thought I’d take a different approach to this week’s column. August marks my anniversary of writing an outdoor-oriented column for the Frontiersman and I thought it might be interesting for both you and me to remember some of the things that have happened over the time this column has been published.

I had to look back, way back, to find the date of my very first column. It was Aug. 4, 2002. This current column marks the beginning of my 13th year being published.

I know. It surprises me too!

I actually began with the Frontiersman on Sept.21, 2001, with the publication of a moose hunting story I had written. Back then, Eowyn Ivey, the internationally renowned author from Palmer, was a reporter and outdoor writer for the paper. She ran an advertisement soliciting outdoor-oriented stories for the paper. I sent her that moose hunting story. She liked it and after some extensive editing (I didn’t say it was ready for publication), it was published.

I had a portfolio of hunting stories I had been working on since my retirement from Fish and Game in 1999. I submitted several to Eowyn over the next year and saw nine of them used in the Frontiersman, covering topics including more moose hunting, black bear, and Sitka Blacktail deer hunting and bowfishing for pike. A long-term friendship developed through an interest in guns and hunting and a couple of family-oriented stories centered on hunting and inheriting my grandfather’s rifle. In July of 2002, Frank Ameduri, then the managing editor, called me and asked for a meeting. He offered me a weekly column opportunity with the paper since they were expanding from two to three issues a week.

I actually hesitated in accepting because I wasn’t sure I could come up with interesting stuff every week, but I said I would try. Here we are 12 years later and, thanks to your loyal support in reading this column, I’m still here and able to reminisce about things. It’s been a unique opportunity, a lot of fun, a fair amount of work, and hasn’t always been pleasant.

I tend to speak my mind and that has gotten me into some “tight” spots over the years. For instance, I “sparred” with Mark Kelsey, then the managing editor and now current publisher of this paper, over the proposed voter initiative to ban black bear baiting.

That was fun.

I’ve been accused of beating my wife because I took a hard stand against hardcore animal rights activists. (Figure that one out!).

I criticized the Murkowski administration over their merger of the Alaska wildlife troopers into the criminal “blue shirt” division and its resultant reduction in wildlife enforcement. That drew a couple of response articles from the then commissioner of public safety.

When I was a member of the Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF), I wrote several columns expressing my thoughts on issues concerning the board. Not all of them were complimentary toward Fish and Game. I heard about those indiscretions several times, usually in a raised tone of voice, from the then commissioner and deputy commissioner. I also received criticism from some readers for being “too nice” toward Fish and Game concerning those same issues.

Darned if you do and darned if you don’t!

I’ve occasionally stepped away from the column format and written news-oriented material for the Frontiersman as well. I wrote a series about the wildlife troopers, an article about proxy hunting and fishing, the roadkill program, illegal moose kills, BOF activities, fishing news, dipnetting, gun legislation, and other such over the years. Several folks I interviewed for the articles have become good personal friends, once they figured out I wasn’t trying to “get” them. There is a touch of public distrust toward newspaper writers.

The editorial staff at the Frontiersman has been very accommodating over this timeframe. They’ve had to rein me in on occasion if my topics strayed too far from things directly affecting Valley residents and have corrected some of my statements through fact checking before publication to make sure I wasn’t spreading false information. For that, I thank them. I also thank them for letting me be me in my opinions and comments, even if individual editors held different personal beliefs.

I also want to thank you, the readers, for following this column over the years and submitting feedback to the paper, both in support or opposition to my thoughts. Without you, I wouldn’t be doing this!

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