Subsistence, snowmachines and PETA — oh my

This column will tie up a loose end and pass along various bits and pieces of information about the Federal Subsistence Board, snowmachining, and the latest tactics PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) are pursuing.

A while back, I mentioned a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was negotiated between the Federal Subsistence Board (FSB), the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), the Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF), and the Alaska Board of Game (BOG) regarding management of subsistence activities on federal public lands. A meeting on Nov. 3, 2008, was held in the hope that all parties would sign the document.

That didn’t happen!

At that meeting, representatives of the three state entities signed off on the document, but one member of the FSB balked at signing that day for what were considered procedural concerns for the federal process. The chair of the FSB assured the state that the document would be signed by all members of the FSB sometime this past December, after the procedural concerns were addressed.

That happened!

There now is a formal agreement between the state of Alaska and the FSB on how to deal with subsistence issues on federal public lands in Alaska. The document isn’t perfect and doesn’t address every possible scenario which might arise, but there are provisions in the MOU which spell out how the State and the FSB should work together to resolve any conflicts or discrepancies. Given our multi-agency approach to subsistence management in Alaska, this is a major step forward in dealing with this issue.

The following is from an International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association flier I recently received: “The snowmobile community is excited to announce ‘Go Snowmobiling — Take a Friend Snowmobiling Week,’ which will be held Feb. 14-22

This elongated week celebrates friends and family snowmobiling for nine days, including two weekends. The snowmobile week was introduced to go hand-in-hand with the Take a Friend Snowmobiling campaign, which has been developed to encourage all of us to take our non-snowmobiling friends out snowmobiling.”

The flier continues, “Snowmobiling is a great winter family fun activity and research has shown that non-snowmobilers have a strong desire and a high level of interest to go snowmobiling. The community is encouraging snowmobilers from all walks of life to take their non-snowmobiling friends for a short snowmobile ride to enjoy winter’s splendor.”

I don’t know if any of the local snowmachine clubs are sponsoring this activity, but you can always do this on your own.

On a related note, there’s something like 225,000 miles of marked and groomed snowmachine trails in North America. Some of that mileage is found right here in the Valley. Somebody has to mark, groom, and maintain these trails. If you use any marked and groomed trails, here’s a chance to give a little back towards maintenance.

The Mat-Su Trails Council and the Big Lake Trails group are sponsoring a trail clearing event on the Iron Dog Trail from Jan. 23 through 25. Up to 20 hardy volunteers with chainsaws and their own snowmachines are needed to clear a one-mile section at Cow Lake. Crews depart daily from Flat Lake launch at 9 a.m. to the worksite eight miles down Trail No. 6 at Little Cow Lake. If you can, your help would be greatly appreciated.

And finally, PETA is trying a new approach in their continuing efforts to give animals the same rights and status as humans. I just received an e-mail from a friend which had a link to a PETA website. I went there and found out PETA is trying to stop fishing in any form by promoting a change from the name “fish.” PETA feels that the new name, “sea kittens,” better portrays a true sense of what these creatures are.

The website is oriented heavily toward children and promotes how unhealthy fish are to eat and how much they “suffer” when hooked by anglers. I didn’t explore the whole site, but I didn’t find any reference to fish eating each other – I guess that’s okay. It’s just man eating fish that is a terrible and shameful act.

I looked in their FAQ (frequently asked questions) section and was a little taken aback by the response to the question: “Didn’t Christ eat fish?” The reply was that we shouldn’t be concerned with what Christ did, but rather what we are doing. I guess that’s one way to brush off a point many people take very seriously!

This is a free country and folks are allowed to believe and do whatever they want as long as it is legal and doesn’t infringe on someone else’s rights. If someone wants to be a vegetarian or a vegan, that’s fine with me. But why do these same people demand that I have to be like them?

I have never advocated forcing someone to own a firearm, go hunting, go fishing, or eat meat. I’ve always tried to be a “live and let live” kind of person. I would appreciate the same courtesy from folks with a differing point of view!

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.