Updating recent outdoors issues

Over the past several weeks, I’ve touched on a number of topics, not all of which were completed when I wrote about them. I’d like to give a progress report of where we are on a couple of them.

You may remember that I attended the statewide Board of Game meeting in Fairbanks this past March hoping to get the board to allow the use of blackpowder cartridge rifles for hunting bison. I thought the requirements listed in “weapons legal for hunting bison,” as found on the department’s website, applied to all three herds of bison (Farewell Burn, Delta Junction, and Copper River). As it turns out, there are no specific weapons requirements for the Farewell Burn or Copper River herds. The listed requirements apply only to the Delta Junction herd.

These requirements are discretionary policy from within ADF&G — they are not regulations. The BOG has the authority to create a regulation addressing this issue, but in matters of discretionary policy, the board tends to defer to the department.

The upshot of this was that the BOG voted to take no action on this proposal based on the comments from Bruce Dale, the Director of the Wildlife Conservation Division, that the “message” about this oversight was heard loud and clear and corrective steps would be taken.

That was almost two months ago. Since that time, I have been asked by both the president of the Mt. McKinley Mountainmen muzzleloading club and the president of the Alaska State Muzzleloading Association where things stood in making this correction. Both men offered whatever help they could provide me in working with ADF&G to accomplish this change. Both groups are very supportive of allowing blackpowder cartridge rifle use in hunting bison because many of the members of both groups also shoot BPCRs.

I recently checked the department’s website and blackpowder cartridge rifles had not been added to the list. I called and spoke with a high ranking wildlife division official to inquire about where things stood in making the addition. I was told, “The requested additions are in progress.”

To put that answer in perspective, the upper-echelon folks who would deal with these changes have been tied up in dealing with the never-ending legislative session concerning budgets and other pending wildlife-oriented legislation. There have also been a few personnel changes in positions involved in managing these bison herds. It takes time for new folks to come up to speed in any management position in ADF&G. I suspect that an internal review of department use of discretionary authority in these situations may also be a part of the process before any changes are made.

I’m not defending anybody and I’m not making excuses for the department. In matters of public policy, such as this request, the department folks need to get it right the first time and that can take some time – I understand that. I just hope things don’t get lost in the mix with all the other stuff happening which requires staff attention.

I’ve gotten comments from readers about my on-going descriptions of getting my six-wheeler set up the way I want and my hope to use it for bear baiting this spring. Right now, the machine is sitting in a shop in Wasilla waiting to get a heavy-duty skid plate assembly installed.

This was the last major upgrade I had planned for the unit. Everything else was complete. The ATV has been sitting for almost three weeks waiting for the work to be done. I had been put off a week prior because of some delays the business encountered in finishing another project. Then, after I delivered the machine for “my turn,” the entire crew got sick – another week or so lost! As folks got healthy and returned to work, the accumulated backlog of projects, besides my stuff, had to be addressed – more delays. That’s a month of lost time. Coincidentally, the bear baiting season has now been open for four weeks!

I’m told my machine will be finished today. This is the fourth “finished by” date I’ve been given since this all started. I hope it is finally true. I’ve essentially lost this season for bear baiting because of these delays. The best I can hope for now is getting out and finding a potential site for next spring.

I understand that things happen and delays occur. The folks have been apologetic. In the big scheme of things, it’s not the end of the world but it can seem like it!

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This column is the opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman or its parent company, Wick Communications. You can leave Delo a message by emailing sports@frontiersman.com.