When it rains, it pours for outdoors news

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has had a full and eventful last couple of weeks. First, the Unit 13 caribou drawing hunt was declared partially unconstitutional by a judge. Then the commissioner is arrested on DUI and reckless endangerment charges in Juneau over the weekend, and this past Wednesday representatives from both fisheries divisions participated in a public meeting in Wasilla to discuss the management of our Northern District salmon stocks.

Trying to resolve this Nelchina caribou hunt business will probably give the ADF&G managers and Board of Game (BOG) members nightmares for years. The latest attempt resulted in issuing a specific number of permits to a community harvest program structured to allow the local folks a guaranteed access to the resource. The balance of the permits were then issued, with specific conditions, to random applicants.

A lawsuit was filed over the program’s preferential permits under the equal access clause of our state’s constitution. The judge found the preferential permits to be unconstitutional and voided that portion of the hunt. ADF&G scrambled to address this fiasco and part of the solution is a one-time opening of a special moose hunt.

Quoting from a flyer on the ADF&G website, “There is an addition to the GMU 13 moose season. Hunters may take one bull with spike-fork or 50-inch antlers or antlers with three or more brow tines on at least one side from Aug. 15 through Aug. 25, 2010. During the original Sept. 1-20 season the bag limit remains one bull with spike-fork or 50-inch antlers or antlers with four or more brow tines on at least one side.”

The purpose of this special hunt, as I was told by ADF&G staff, is to allow additional opportunity for hunters to harvest a winter meat supply while offsetting some of the lost opportunity from the recent court ruling. If you have questions about this hunt, and I would recommend asking about it if you are interested in participating, call Fish and Game in Palmer at 746-6300 and speak with a member of the game division staff or one of the ladies at the front counter. It’s always a good idea to know before you go.

Boy, talk about a red-face moment in your life. The story I heard was that the commissioner and his wife were returning home from a celebration early this past Sunday morning of a court opinion upholding the state’s predator control program. Apparently, police stopped the vehicle because of expired tags. The officer’s report indicated that the commissioner, Denby Lloyd, appeared intoxicated and smelled of alcohol. When asked to take a breathalyzer test, Lloyd allegedly blew a 0.143. You are considered legally intoxicated if the breathalyzer reading is 0.08 or higher.

Lloyd was arrested and charged with DUI and reckless endangerment because of the passenger, his wife, who was in the vehicle. I’m hearing that Lloyd pleaded not guilty in his court hearing this past Monday and a trial is scheduled for December. Lloyd retained an attorney who asked the judge at the hearing for the delayed trial because of other cases on his workload.

I’m also hearing the governor is concerned about this apparent show of poor judgment on the part of the commissioner. I applaud the governor for taking the position that Lloyd is innocent until proven guilty — that’s how our legal system is supposed to work! However, I suspect Lloyd will find himself unemployed if he is found guilty.

Here’s my take on this. If Lloyd is found guilty, I think he should be sentenced to the maximum extent the law allows. Given his high-profile position in the administration and the fact he has been entrusted, as commissioner, with the management of our fish and game resources as a public trust, I would question his judgment on issues were he to be allowed to remain in his position.

Having said that, we all make mistakes. If Lloyd was employed by ADF&G in any position below regional supervisor, I would object to him losing his job. However, once you become a “public figure” you are expected to conduct yourself appropriately and follow a higher standard of behavior than us regular folks. Had I done something like this during my time on the Board of Fisheries (BOF), there’s no doubt in my mind I would have been replaced in a heartbeat.

And finally, the public meeting with ADF&G was relatively uneventful. The usual problems were pointed out to Fish and Game and the same predictable answers were received from them. There was really no new information presented by either the public or the department. However, a couple of points were well made by attendees. Rep. Carl Gatto told the ADF&G staff that folks from the Northern District are tired of studies and rhetoric and want to see an action plan on how, specifically, ADF&G plans to bring Northern District salmon stocks back to a healthy status. He received an ovation from the public after his statement.

Cora Campbell, the governor’s fisheries advisor, was also present and said she would take back the message to the governor that folks are very concerned about the health and future sustainability of Northern District salmon stocks.

Folks are frustrated with ADF&G’s management approaches in Cook Inlet and I suspect will be pushing for a legislative remedy in the not-too-distant future.

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.com.