Board wants Habitat Division restored
Reversal: Fisheries panel wants agency returned to Fish and Game Department

December 17, 2006
Anchorage Daily News (AK)
By ELIZABETH BLUEMINK

The state fisheries board wants Gov. Sarah Palin to add another item to her growing list of scratched-out Murkowski actions.

The board voted unanimously last week in Dillingham to ask Palin to return the state's Habitat Division to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Plucking the Habitat Division out of Fish and Game and inserting it in the state Department of Natural Resources was one of former Gov. Frank Murkowski's more controversial moves in 2003.

By executive order, he shifted more than 38 people involved in approving state permits for projects located in fish and wildlife habitat. About 28 other Habitat Division employees were shifted to different jobs at Fish and Game. Twenty-two jobs were eliminated.

In announcing his decision, Murkowski accused Habitat employees of delaying resource development in Alaska -- on projects ranging from a proposed golf course in Juneau to a hydroelectric project near the Taku River.

Many people, including five former Fish and Game commissioners, protested the governor's order. They pointed out Fish and Game biologists churned out permits -- for construction and other development in areas used by fish -- on a timely basis.

Others say the predictions of ruined fish habitat have not materialized.

"I'm not sure anyone's proven that it's not working over there," said Rick Harris, executive vice president of Sealaska Corp., the regional Native corporation for Southeast Alaska.

The Resource Development Council of Alaska claims that the people who protested the change haven't proven harm as a result. "It seems to be working and we don't see a need to change it," said Jason Brune, the executive director of the pro-business group.

As for permitting, in 2002, the typical turnaround for a habitat permit was 13 days. In the past several years, the turnaround time for permits has varied between 15 days and eight days, according to DNR.

But others say the real problem is that the voice of fish biologists has been muted and protecting fish habitat has been a lower priority in recent years.

The DNR commissioner now decides what's best for fish and wetlands, testified Lance Trasky, a former Fish and Game regional supervisor for habitat, at the board's meeting in Dillingham.

Trasky, who lost his job in the Habitat Division as a result of Murkowski's order, points to recently-permitted mines, such as the Kensington gold mine near Juneau and the Rock Creek gold mine near Nome. In the past, Fish and Game "would have been a prominent player. It just isn't anymore," he said.

The seven-member Board of Fisheries voted last week to send a letter to Palin asking her to reverse portions of Murkowski's order -- in particular, returning the responsibility for habitat protection to Fish and Game.

"It's important that our fish and game resources are controlled by Fish and Game," Mel Morris of Kodiak, the fisheries board's new chairman, said in an interview Thursday.

That letter is still being drafted, board members said.

A few board members said last week that Fish and Game's lost authority is of some concern now in light of exploration of the massive Pebble mineral prospect near Iliamna Lake.

Fish protection is one of the defining issues at Pebble. The copper and gold deposit is in a portion of the headwaters of Bristol Bay -- home to the world's largest sockeye salmon run and the state's largest king salmon run.

Palin's staff did not return calls for comment about the board's proposal Thursday or Friday.

The new governor hasn't hesitated to void some other Murkowski decisions.

Palin vetoed the former governor's decision to build a pioneer road from Juneau to the Kensington mine on Thursday.

Last week, she canceled a few of Murkowski's recent state board appointments. Palin is also studying the cost of separating state fish and wildlife police from the state troopers. Murkowski had merged the two.

Today, DNR employs 38 people statewide in its habitat office.

Kerry Howard, DNR's executive director for the Office of Habitat Management and Permitting, said she wasn't aware of whether Palin's DNR transition team has discussed the placement of the habitat biologists.

The Fish and Game transition team hasn't discussed it -- at least not yet, said Fish and Game transition team co-leader Ken Johns.

Date: 12/17/2006