Alaska Governor Announces Appointments Made to Federal Lands Council, Fishery Panels

October 30, 2007, Juneau, Alaska – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Senate President Lyda Green and Speaker of the House John Harris today announced their appointments to the Citizen’s Advisory Commission on Federal Areas. The governor also announced her appointments to the Pacific Salmon Commission Northern Panel and the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission.

Citizen’s Advisory Commission on Federal Areas

The Citizen’s Advisory Commission on Federal Areas was created a year after the 1980 passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). It operated successfully to give a voice to Alaskans negotiating ANILCA’s complex management rules and regulations until 1999, when then-Governor Tony Knowles’ administration halted its operation by eliminating its state funding.

The commission was reestablished this year after Representative Mike Kelly of Fairbanks introduced and won passage of House Bill 87, which Governor Palin signed into law on September 28, 2007. The commission is responsible for identifying and reducing any potential negative impact on Alaska and its citizens from federal actions on any of the 239 million acres of federal land in the state.

“No other state holds as much federal land as Alaska, and no citizens have a greater stake in having their voices heard on issues related to federal lands than Alaskans,” Governor Palin said. “The reconstitution of this council will be an important way for Alaskans to make their voices heard on federal decisions affecting our home, and I appreciate Representative Kelly’s efforts to win this victory for Alaskans.”

Under the terms of the reauthorizing law, the governor appoints six Alaskans to the commission, while the Speaker of the House and the Senate President may each appoint one legislator from their bodies, and two other Alaskans. Citizen appointees must represent the diversity of users and uses of federal land in Alaska.

Governor Palin appointed Mark Fish of Anchorage, Ken Kreitzer of Juneau, Charlie Lean of Nome, Susan Smith of Chitina, Alex Tarnai of Tanana and Frank Woods of Dillingham to the commission.

Fish is a 30-year Alaskan who retired after a 20-year career as an aviation technician and helicopter crew chief with the Alaska Army National Guard. He is a hunter and outdoorsmen’s rights advocate who builds and shoots his own black powder rifles.

Kreitzer is a state corrections officer at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau who has worked as a police officer and airport safety officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician. He is a longtime Alaska outdoorsman.

Lean has 20 years experience as a state fisheries biologist in western Alaska, has worked on subsistence issues for the National Park Service in Nome and has significant experience on federal land use issues on the Seward Peninsula. He now works for the Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation as a fish research and development biologist. Lean has served on the State Emergency Medical Services Commission, the Nome Volunteer Ambulance Department and the Nome Emergency Planning Commission.

Smith is chairman of “Residents of the Wrangells,” a McCarthy-based organization of Alaskans with private land inholdings within the Wrangell St. Elias National Park, dedicated to improving relationships between federal authorities and private landholders. She and her husband are subsistence hunters, trappers and fishermen.

Tarnai is a hunting guide and trapper, dog musher, and subsistence hunter and fisherman who has lived and worked in the Nowitna area for more than 25 years, He built a cabin in the area before the creation of the Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge. He works for the National Weather Service as a weather observer in Tanana and is a private pilot.

Woods is a traditional hunter and commercial fisherman in Bristol Bay who works as subsistence coordinator for the Bristol Bay Native Association. He is a member of the Qayassiq Walrus Commission, a state-federal-Native cooperative group that manages the Round Island walrus hunt. Woods is a member of Bristol Bay Marine Mammal Council, Alaska regional director of the Native American Fish & Wildlife Society’s, a director of Dillingham’s village Native Corporation and a member of a state winter trails council.

Senate President Green appointed Rod Arno, Rick Halford and Senator Charlie Huggins to the commission.

“Federal land management is a critical issue in Alaska,” Green said. “We appreciate the willingness of the men and women on this commission to help us improve state-federal relations on issues relating to public lands in our state.”

Arno is a registered guide, outfitter and pilot with 35 years of experience across Alaska, and is a well-known advocate for the rights of hunters, fishermen, trappers and other Alaska sportsmen. He served on the board of the Alaska Professional Hunters Association from 1991-2003, and is executive director and former president of the Alaska Outdoor Council.

Halford served 24 years in the Alaska State Legislature, including two terms as president of the Senate, building extensive experience in federal-state land and resource management issues, including subsistence. Halford now owns and operates his own lodge business in Alaska, working as a commercial pilot, hunting guide and fishing guide. He is a life member of the National Rifle Association and Alaska Airmen’s Association, and belongs to the Alaska Boating Association.

Huggins is serving his second term in the Alaska Senate representing the Matanuska-Susitna Borough area. He served 25 years as a U.S. Army officer, retiring as a colonel with extensive experience in aviation operations. He has worked as a hunting guide in Alaska, and is a member of the Alaska Outdoor Council and the National Rifle Association.

House Speaker Harris nominated McKie Campbell, state Representative Wes Keller and Rick Schikora to the commission.

“This council was originally established by the late Bettye Fahrenkamp and her colleagues in 1981, who had just been through the D-2 battle in Congress, so they knew the difficult access problems Alaskans would be facing,” said Harris. “I am glad we were able to reconstitute the council, and will be able to re-assert the rights of Alaskans to have reasonable access to federal lands, which some would like to close off completely.”

Campbell is a former commissioner and deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and an assistant to Governor Wally Hickel on resource issues. He has an extensive background in legislative and policy work, especially relating to federal-state relations, with more than 10 years experience as a private consultant doing environmental studies. Campbell is an avid fisherman and outdoorsman.

Keller represents the Wasilla area in the Alaska House of Representatives, having been appointed by Governor Palin in July to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of Vic Kohring. Keller spent eight years working as a legislative aide to Senator Fred Dyson. Before that, he worked as a building maintenance and construction contractor, and served as a pilot in the Alaska Air National Guard. Keller is an avid hunter, fisherman, pilot and boatman.

Schikora is a certified public accountant and former board member of the Alaska Outdoor Council. He is a past chairman of the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce and serves on its Natural Resources Committee, and has served on the board of Golden Valley Electric Association for 21 years. Schikora is a private pilot who promotes hunting, fishing and outdoor activities in Alaska.

Pacific Salmon Commission Northern Panel

Governor Palin re-appointed Russell Thomas of Ketchikan and John Carle of Hydaburg to the Northern Panel of the Pacific Salmon Commission.

The Northern Panel provides technical and regulatory advice to the Pacific Salmon Commission, a U.S.-Canada treaty organization that manages salmon originating in Southeast Alaska/Northern British Columbia rivers. The panel helps negotiate and implement treaty provisions, offers recommendations on fish management, and reviews technical data on each nation’s annual fishing and salmon enhancement programs.

Thomas was born and raised in Ketchikan and is currently manager of Clover Pass Resort. He also serves on the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District Board of Education. He fills a seat designated for a member of the public with experience in salmon fisheries. Thomas was originally appointed to the panel in 2004.

Carle is a lifelong Alaskan and commercial fisherman who operates from Hydaburg, fishing for salmon, herring and shrimp. He was nominated as an alternate for a seat designated for a member of the public with experience in salmon fisheries. He was originally appointed as an alternate to the panel in 2005.

Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission

Governor Palin reappointed Frank Homan of Juneau to the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, a quasi-judicial independent regulatory agency that promotes conservation and sustained yield management of fisheries, by regulating and controlling entry into commercial fisheries in the state.

Homan first served on the commission from 1991-1996, was reappointed in 2003 and is currently chairman of the three-person panel. A 60-year Alaskan who grew up in Ketchikan working in his family’s fish buying business, Homan has worked as director of industrial development for the Alaska Department of Economic Development, a legislative aide, founder and principal of a Juneau-based economic research firm, chairman of the Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank, and executive director of the Southeast Conference.

Source: Alaska Governor

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