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Tough job begins for panelists
SUBSISTENCE: Leaders asked to envision end to conflict.
By Tom Kizzia
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: August 15, 2001) Imagine Alaska with no more bitter conflicts
over subsistence hunting and fishing.OK, now figure out a way to get there
from here.Forty influential Alaskans are being asked to use their
imaginations starting today to settle the subsistence conflicts that have
held the state in political gridlock for more than a decade. The two-day
Subsistence Leadership Summit will draw business, labor, Native and religious
leaders together with just a few of the elected politicians who have so far
failed to find a way forward.The public is invited to observe the talks at
the Egan Civic & Convention Center.As governor, Tony Knowles has often
resorted to task forces and blue-ribbon panels to hash out politically
divisive issues and generate political momentum for a solution. In this case,
the generally moderate leaders invited by Knowles are being asked to speak
their own minds rather than deliver speeches for their organizations,
administration officials said."We want to get at a vision of where we would
like the state to be, rather than get immediately into all the little twists
and turns of subsistence," said Knowles spokesman Bob King.The invited
panelists will meet in large sessions and then break into smaller groups to
discuss such questions as "Where will we be in 2006?" and "What common values
do we hold as Alaskans?"The summit will be chaired by Tom Stewart of Juneau,
a former Superior Court judge and constitutional convention secretary. The
facilitator will be former state Rep. Brian Rogers of Fairbanks.Subsistence
hunting and fishing in Alaska are subject to conflicting federal and state
laws. For years, Knowles' efforts to put a state constitutional amendment
before voters to allow rural residents a subsistence priority have been
stymied in the Legislature. Conservative Republican legislators say it's the
federal rural-priority law, not the state constitution, that should be
changed. The result has been growing urban-rural tensions and disaffection
among Alaska Natives, who contend that subsistence is essential to their way
of life. Urban sport hunters and anglers, meanwhile, contend that access to
fish and game is important to their culture as well. The conflict has also
meant a fractured system of managing fish and wildlife on federal and state
lands.Now Knowles faces an Oct. 4 deadline for deciding whether to go to the
U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the federal government's right to manage
fishing in Alaska. Some Republicans have threatened to impeach Knowles if he
fails to keep fighting the federal fisheries takeover, while Native leaders
say an appeal of the so-called Katie John court decision would put an end to
Knowles' once-strong political support from Natives.Earlier this summer,
Knowles said he was considering a special legislative session on subsistence.
But after counting votes, he opted instead to build pressure on legislative
leaders with this week's summit.Knowles said his three goals are to protect
the rural subsistence life, regain management control of fish and game for
the state, and bring Alaskans back together.The makeup of the summit panel
looks stacked to Carl Rosier, president of the Alaska Outdoor Council, a
group that opposes a broad rural preference for subsistence."I was not very
enamored with the listing. It looks like a 36-3 group," Rosier said.Also not
well-represented are village leaders from places in rural Alaska where
subsistence is often touted as an inherent tribal right.The Alaska Federation
of Natives has held meetings in recent days to bridge the divergent Native
opinions on subsistence rules. A position paper released late Tuesday listed
four agreed-upon positions:no appeal of the Katie John decision;co-management
of fish and game involving tribes;a plea for a strong constitutional
amendment;exploration of the possibility of Congress imposing a pre-emptive
statewide vote on a constitutional amendment if the Legislature fails to
act.One Native participant said this week he hopes the summit shines new
light on subsistence for the public."My main goal is educate the newcomers
about how important this issue is to Alaska Native people and what we've
given up so far," said Mike Williams, chairman of the Alaska Inter-Tribal
Council, who fishes in rivers near the village of Akiak nine months a year to
feed his family. "People keep coming from the outside and don't seem to
really understand the subsistence way of life."Reporter Tom Kizzia can be
reached at 907-235-4244 or [EMAIL PROTECTED].
Summit on TV, radio, Web Television viewers will be able to watch this week's
subsistence leadership summit through the Alaska Rural Communication Service,
which serves more than 200 villages; Alaska TWO, the public television
channel for Gavel-to-Gavel broadcast on 30 cable systems across the state;
and the University of Alaska learning cable (Channel 42 in Anchorage, Channel
21 in Fairbanks, and Channel 18 in Juneau, via GCI Cable). The television
coverage will be close-captioned for the hearing impaired.The Alaska Public
Radio Network will provide a satellite feed to all radio stations across the
state. Stations confirmed to air all or part of the proceedings include KBRW,
Barrow; KNOM, Nome; KYUK, Bethel; KNBA, Anchorage; KSKO, McGrath; KBBI,
Homer; KDLL, Kenai; KCAW, Sitka; and KCUK-FM, which airs in Chevak, Hooper
Bay, and Scammon Bay.Internet users will be able to watch a live Web stream
via the University of Alaska's servers in Anchorage and Fairbanks and via
KTOO's Gavel to Gavel coverage in Juneau. Access to the webcast, summit
agenda, list of conferees, digital photos, and other information can be found
at www.gov.state.ak.us/subsistencesummit/.A comment line is available at
[EMAIL PROTECTED].ak.usThe session runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. today
and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday.
"Never cease in the fight for peace, justice, and equality for all people. Be
perisitent in all that you do and don't allow anyone to sway you from your
conscience.".....Leonard Peltier
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