ADF&G Press Release
Denby S. Lloyd, Commissioner
Tim Barry, Communications Director
P.O. Box115526
Juneau, Alaska 99811
Phone: (907) 465-6137 • Fax: (907) 465-2332
Press Release: No. 07-16, July 27, 2007
Contact:
Tim Barry, Communications Director at (907) 465-6137
State Re-scores, Re-issues Subsistence Permits for Nelchina Caribou and Moose
(JUNEAU) – The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) today re-issued more than 3,000 subsistence permits to hunters of caribou and moose in the Nelchina basin. The Department had initially awarded the permits using a scoring system developed by the Alaska Board of Game after many years of public discussion and deliberation, but a judge’s ruling last Friday invalidated all the 2007 permits, and ADF&G re-scored them.
"It’s regrettable that the judge decided to intercede so close to the beginning of these hunts,” said Denby Lloyd, ADF&G Commissioner. “In compliance with the ruling, however, we have gone ahead and re-scored the applications quickly to minimize additional last-minute disruptions to hunters and families.” The caribou hunt in Game Management Unit 13 is scheduled to open on August 10 th, and the moose hunt starts on August 15 th.
This spring, ADF&G evaluated 8,189 applications for the 3,000 caribou and 150 moose Tier II subsistence permits, applying the criteria adopted by the Board of Game in March after an extensive, open, public process. Among other things, the board’s plan zeroed out the score of an applicant with an annual income higher than $51,640 for a family of 4 or fewer members.
In the ruling last Friday, State Superior Court Judge Jack Smith ordered ADF&G to re-score the applications, saying the state improperly used income as an overriding determining factor, rather than as one of several factors, for many applicants. Following the court's instructions, ADF&G officials this week reviewed every permit application; but this time, applications were not automatically zeroed out for exceeding the income cap. 3,150 people were awarded Tier II subsistence permits based on their scores on a combination of criteria, including their history of hunting in the area and their access to alternative sources of food. After the re-scoring, 1,295 permits were given to applicants who had not been awarded them under the regulations originally outlined by the Board of Game. Following the judge’s order not to zero people out based on a high income level means that 66 additional Anchorage area residents and 51 more from the Nelchina Basin will receive permits. Under these same guidelines, 112 fewer residents of the Mat-Su Valley and 27 fewer Fairbanks residents who qualified under the original criteria will not be awarded permits for 2007.
“The income cap provisions of the Board of Game’s scoring regulations for the Unit 13 Tier II hunts were certainly controversial,” Commissioner Lloyd said. “But the board members put in several years of hard work on their plan, and they held numerous public hearings around the state. We are still evaluating our legal options, and haven’t ruled out anything in the ongoing lawsuit.” Judge Smith’s ruling came on a motion in a case filed by the Ahtna Tene Nené Subsistence Committee and several individual hunters against the state.
The complete list of Unit 13 Tier II Subsistence Permit applicants who received the permits is available online at http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=interdt2.dt2main .
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