Fish and Game Weakening Land-Use Regulations for Alaska's Wildlife Refuges, Sanctuaries, Critical Habitat Areas

[ed. Some of Alaska's most important fish and wildlife habitats are being threatened by its current governor and state administration. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game used to be one of the most respected and admired conservation and management agencies in the world, but relentless political meddling over the last 14 years has reduced it to a shadow of its former self.

Habitat Division in particular (which was responsible for fish and wildlife policy, planning and permitting throughout the state) bore the brunt of this manipulation. At one point it was completely dismantled and reconstituted so that it might better align with pro-development interests. Now the governor is going after the state's Special Areas - wildlife refuges, sanctuaries and critical habitats. The department leadership that he's installed will do whatever is necessary to ensure that even after this administration is gone Habitat Division (and the Department of Fish and Game in general) will be permanently crippled in its ability to provide meaningful protection for Alaska's bountiful fish and wildlife resources. Part Two of this article is here, and Alaska Public Media describes the "Battle of Dude Creek".]

While many Alaskans are celebrating the demise of House Bill 77, a far more audacious gambit to overturn state regulations is quietly coming to fruition.

HB 77 was Gov. Sean Parnell’s recent attempt to “streamline” permitting for development proposals, primarily by denying tribes and individuals the ability to reserve enough water in rivers and streams to protect salmon and other fisheries from incompatible development. It also would have excluded project reviews and appeals by the public. That bill may be dead for now; however, it’s likely to be reanimated next year.

Few people are aware of another brazen plan to “streamline” permitting because it is cloaked in secrecy. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is repealing and rewriting every management plan that regulates development in state wildlife refuges, sanctuaries and critical habitat areas. Because revoking these regulations doesn’t require legislative approval, Parnell’s secret move is more likely to succeed than HB 77. (...)

You’re probably already aware of the Parnell administration’s attempts to repeal regulations intended to conserve fish and wildlife -- or the public’s ability to review, comment on, and appeal permitting decisions by state agencies.

Parnell and his commissioners advocated giving Alaska’s coastal management program back to the feds, which meant that Alaskans now have little or no say in conserving renewable resources, such as salmon, that residents use for commercial, sport, or subsistence activities. The program had required coordinated public and agency reviews of most projects in the coastal zone and had allowed public appeals of agency decisions. Parnell is the only governor to return a state’s coastal authority to federal control.

Parnell supports the Pebble Project, which would auger one of the world’s largest open-pit mines into the world’s most productive salmon habitat. Most Alaskans are opposed to the mine for that reason.

Echoing Parnell’s preference for development at all costs, his commissioner of natural resources, Dan Sullivan, believing his department’s mission statement -- “to develop, conserve, and enhance natural resources” -- was unconstitutional, dropped the words “conserve” and “enhance.”

But the Alaska Department of Natural Resources has always been reluctant to conserve or enhance natural resources. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has long considered it its mission to conserve wildlife, salmon and other fish. Until now.

by Rick Sinnott, Alaska Dispatch |  Read more:

Image: K. Mueller/FWS photo via flickr