Appointee awaits confirmation to fish board

Kluberton, who runs Fireweed Station Inn near Talkeetna, is waiting for the Legislature to confirm his appointment to the state Board of Fisheries. A vote is expected Friday, he said. Kluberton said he's been told he might be the first person from Talkeetna to serve on either the state Board of Fisheries or the state Board of Game.

Gov. Sean Parnell on April 1 appointed Kluberton to the seven-member board and reappointed Claude "Vince" Webster of King Salmon. Webster is a commercial fisherman and currently the board chairman.

Kluberton replaces another Valley resident, retired fisheries biologist Howard Delo of Big Lake, on the board. Delo's term ended this year.

While on the Mat-Su Assembly between 2006 and 2009, Kluberton said he learned a lot about fisheries issues. He chaired the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Sportsmen's Committee, which focused on sport-fishing concerns in Mat-Su. The group drafted several proposals to be considered by the Board of Fisheries aimed at improving upper Cook Inlet salmon populations.

Being on that committee and watching the Board of Fisheries process ignited his interest in the field, he said.

"My big challenge with being on the board now is, I know some of the process but I have to broaden myself to learn more about commercial fishing," he said.

Kluberton said although his focus in the past has been on sport fishing, his presence on the state board doesn't mean Mat-Su anglers stand to gain from his appointment.

"I've got to shed that old skin of being a Mat-Su guy. I can't have that luxury," he said. "It's a statewide world."

The timing of the board meetings fits well with his inn-keeping business, which is busiest during the summer, Kluberton said. And after several months off the Assembly, he was looking for some way to be of use in the community.

"I was getting close to being bored," Kluberton said. "Fisheries is a really good chance to focus on (an issue) that means something to everybody in the world, really -- that's food being available."

Find Rindi White online at adn.com/contact/rwhite or call 352-6709.