State shouldnt force regressive
hunting practices on preserves
Alaska's greatest legacy, its wildlife and wilderness, has been largely entrusted to exist and be managed in perpetuity as federal parklands and wildlife refuges, proposed to Congress by Alaskans and enacted as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 1980.
Now, Alaska Fish and Game Department Wildlife Conservation Director Doug Vincent-Lang (ADN, Sunday) seeks to force Fish and Game's regressive hunting practices onto park preserves — bear baiting, spring hunts, etc., and attempts to argue using subsistence hunters, conveniently ignoring that Alaska already lost favor and thus lost state subsistence management to federal management on federal lands. This is due to Alaska's belligerence and hostility to the rural subsistence preference in ANILCA and earlier in state law.
Vincent-Lang should be embarrassed. His own colleagues bitterly, blatantly and very publicly fought against subsistence state and federal laws in their time. Dumb argument.
As for Alaska's precious wildlife legacy, its future lies not with this misnamed Fish and Game rogue agency that can hardly conserve wildlife in its attempt to reach into our federal park and refuge lands and trash our wildlife legacy. This is pure blatant Alaska overreach.
These places are very special and were established for the greatest overall public good, forever. Hands off, Vincent-Lang.
— Jim Kowalsky
Fairbanks
Politicians alienate voters with incessant, annoying phone calls
Enough is enough please. In the past two weeks our telephone has been ringing nonstop, at least 20 calls a day, most of the time it is a two-ring hang up, or pick up and no one answers at the calling end. When we do get an answer it is a telephone "survey" about some political candidate (Sullivan or Begich) or position. We recorded seven different numbers calling in the last three days, all were not respondent on the other end or one- or two-ring hang ups.
We called our telephone provider, GCI, and requested that the numbers our caller ID had captured be blocked. What we were told by GCI customer service was that GCI charges $5.25 a month for the service and you have to stay signed up for a year, so $63 to keep these nuisance calls off my phone. The GCI rep stated that they had been getting a lot of calls recently to block phone numbers — I wonder why. I hope the political candidates are aware that they are alienating their potential voters and need to take action to stop this calling nonsense.
— David M. Schauer
Anchorage
Oil companies know how to play voters to dance to their tune
The ADN front page article of Aug. 23, "Oil tax vote divided along regions," shows Big Oil knew how to play the fiddles to keep you dancing to their tune. And with info obtained from hired local and Outside political consultants, "they" knew where to spend that $14 million so their con would do them the most good.
I'd say the Big Three just got the deal of a lifetime. We lost, they bought many billions. For a lousy $14 million.
Years ago, the sign welcoming folks to Alaska read., "Welcome to Alaska, the LAST Frontier." The "last" has long since been removed, but, I know a four-letter word that works. How about, "Welcome to Alaska, the LOST Frontier." Folks who came to the "Last Frontier" weren't so easily conned by slick ads, self-serving politicians and corporations.
Over the last 45 years, I've seen a different mindset take root. Dentists, doctors, charging inflated fees because you have no alternative but to take a plane. Or we suffer self-serving politicians, corporations, preachers, slash-burn-build developers. And let's not forget crime, urban blight, pollution, all in the name of progress. All too many come here, looking for something different only to turn this wild, beautiful state into what you wanted to get away from.
Please, build a bridge to the Valley. Let's hasten further destruction of the land, wildlife, environment with more people, houses, roads, box stores, cars, pollution, schools, hospitals politicians.
It's that mentality Big Oil, politicians and corporations target and count on. And, as the vote showed, they really know how to play the fiddle … to keep you dancing.
— Madelene Caselli
Willow
Good one Sunday, Jenkins
Exactly right, Paul Jenkins. Your best column ever (ADN, Sunday).
— Susan Sullivan
Anchorage
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