Native rights activist and former gubernatorial candidate Desa Jacobsson began fasting Saturday to protest the state's handling of subsistence issues in Alaska's coastal zones and what she described as disrespectful behavior by one state official toward villagers.
Jacobsson accused the state of trying to limit areas of subsistence hunting and fishing. She said she sees that constricting attempt in the state's request that villagers map out subsistence spots in their regions and turn them in to state officials as part of an update to the Alaska Coastal Management Plan.
"After all those rallies, after all that work -- this is what it's come down to? Drawing little circles on a map? I don't think so," Jacobsson said in an interview Saturday. She said she wants the plan withdrawn.
Jacobsson detailed her complaints recently in an undated letter to Gov. Frank Murkowski and a list of other state officials. She also declared her intent to begin the fast on Saturday.
Randy Bates, acting director of the Office of Project and Permitting in the state Department of Natural Resources, said Jacobsson misunderstands the state's intentions. "Under no circumstances is DNR trying to limit where residents can engage in subsistence," he said. "Absolutely not."
Bates, in a letter replying directly to Jacobsson's, said the state is working "to ensure that subsistence uses and use areas are identified and protected."
Jacobsson's protest stems from a June 29 meeting in Anchorage between the state and members of the Cenaliulriit Coastal Resource Service Area, or CRSA. Jacobsson and Bates both attended the meeting.
Among other things, Jacobsson objected to the tone of the meeting. "He was pushy and bossy and insistent," she said of Bates.
"That was certainly not my impression of how the discussion went," Bates said. He described the meeting as "challenging" because there seemed to be a lot of confusion about the state's intentions in updating the Alaska Coastal Management Plan.
The plan, created in 1979, is a federally funded, voluntary program that gives state and local residents who participate a voice in federal activities and development projects in Alaska's coastal zones. The state program affects more than 115 Alaska communities, including Anchorage.
Bates said there have been numerous attempts over the last 25 years to kill or change the program. In 2003, Gov. Frank Murkowski set out to overhaul it and the Legislature went along. Bates said there was a fair bit of duplication in the state and federal laws governing the program. "You don't need two entities trying to manage the same resource," he said.
Some cheered the move as a way to streamline the program, while critics accused the governor of trying to weaken it. A closed-door meeting on the matter early last year irked the press and other members of the public who were denied access.
Final judgments are still out on the overhaul because it's still under way. That's what the June 29 meeting was about.
Alaska has four CRSAs -- Aleutians West, Bristol Bay, Bering Straits and Cenaliulriit, which includes the Yukon and Kuskokwim river drainages in Western Alaska. The groups -- made up of elected residents of the region -- exist for the sole purpose of overseeing a coastal plan for their area for the Alaska Coastal Management Plan.
Bates said the primary purpose of the June 29 meeting was to work with the Cenaliulriit CRSA on the necessary changes to their coastal district plan to bring it into compliance because deadlines are looming.
One thing the CRSAs have been asked to do is identify subsistence use areas in their region, Bates said. It is a voluntary process, but has consequences if it's not done.
If an area is identified, projects with federal oversight that might spring up there -- oil drilling, mining -- are held to a higher standard, Bates said. The developers "must avoid or minimize impacts to subsistence uses," Bates said. If the areas aren't identified, that protection doesn't exist, he said.
Jacobsson said it's ridiculous to draw a circle on a map when you're talking about whales or caribou. The animals move. The hunters move with them. And it's unfair to limit subsistence activities to those areas, she said.
Bates insisted that the state is in no way trying to limit subsistence activities: Anyone can hunt outside the designated areas without penalty, he said.
Jacobsson said she wants the plan withdrawn, and for Murkowski to issue an apology for Bates' rude behavior at the June 29 meeting. She said she would drink only coffee and water until her demands are met.
Jacobsson has gone on at least four other fasts, all over subsistence and Native justice issues. One lasted 17 days, another one 23, she said.
Daily News reporter Tataboline Brant can be reached at tbrant@adn.com or 257-4321.
