Subsistence fishermen who want first dibs on Kenai River salmon and trout successfully argued their case Tuesday for preserving the rural Alaska dream when McDonald's comes to town.
The Federal Subsistence Board gave its final approval to a subsistence fishery for Ninilchik residents, rejecting a proposal by sportsmen to undo an earlier board decision that the village has made traditional use of the river's fish. The Kenai River Sportfishing Association and its allies tried to convince federal officials that people who eat at the Kenai McDonald's or get hip replacements at the Soldotna hospital don't suddenly become rural Alaskans when they step into the nearby river.
"They have to drive through the town of Soldotna," river fly-fishing guide Andy Szczesny told the board. "They have to go past Fred Meyer, McDonald's, Taco Bell. I think it's kind of a stretch."
Numerous written comments to the board echoed the theme: People who shop at the Kenai Safeway don't warrant a federal subsistence preference, especially on a river with easy road access for tens of thousands of Anchorage anglers.
Opponents of the subsistence fishery fear that giving Ninilchik first rights to fish -- 4,000 sockeye, 3,000 cohos and 1,000 late-run kings on the Kenai, among other species -- will force the state to restrict sport and commercial harvests.
Subsistence backers said chain stores and all of the other outside pressures that come with population growth are exactly why Native Alaska traditions need legal protections. The board sided with them 5-1 on Tuesday and then set about writing the rules for this summer's fishery.
The board approved dipnet and rod fishing for salmon on the Kasilof River and was set to vote on the same methods for other species there and on the Kenai when the Anchorage meeting resumes today.
Alaska Outdoor Council executive director Rod Arno protested to the board that the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act did not list subsistence as a protected use on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, but board officials say court precedence clearly allows it.
Kenai River Sportfishing Association executive director Ricky Gease said no part of the Kenai Peninsula is rural when compared with the others, and the river is an easy drive for 60 percent of Alaska's population.
"How many people have come onto the Kenai Peninsula? Tens of millions of people," he said.
Ninilchik Traditional Council attorney Sky Starkey said Congress predicted such rationalizations when it codified subsistence rights to preserve rural Alaska ways. ANILCA wasn't meant to halt traditional hunting and gathering just because a department store encroaches on an area, he said.
"It was about giving them a choice to continue their way of life," Starkey said.
His views found support with Native representatives from elsewhere in the state, including Timothy Andrew, the Bethel-based wildlife resources director for the Association of Village Council Presidents. After telling the board he supports Ninilchik's stance on the Kenai, he said in an interview that all of Bush Alaska may someday face the same pressures and look to the Kenai as a precedent for protecting hunting and fishing rights.
"It doesn't matter our income or what infrastructure we have in an area," Andrew said. "Our bodies, our systems, our customs, our ways of life are centered around subsistence."
Daily News reporter Brandon Loomis can be reached at bloomis@adn.com or in Soldotna at 1-907-260-5215, ext. 24.
