With 19 days left 'til the general election, my challenge for this newsletter is to avoid any topic trending toward flesh-eating politics. We get enough of that in negative general election campaign television spots. So I'll focus instead on the flesh-eating bears of Admiralty Island.
     There are a couple of proposals before the Alaska Board of Game to allow bear hunting near Pack Creek. Both slice by about one-third the closed area designed to protect the bears of Pack Creek--one of the premier international tourism attractions in northern Southeast.
     Before I begin, in the spirit of full disclosure I should note I have a bit of a history with the Pack Creek bear issue. Fifteen years ago, as a member of our local assembly, I sponsored City and Borough of Juneau Resolution Serial No. 1537. That resolution opposed a similar Pack Creek proposal offered way back then. (I should also note that in addition to authoring the resolution: I've never had the inclination to hunt bear; I've visited Pack Creek on bear viewing trips; I met Stan Price years ago and admired his passion to protect the bears of Pack Creek; and I've hunted deer and ducks in the areas around Pack Creek.)
     I am even more opposed to the new proposal than I was to the old proposal. Since I offered the resolution in 1991, the Pack Creek area has become an even more important destination for Alaskans and tourists from around the world. Thousands of locals and visitors from around the world visit this area for the rare opportunity to view brown bears in their natural habitat. These visitors support a micro-economy of guides and charter outfits. The visiting experience is well-managed and the safety record is impeccable.
     In my 1991 resolution, I made several other, non-visitor related, points that remain relevant today:

• data gathered by biologists in this area is used to manage brown bear populations around the region and state for all user groups;habituated bears will be especially vulnerable to hunters;bears in areas where hunting is allowed are not easily viewed, are very cautious and can be more territorial and aggressive; and
• 96 percent of Admiralty Island is outside these closed areas and all but a strip along the beach near Angoon is open to bear hunting.

     When drafting my resolution those many years ago, I worked with a broad range of interested Alaskans--sport hunters, bear guides, tourist businesses, and Juneau folks who appreciate the values of bear viewing in an area just 25 miles from town. They all supported maintaining the buffer area surrounding Pack Creek.
     That support has not waned in the last 15 years. If anything, it has grown. One friend and former game board member notes that the trend over the years has been that the protected buffer areas around Pack Creek, while not experiencing the high level of visitor traffic that Pack Creek experiences, are of increasing importance because they offer a "wilder" experience--an opportunity that is often favored by local residents.
     My opposition to slicing and dicing the buffer areas is shared by the Local Gastineau Channel Advisory Committee. Earlier this month, this Board of Game advisory group formally opposed opening up any of the Pack Creek buffer areas to bear hunting. Previous Boards of Game also rejected numerous other proposals to reduce the Pack Creek buffer areas. Public testimony here in Juneau Thursday evening was almost unanimous in opposition to the two board proposals to open buffer areas that have been closed since 1984.
     I submitted written testimony last week to the Board of Game reiterating my opposition. The Board will meet in Wrangell November 5-10 to consider the proposals to shrink the buffer areas. Let's just hope they don't use the fog of the November 7 general election to sneak one of the Pack Creek proposals through despite the advisory committee recommendation and opposition in Juneau. Given the opposition to the proposals, that really would be practicing blatant, flesh-eating politics instead of practicing good, balanced game management that meets the needs of all Alaskans.

Representative Beth Kerttula and I meet in the Capitol Building with Webelos Cub Scouts who are working on their citizenship badge.

Phone: (907) 465-4947 Fax: (907) 465-2108 Mail: Sen. Kim Elton, State Capitol Juneau, AK 99801   Got a scoop? Call or email your tips and suggestions to any of the email addresses below: Email: Senator.Kim.Elton Jesse.Kiehl Paula.Cadiente Web: http://elton.akdemocrats.org

Capitol Undercurrents

Good on ya--The recent PBS/Bill Moyers two-hour special on the lobbying scandal in Washington D.C. featured an interview with Gov. Frank Murkowski about his attempts, back when he was our U.S. Senator, to clean up the atrocious working conditions in the Marianas' garment plants. Despite the influence-peddling by lobbyist scandal centerpiece Jack Abramoff, Murkowski was able to unanimously pass Senate legislation designed to start to clean up the mess. Abramoff, through his buddy House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, killed Murkowski's effort on the House side. Murkowski's good efforts were one of the few highlights in the program's litany of bad acts. For me, it was a good reminder that despite the big differences I've had with this governor, his career has some high points and we need not focus on only the low ones.

It's a small world after all--While vacationing Outside, my staffer met a fellow at a social function and began chatting. He said he worked for VECO and she then mentioned she worked for the Alaska legislature. The VECO fella rolled his eyes and said: "I'm afraid some of our people might be going to jail." The reference, of course, was to the ongoing FBI investigation into apparent influence peddling.

Times change--The gossip column in the Anchorage Daily News first pointed out the irony when the Fraternal Order of Alaska State Troopers buys ads announcing they "proudly" present the Bellamy Brothers and Brewer and Shipley in concerts around the state but I still smile each time I see the ads and remember that the big hit by B&S was "One Toke Over the Line".

Does this make sense?--The Tax Division in the Department of Revenue recently held a public meeting in Anchorage to discuss proposed changes to regs implementing the new oil and gas tax (PPT) passed by the legislature. The meeting was in the ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. building. ConocoPhillips was one of the bitter foes of the taxation level adopted.