AR-News: Hunting, fishing restrictions ruffle village feathers

[jim robertson]

Hunting, fishing restrictions ruffle village feathers
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE: Villagers prepared to break law to show disapproval.

By R.A. DILLON
The Tundra Drums

(Published: May 9, 2004)
BETHEL -- Village leaders in Southwest Alaska are threatening civil 
disobedience to protest recent federal and state restrictions on subsistence 
hunting and fishing.

Delegates to the Association of Village Council Presidents voiced their 
opposition to changes in federal migratory bird regulations and 
state-mandated closures to subsistence salmon fishing in the Yukon-Kuskokwim 
Delta at the council's midyear convention here late last month.

The nonprofit council provides social services for 56 Yup'ik Eskimo villages 
in the delta. Leaders from a majority of those villages told the council's 
board of directors that they were prepared to break the law to show their 
disapproval of restrictions placed on their traditional lifestyle.

"They're saying no to government authority that they think is wrong," said 
Eric Johnson, attorney for the nonprofit council.

The revolt has been spurred by two governmental decisions -- one federal, 
one state.

A recent change to federal law regulating the spring hunting of migratory 
birds ruffled feathers over language requiring subsistence hunters to 
purchase licenses for the first time. State regulators are being blasted for 
a decision to reduce restrictions on commercial salmon fleets while limiting 
subsistence fishing on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers.

While recent changes to federal law legalized the spring hunting of 
migratory birds and collection of their eggs for all rural Alaska residents, 
opponents say the new law over-regulates the traditional harvest by Alaska 
Natives by requiring hunters over the age of 16 to purchase a federal duck 
stamp and state hunting license.

"We ought to celebrate the legalization of the migratory bird treaty," said 
Myron Naneng, president of the Bethel-based council. "But by placing 
restrictions on us, it dampens the celebration."

The Yup'ik Eskimos of Southwest Alaska traditionally have relied on the 
migration of ducks, geese and swans for sustenance between the end of winter 
hunting and the arrival of the first salmon in early June. Under a previous 
agreement, harvest of migratory birds in spring was illegal, but federal 
officials agreed to look the other way for subsistence users, and no stamp 
or license was required.

"This region has always felt that a stamp doesn't fit with their view of 
traditional use," Johnson said. "Spring hits, and families are out there 
hunting ducks and collecting eggs."

The council passed a resolution authorizing it to lobby Congress to amend 
the federal Duck Stamp Act to allow for traditional harvests without 
licenses. In the meantime, village leaders say they will continue to hunt as 
they always have.

"The villages are not going to abide by this law that requires us to buy a 
duck stamp," said Harold Napoleon of Hooper Bay. "And if any of our people 
get arrested for this, we need to defend them."

Federal officials in Anchorage say that the Duck Stamp Act's licensing 
requirement does not allow for exceptions for Alaska Natives and that 
there's nothing they can do on a departmental level. Any change to the Duck 
Stamp Act would have to be approved by Congress.

"We would be breaking a federal law if we didn't require duck stamps," said 
Doug Alcorn, assistant regional director for migratory birds and state 
programs in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The federal requirement brings in revenue that, in turn, funds conservation 
efforts, he said.

Federal enforcement officers with the Yukon Delta Wildlife Refuge 
acknowledge that changes to the law require hunters to purchase both stamps 
and a state hunting license, but they say there are some practical problems 
with the requirement.

"You can purchase the federal duck stamps at post offices, but they're not 
currently available in Bethel," said Kenton Moos, wildlife enforcement 
officer for the Yukon Delta Wildlife Refuge.

Moos said enforcement efforts in the refuge will likely not change from 
previous years.

While Moos would not go so far as to say that the refuge would not enforce 
the duck stamp requirement, he said the priority of the refuge's three 
enforcement officers would be on the prohibition against lead shot and the 
harvest of certain species of waterfowl.

The spring hunting season runs from April to the end of August with a 30-day 
closure while new eggs are hatching, usually around the beginning of June.


http://www.adn.com/alaska/v-printer/story/5054219p-4982107c.html

"Just remember it's the birds that's supposed to suffer, not the hunter." 
—George W. Bush, advising quail hunter and New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, 
Roswell, N.M., Jan. 22, 2004