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The face of the Kenai-Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee looks a little different.

Six new members joined the board at its Jan. 14 meeting while four seats remain vacant.

Additionally, longtime member and former committee chair Gary Dawkins did not seek re-election.

Dawkins has served on the board for the past 16 years, the last five of those as committee chair.

Though he thought he'd feel relief, he said the meeting was sad for him.

"I thought it would be a load off my shoulders but instead I felt depressed, sort of like at the end of a man's life when he gets a gold watch, like he's useless," Dawkins said.

Dawkins said he's spent his years in the leadership position of the 15-member board trying to balance the board and build its credibility.

"My accomplishment was to try and represent all user groups, consumptive or not, so when we talked about an issue we hit all aspects of it," he said. "That makes it fair and equitable for the resource."

Dawkins said he's always tried to keep the resource as the committee's main focus.

Dawkins has enjoyed working on the board not just for the sake of managing resources though, but also because it is a feature unique to the state.

Alaska is the only state that offers the public an opportunity to influence fish and game management policy.

"By gaining and earning respect with the board, your voice does get heard, and that's very unique," Dawkins said. "It's very important to me."

Dawkins said one of the board's greatest upcoming challenges will be tackling subsistence controversies.

"I really feel like the federal issue of subsistence is tying the hands of the state and the biologists from properly managing fish and game populations," he said.

An additional challenge will be the relative greenness of the board.

"We're replacing 10 members, that's never happened before," Dawkins said. "We got kind of lopsided."

The new board members include; Pegge Bernecker in an at-large seat, Christine Brandt in a commercial fish seat, Rik Bucy in a personal-use seat, Dick Dykema in an at-large seat, Joe Mandurano in a hunting seat and Rubin Payne in a fishing guide seat.

The four remaining vacant seats include a subsistence seat, an at-large seat and two alternate seats.

Mike Crawford, who's been on the board for three years, was elected the board's new chair.

Paul Shadura is the new vice chair.

Crawford said he plans to hold an election at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 4 at the Kenai Peninsula College to fill the remaining seats.

He said he plans to release further information on the location of the meeting in the near future.

He said he was looking forward to stepping into the top spot on the board.

"I'm excited for the opportunity to do it. I've enjoyed my time on the advisory committee," he said.

Crawford said he plans to continue to build the board's stature.

"Everybody on the board is going to spend a lot of time on these issues and everyone is going to think their idea is the right one. Finding a balance somewhere in between is important. At the same time we need to maintain and grow our level of credibility," Crawford said.

Both he and Dawkins encouraged members of the public to come to the next meeting to fill the vacant seats.

"Obviously there's a million things to do. People have their lives to live, bills to pay, jobs to do and kids to see, but I would like to see more public participation," Dawkins said.

For more information on the next AC meeting or to run for a vacant seat contact Mike Crawford at 252-2919.

Dante Petri can be reached at dante.petri@peninsulaclarion.com.