Something's better than nothing.
The Kenai River Special Management Advisory Board on Thursday endorsed a bill in the Alaska State Senate that would add approximately 536 acres to the Alaska State Parks management area ‹ but not before board members voiced their frustration that the inclusion falls short of what they'd like to see added.
"I find it to be woefully inadequate," said board member Paul Shadura.
"This is another frustrating wall we've hit here," echoed board member Jim Golden.
The board members directed their remarks toward staff members from the office of Sen. Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai, who were participating in the meeting via teleconference. Wagoner is the sponsor of the bill in question ‹ SB 190.
Their comments seemed to strike a nerve with Wagoner's staff, who wondered aloud about board members' assertion that the bill doesn't go far enough to add lands into the special management area.
"If it wasn't worth your trouble, why did you bring it to the senator?" asked Mary Jackson, a member of Wagoner's staff.
Jackson's remarks seemed to cause board members to soften their position.
"That's 500 acres more than we had before," pointed out board member Jeff King.
Another issue for the board to consider regarding the bill had to deal with the provision that state officials not be allowed to serve on the board. Currently, the board includes seats for members of state and federal agencies. Under Wagoner's bill, those seats would remain, but agency officials would be included as ex-officio members without the right to vote.
On that issue, the board seemed to feel that although agency officials provide valuable input, taking away voting privileges was less of an issue than getting at least some land added to the management area.
"To me, the land inclusion ‹ even if it is 500 acres ‹ trumps that," King said.
Shadura, however, said he believes agency representatives provide valuable input and shouldn't be excluded from being full members.
"One of the reasons I come to this board is to be able to sit with federal and state agencies," he said.
Jackson said Wagoner believes agency members do provide valuable input, and that the ex-officio provision would still allow those agency members to lend their expertise to the board.
"It's just flat stupid to turn away talent," she said.
In the end, the board decided the inclusion of the 536 acres was worth its endorsement and voted 10-3 to relay the message to Wagoner that he should continue pushing the bill.
The board, however, did not speak in favor of a potential addition to the bill being pushed by Rep. Kelly Wolf, R-Kenai. Jackson said Wolf is seeking to include a provision that would disallow "derby-style fishing events" that attract large amounts of anglers to the river.
Board members who spoke to Wolf's proposal were unanimous in their belief that the proposal is a thinly-veiled attack on the Kenai River Sportfishing Association's annual Kenai River Classic, and they took issue with Wolf's desire to include a provision that seems to have little to do with the original bill.
"I don't like it to be tagged on to the bill," said board member Ted Wellman, who likened Wolf's proposal to comparing apples and oranges. "I think that's inappropriate."
