State of concern — Alaska may sue to block federal beluga protections

By Jenny Neyman

Redoubt Reporter

As the state of Alaska examines the science and reasoning supporting the National Marine Fishery Service’s listing of Cook Inlet beluga whales as endangered and the designation of a large swath of Cook Inlet as critical habitat for the whales, its initial response is simple — not so fast.

An Alaska Department of Fish and Game representative contends that an endangered listing and critical habitat designation carry the potential for wide-ranging, complex and difficult-to-predict ramifications. That step should only be taken if absolutely necessary and scientifically sound, and state government believes the situation with belugas may not be there yet.

NMFS has determined the population of Cook Inlet belugas to be distinct and endangered. Gov. Sean Parnell’s administration is questioning both decisions.

“The state, when that listing decision was announced, expressed our disappointment. We felt it was a bit premature,” said Douglas Vincent-Lang, special projects coordinator for Fish and Game’s Research and Technical Services division, at a briefing for the Kenai River Special Management Area’s habitat committee on Jan. 11, in Soldotna. “The state filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue over that decision. That doesn’t mean we’re going to sue, but it doesn’t mean we’re not going to sue. … We’re looking very carefully at those two questions. Whether or not they’ve answered them, not so much procedurally, but did they answer them in a scientifically sound manner?”

As Vincent-Lang explained the state’s concerns about the data and research that the NMFS, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is using, Fish and Game’s position was being questioned, as well. Ken Tarbox, a retired research project leader for Fish and Game’s upper Cook Inlet commercial fisheries division and member of the habitat committee, wanted to know what data and research Fish and Game is using to question NMFS and NOAA.

“The models indicate the population is in a negative growth mode and if you’re saying it’s going in a positive growth mode, I’m wondering where the science is to support that position.” Tarbox said. “I’m not saying there’s not uncertainty, I’m just saying that I can look at NOAA’s science. I’m looking for Fish and Game’s science, and you’re telling me it’s not done yet.”

Halibut boats left high, dry by new regs — Charter limits leave some 100 boats out of the water in 2011

By Naomi Klouda

Homer Tribune

Homer’s reputation as halibut capital of the world has suffered a serious blow as local charter boat captains come to terms with new rules that will force up to one-quarter of them out of business in Area 3A.

New charter boat captains will have to find someone willing to sell them a permit before being allowed to take clients fishing for halibut from the central Gulf of Alaska to Southeast Alaska as part of efforts aimed at preventing overfishing. Current captains who didn’t fish certain years — or didn’t take out a certain number of clients — will not be permitted.

The new rules, published last week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, go into effect in early 2011. That means this summer, charters will continue as usual.

After that, however, the new regulations will stem the tide on the growing halibut charter boat business along a major portion of Alaska’s coastline. Charter boat guides who have been in business for three random years in the 21st century — 2004, 2005 and 2008 — will be able to get permits. Newcomers will have to find someone with a transferable permit willing to sell.

According to NOAA, the restriction is needed to keep the growing number of charter boats from overfishing for halibut.

“The new program will stabilize the guided charter fishing sector, maintain access to the fishery for businesses that participated in recent years and allow access for others who can obtain transferable permits,” said Doug Mecum, Alaska’s acting regional administrator of NOAA Fisheries.

Opponents of the move complain that draggers waste halibut in by-catch, and commercial operators are allowed to catch far more than the charter fleet. This, more than the amount caught by sportfishermen, causes a decline in halibut numbers, according to testimony before the new rules were written.

Homer charter boat Capts. Bob Howard and Kent Haina say the rules will put them out of business unless they can find a transferable permit.

“I will have to go through the process of applying. Then, when denied, I can appeal,” Howard explained.

Haina is considering his options, saying the federal regulations are confusing because he is uncertain if the new rules now mean he can’t take out clients for salmon, rockfish and species other than halibut.

Federal review casting for better rural subsistence program in Alaska — Users want louder voice, opponents question dual management approach

By Jenny Neyman

Photo courtesy of Mark Conway. A sportfisherman tries his luck on the upper Kenai River this fall, fishing in accordance with state regulations. Further upstream, a different set of regulations govern the methods and means of catching salmon for rural subsistence users on federal land on the peninsula.

Redoubt Reporter

On federal property in Alaska, rural residents get first crack at fishing and hunting activities. But though they get subsistence priority on about 60 percent of land in the state, what they don’t always have is a strong voice in how subsistence activities are managed, said Greg Encelewski, past president of the Ninilchik Tribal Council and member of the council’s subsistence committee.

That’s the message the Ninilchik Tribal Council had for Interior Department officials as the agency studies the federal subsistence program in Alaska. The Interior Department announced in October that it would conduct a review of the complex and often controversial program, taking input from rural communities granted subsistence hunting and fishing access on federal lands in the state; the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, whose sphere of hunting and fishing management overlaps the Federal Subsistence Board’s jurisdiction; and anyone else caring to chime in.

Residents of Ninilchik, Hope, Cooper Landing and some outlying areas near Homer, being deemed “rural,” are allowed to participate in subsistence hunts and fisheries on federally owned land on the Kenai Peninsula, such as a winter ice fishery on Tustumena Lake, a fish wheel in the Kasilof River, a moose hunt in the Caribou Hills surrounding Ninilchik, and dipnetting and rod-and-reel fishing on the upper Kenai River.

That access is important, but Encelewski said the Ninilchik Tribal Council would like to see rural residents also have more say in how it’s managed, he said. That was the main input Ninilchik residents had when they met with Interior Department officials.

“The (Federal Subsistence Board) doesn’t necessarily get right down to the actual subsistence users as much as they should. The chair doesn’t seem to be representing the people, at least it felt that way to a lot of us,” Encelewski said.

The Federal Subsistence Board sets subsistence regulations for federal land in the state — deciding which communities qualify as rural and setting the parameters by which those residents can access the fish and wildlife resources on federal public lands. The board takes input from regional advisory councils, though many rural residents contend the recommendations of the council don’t carry as much weight with the board as they should.

The makeup of the board also has been called into question, with rural residents saying the board is too bureaucratic, with too many agency representatives as board members and not enough rural representation. The board chair, Mike Fleagle, was previously the chair of the Alaska Board of Game, which sets state hunting regulations.

“The federal board is made up of heads of different departments. The (regional advisory councils) are made up of the actual users — people who have been around and about and using it,” said Encelewski, who also is a member of the Southcentral Subsistence Regional Advisory Council. “It used to be they gave deference to the RACs, but that hasn’t exactly been the case in the last few years on some issues. There’s been quite a few that our tribe and others in the areas have recommended that (the board has) gone the other way on.”

Encelewski said Ninilchik wasn’t pushing for the review, but since the community was given an opportunity to help make the federal subsistence program better, it took it.

“We didn’t go out soliciting change. On those grounds there were a lot of issues that we felt needed changing. One of the big issues was the chair of the Federal Subsistence Board, deference to the RACs and a procedure that changes the way they actually listen and take testimony and listen to the people, basically,” Encelewski said.

The review brings up the decades-old argument surrounding federal subsistence in Alaska — that the state manages fish and wildlife resources with a goal of maximum sustained yield and equal access to all Alaskans, while federal lands are managed with a rural preference.

“I feel that we’re all Alaskans and the constitution of Alaska gives us equal access and opportunity to the resources of the state. Well, the federal government decided that wasn’t good enough,” said Mike Crawford, chair of the Kenai-Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee.

It creates a double standard where the interests and access of rural and nonrural users collide over the same resources.

“I felt there was plenty of opportunity under the existing regulations, but now you’re looking at subsistence users getting their own season and methods and means to catch,” Crawford said. “Where I’m restricted during king salmon season, for example, to having only a singe hook and no bait, at times they can use bait and treble hooks.”

Wily well-named — Coyotes are abundant yet challenging prey

By Steve Meyer, for the Redoubt Reporter

Photo courtesy of David Wartinbee. A coyote pads through the snow last winter along the Alaska Highway.

The coyote came out of the snow-covered brush a distant half-mile away on a dead run in my direction. He continued his seeming will to assault my position until he was due south of me, about 500 yards out, and stopped.

The area I was in was a half–mile-wide opening along a creek into which an adjacent lake flowed. I had positioned myself with the wind in my face, slightly up the side of a low hill, in a patch of miniscule spruce trees. I had the appropriate white outerwear on and was tucked in and I felt confident I wasn’t visible when I started making wounded rabbit calls through my favorite old coyote call.

True to form, the coyote didn’t take long to appear, about seven minutes from the start of calling. And true to form, he somehow, after coming at a dead run, suspected something wasn’t right and was having no more of me. He milled around back and forth, sniffing small clumps of grass, no doubt looking for voles, but he completely lost interest in my calling. Shortly thereafter he disappeared back the way he came.

Gather a group of hunters and ask their opinion on the most difficult animal to hunt and you will probably get as many answers as there are hunters. And most likely, unless one of those present happens to be a predator hunter, you won’t hear the coyote mentioned. Dall sheep, mountain goats and brown bear are held in high esteem for their difficulty in hunting, and they can be difficult in the extreme. But for hunting in Southcentral, one would be hard pressed to find a more difficult animal to deliberately hunt (not accidental encounters that result in incidental kills).

Given the routine sightings of coyotes on the Kenai River flats, one might find that hard to believe. It isn’t particularly difficult to find a coyote out there on a winter day if you take the time to look. But coyotes residing in that area are a bit different breed than the normal wild coyote. They are conditioned to human contact with no negative results. There is no discharge of rifles allowed in that area and the open ground does not lend itself to shotgun hunting, so they experience no hunting pressure. Trapping is illegal in that area, as well, and these coyotes are around during waterfowl season. They hear plenty of gunshots and have a lot of contact with hunters, without any consequence. These guys have no real concern about running around in the open in the middle of the day and, hence, they look practically domestic. Sort of like the local brown bears have been when not hunted.

Nod to footnotes — Shedding light on snippets of central peninsula’s history

Editor’s note: Sometimes little nuggets of information — interesting, but not enough for full-fledged stories — come this way. This week, we feature a few of those nuggets, listed chronologically by the date of their publication or occurrence.

By Clark Fair

Photo courtesy of Peggy Arness. Delta Calvin “Pappy” Walker, right, and his wife, Jessebelle Walker, are all dressed up, probably either headed for Anchorage or home from church around 1950 or 1951. At left is Marshal Petersen, Peggy Arness’ father. Arness says Jessebell “was a true Southern belle, and wore outfits as such anytime she could.” The Quonset hut in the background was the home of Arness’ brother, Jim, next to the Fish and Wildlife quarters. It is still in Kenai.

Redoubt Reporter

• Feb. 8, 1930 — A fire started in the women’s jail in what is now Old Town Kenai, destroying it and all the other agencies and offices in the building that had been constructed originally around 1907 as a government schoolhouse. At the time of the fire, which occurred while everyone was at lunch, the two-story building was also being used as the living quarters of U.S. Marshal Charlie Watson, the men’s jail, the living quarters for the U.S. Commissioner (a Mr. Parish), and the village post office (where Mrs. Watson was postmaster).
• July 31, 1948 — As D.C. “Pappy” and Jessebelle Walker were walking home with their mixed-breed dog, “Boots,” from the Kenai River cannery where they were acting as caretakers, they were set upon suddenly by a pair of large brown bears. Pappy pushed his wife back in the direction of the cannery and told her to run, and immediately one of the bears headed in her direction. Boots came to her rescue, however, and diverted the bear’s attention so she could make it to safety and bring help back for her husband. Pappy, on the other hand, attempted to play dead, but he was bitten severely about the head and leg, even as Boots returned to bark at the hefty bruins. In the end, the bears ambled away, and 55-year-old Pappy had his wits about him enough to rise and walk back toward the cannery, wiping blood out of his eyes as he went. In a short time, he was in an airplane bound for Providence Hospital, where he slowly recovered from his wounds. Boots received not even a scratch.
• Aug. 19, 1955 — The weekly Kenai Peninsula Pioneer newspaper, a continuation of the 1950 version of The Homer News, began circulation with its first issue. (The Homer News that initiated its circulation in 1950 should not be confused with The Homer News that began in 1931, or the one that started up in 1964. It should also not be confused with The Homer Weekly News that began in 1973, or the current Homer News that began in 1976.) The Pioneer did originate out of Homer, however, and, although it featured mainly Homer-based articles and opinions, it made a clear effort to include some of the happenings in and around the village of Kenai. For instance, readers learned in the Aug. 19 edition that the Ike Johansen family had moved to Mickey Parker’s place on Bernice Lake. The precise date that the Pioneer was discontinued is unclear, but it is likely that it did not survive through 1956.

Forrest through the cheese — Annual movie spoof dinner theater digs in to local humor

By Jenny Neyman

Photo by Jenny Neyman, Redoubt Reporter. From left, Joe Rizzo, playing Lt. Dan, Chris Pepper, playing Forrest Guppy, and Jamie Nelson, playing Bubba, rehearse a combat fishing scene from “Forrest Guppy,” Triumvirate Theatre’s annual classic movie spoof fundraiser. The dinner theater show is performed Friday and Saturday at Mykel’s in Soldotna.

Redoubt Reporter

With “The Maltese Salmon” successfully spoofed, “Casta-blanca” parodied, “Gone with the Fish” fictionalized and “Citizen King” caricatured, Triumvirate Theatre leaves the black-and-white genre behind in casting its sights for a new movie classic to lampoon in its annual dinner theater fundraiser this year.

Enter “Forrest Guppy.”

He may not be a smart man (“intellectually challenged is as intellectually challenged does”) but he knows a good pair of Helly Hansen waders when he sees them.

“We were running out of old classic films to do and we were batting around some ideas one night and came up with the idea of doing something a little more contemporary,” said Triumvirate director Joe Rizzo, who co-wrote the script with Carla Jenness. “We stumbled upon ‘Forrest Gump,’ and started saying lines like Forrest would say them and realized it doesn’t matter what you say, everything is funny when you say it like Forrest Gump.”

Chris Pepper stars as Forrest, selected for his comedic timing, his deft — daft? — handling of the slow Southern drawl and skill at holding a vacant look on his face.

Forrest gets recruited to speak about his experiences on the combat fishing battlefield during a hippie-led (Chris Jenness) rally against Pebble Mine.

“Chris is brilliant. He’s so hammy and that’s perfect of this type of event, because that’s really what it is, more of an event than a performance,” Rizzo said. “We knew he did a great Forrest Gump impression. Last year he was in our ‘Gone With the Fish’ show and when we’d be at break or something he would do some of the lines like Forrest Gump and we’d all laugh.”

Just as in the movie, Forrest Guppy reminisces about his life, in which he happens to stumble into some of the most momentous events of his time. Except in this version, he’s on scene for events of central Kenai Peninsula infamy.

“The movie is pretty well-known and the parody with the Kenai River theme was pretty evident, like the Vietnam War scenes became combat fishing on the Russian River, and where Forrest Gump meets all these famous people, Forrest Guppy meets their Alaska counterparts, like Sarah Palin instead of President Kennedy,” Rizzo said.

Forrest Guppy’s travels bring him in contact with Hobo Jim, to whom he offers inspiration for a new hit song. As a kid playing down by the Kenai River, he happens by Les Anderson and teaches him a maneuver that helps him hook into the biggest fish of his life. Later in life, he stumbles upon political rallies, with firebrands hollering about Pebble Mine and borough tax dollars, and a governor destined to hit the New York Times best-seller list with a book about “lipstick and bulldogs and hockey or somethin’.”

Kanye West (Jamie Nelson) makes a not-so-shockingly-realistic appearance.

But none of that mattered to Forrest as much as his one true love, his salmon buddy, Jenny.

“I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. She was like a scaly angel,” Forrest says.

Art Seen: Constructing design skills — Students sculpt large-scale installation

By Zirrus VanDevere, for the Redoubt Reporter

Middle-school students Cristina Hubler, Sawyer Mahan, Mika Morton and Desmond Ticknor collaborated to create a sculpture installation at the Kenai Fine Arts Center.

Local sculptors Joy Falls and Connie Tarbox held two, four-hour art sessions with four budding artists recently, with the express intent to manifest a 3-D exhibit at the Kenai Fine Arts Center this month.

Students ranged from 11 to 14 years of age and were at first asked to individually create with large white pedestals of varying sizes. Generally utilized as stands for artwork display, the wooden boxes are painted white for uniformity.

Cristina Hubler, Sawyer Mahan, Mika Morton and Desmond Ticknor all played around with the oversized building blocks, getting a feel for the medium and discussing what they learned along the way. Conversation tended to return to the concept of chaos and its alternative, order.

As the group moved into the collaborative stage, the students worked with 60 units in all, and eventually agreed upon a round format, with irregularities scattered throughout the construction. They called their piece “Shattered Circle,” and there is in fact a kind of entryway into the circle on the far side of the installation.

The final exploration the group made was into the effects of light on the construction, and I thoroughly enjoyed playing around with the lighting myself. I turned just the studio lights on at first, and then added the fluorescents and then removed the studio lights to see the different effects. Each stage gave the compilation an entirely different flavor. I thought it might be intriguing to hide lights inside of some of the cubicles, perhaps with Christmas tree lights or some other innocuous lighting source.

Actually entering the circle had sacred connotations for me, and I was glad I could visit the exhibit when no one else was around. I especially had fun with any of the places where irregularities existed, which may very well be simply my own tendencies.

Others viewing the same installation could feel most comfortable with the orderliness of the arrangement, and ignore the precarious feeling of the placements of some of the blocks.

The instructors were pleased with the efforts and growth of their students, who surpassed expectations. Sculpture created in this manner utilizes brain functions and interpersonal skills that the many activities students find themselves involved with don’t necessarily utilize. Kudos to Tarbox and Falls for moving into this type of exploration, with the hope that they continue working with kids in ways that both challenge and nurture student creativity.

Zirrus VanDevere is a local mixed-media artist and owns Art Works gallery in Soldotna. She has bachelor’s degrees in fine arts and education.

Plugged In: Looking through a glass, but brightly

By Joseph Kashi, for the Redoubt Reporter

Optical lenses literally control our entire view of the world. Without the lenses in our own eyes, we could not see detail and would only perceive various muffled tones of light and dark.

From 1 Corinthians 13 through gloomy Swedish films by Ingmar Bergman and the private but surprisingly moving poetry of General George S. Patton (!), Western societies have often embraced the concept of “Through a glass, darkly,” the lens that obscures, rather than clarifies.

Photographers, though, usually prefer a bright lens that makes sharp images, and this week’s discussion accordingly focuses (bad pun alert!) upon high quality “glass.” There are a few real bargains and we’ll point them out. However, it’s worth remembering that really high-quality optics are complex, require stringent quality control, and are very expensive to manufacture. That said, I’m often surprised by the large number of peninsula residents who purchase higher-end dSLR cameras and lenses.

A number of fixed-lens cameras include excellent lenses — Canon’s G9, G10 and G11 readily come to mind, as do Panasonic’s LX3 and Leica’s new X1. Typically, though, top-end lenses only fit interchangeable-lens dSLR and Micro Four-Thirds cameras.

The first lens that almost everyone acquires and uses is a zoom that reaches from moderate wide angle through moderate telephoto magnifications. Almost all consumer dSLR cameras ship with a “kit” lens that covers this range, but few kit lenses have enough resolution to satisfy more demanding requirements. The Olympus 14- to 42-mm zoom and the Pentax 18- to 55-mm AL II seem to be among the best kit lenses in this range. These lenses can produce quite sharp images when used at their optimum apertures of f 5.6 and f 8, respectively, but tended to be softer at wide-angle magnifications.

There will certainly be times when you will need or want sharper images. Every optical vendor makes a higher-quality basic zoom in this magnification range. Rather than constantly translating each lens’ traditional 35-mm film magnification equivalent, you can make your own magnification conversion by multiplying a lens’ listed focal length by 1.5 for Pentax, Sony and Nikon regular APS-C dSLR cameras, by 1.6 for Canon APS-C cameras, and by 2 for Olympus and Panasonic 4/3 cameras. Thus, when used on a regular Nikon APS-C dSLR camera, a 50 mm would have a magnification equivalent to a 75-mm lens used on a traditional 35-mm film camera.

Full-frame Nikon, Canon and Sony cameras, by definition, do not need any magnification conversion factor. Their sensors cover the same area as 35-mm film.

This week, I’ll discuss “normal” zoom lenses, which range between moderate wide-angle and moderate telephoto magnification ranges. These are the lenses that you’re most likely to use on a regular basis, and are usually among the most readily available and cost-effective. The lenses that I discuss this week are by no means a complete listing of the better-quality, normal-range zoom lenses on the market, but should at least provide a starting point for your own research. Next week, I’ll look at wide-angle and telephoto zoom lenses.

Rural debate counts — Census may change federal subsistence picture in Alaska

By Jenny Neyman

File photo by Patrice Kohl, Redoubt Reporter. A sockeye salmon hurls itself out of the water this summer in its effort to make it up the Russian River Falls to spawning grounds. There is no state fishery at the falls, but subsistence fishing is allowed for residents of communities designated as rural by the Federal Subsistence Board.

Redoubt Reporter

Management of fishing and hunting in Alaska involves a lot of counting — how many fish are caught or sheep are shot, how many days harvest is allowed, how many barbs are on a hook, how many tines on a rack of antlers. In 2010, the granddaddy count of them all — the U.S. census — will count people, not fish or wildlife, but could impact how many people are able to utilize expanded hunting and fishing opportunities in the state.

“It could go either way, and it’s not just fishing. It’s all subsistence hunting and fishing,” said Mike Crawford, chair of the Kenai-Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Council.

Harvesting fish and game in the state of Alaska is subject to two spheres of regulation. State oversight comes through the Board of Fish and Board of Game regulatory processes with management by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The state’s emphasis is on management of resources for sustainable yield and upholding the state constitution’s mandate for equal access to resources by all Alaskans.

On federal lands and water within Alaska, such as national wildlife refuges and national parks, the harvest of fish and game is subject to an additional, federal layer of oversight and regulation, under the Federal Subsistence Management Program, with the Federal Subsistence Board and Regional Advisory Councils providing an avenue of input by the public (as well as the National Marine Fisheries Service regulating halibut harvest, and other federal agencies governing specific species). Federal management follows the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which requires that rural residents be given a priority for subsistence uses of fish and wildlife on federal public lands and waters.

The rural subsistence priority on federal lands in Alaska has been a source of much contention, debate and legal action since its inception.

In 1989 the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that ANILCA’s rural priority violated the Alaska Constitution. That decision limited the rural subsistence priority just to federal lands and waters within Alaska — about 60 percent of the land in Alaska, or 230 million acres — but did little to limit debate over the issue. As this decade’s census gets under way, it’s an opportunity for the decades-old debate to rekindle.

Making it count

In 1990, the Federal Subsistence Management Program started a review of Alaska communities to determine which were rural, and therefore entitled to a subsistence harvest priority on federal lands. Basically, everywhere in Alaska was designated as rural except for specific higher-population areas — including Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Valdez, the Wasilla area and most of the Kenai Peninsula, excluding Ninilchik, Cooper Landing, Hope and some areas outlying Homer.

Federal subsistence regulations require that communities’ rural/nonrural status be reviewed every 10 years, starting with 2000 U.S. census data and following with the 2010 census.

How those numbers come out could affect whether additional Kenai Peninsula communities are granted subsistence harvest rights, or whether currently entitled communities lose that priority.

Changes in the numbers of subsistence users on federal lands spark far-reaching debate over the methods and allocations of subsistence harvests, and the effect those may have on fish and wildlife stocks, state management efforts and the harvest opportunities of nonrural Alaska residents.

But it isn’t just the existence of the rural subsistence priority on federal lands fueling argument. How those rural/nonrural decisions are made has also been a sticking point.

“Probably one of the touchier points of ANILCA is they don’t give a definition of what a community is,” Crawford said. “I don’t live in Soldotna, but I’m not in Ninilchik, either. But the area that Ninilchik covers for subsistence use is larger than city limits. And I’m not trying to pick on Ninilchik, but where do you draw the line outside of a community? Where all of a sudden do you become rural? How do they decide that this trail or this road divides a community? So why is Ninilchik considered rural and Clam Gulch is considered part of the Soldotna community?”

Fish and Game advisory committee lands new members

By Jenny Neyman

Redoubt Reporter

While success at hunting and fishing is largely due to knowledge, skill and experience, a certain facet is plain old luck. But there wasn’t much luck required for the majority of nominees for open seats on the Kenai-Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee on Monday night, because they ran unopposed.

Two at-large seats, one personal-use seat, one sportfishing guide seat, one commercial fishing seat, two alternate seats, one commercial fishing alternate seat and one sportfishing alternate seat were up for election.

The only seats facing a challenge were the alternates, with three nominees running for two spots. Board rules state that alternates may not hold commercial fishing or sportfish guide permits, and may not vote unless other board members are absent.

“In four-plus years I’ve been on this committee, I’ve never seen the alternate not get to vote, so this is an important seat,” said Mike Crawford, committee chair.

Michelle Maher, of Soldotna, and Dan Foust, of Kenai, were chosen over Larry Shafer, of Kenai, by the about 130 voters out of the about 150 people in attendance at the Soldotna Sports Center conference room Monday for the two, one-year alternate seats.

Maher said she is an avid bowhunter and waterfowl hunter who moved to the Kenai Peninsula 13 years ago and is a member of the National Rifle Association, Ducks Unlimited, Safari Club Unlimited and the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep.

“I’ve harvested more animals than I can count on my hands or my feet worldwide,” she said. “I would like to see some things on the peninsula change. Harvest limits for brown bears … I would love to see that go up.”

Maher said she’d also like to see moose-hunting season be extended, and she is interested in fishing.

“Mostly, I would like to see the harvesting of fish getting done around here. I’m a big believer in fish harvesting, whether you are commercial harvesters or sport,” she said.

Foust said he is an avid bowhunter and rifle hunter, fisherman, member of the NRA and volunteer for the 4-H Club.

“I’d like to see more programs geared toward youth around the Kenai. We need to bring the young people up, get them into the hunting and fishing and teach them how to do it and do it right,” Foust said.

Job skills on(the)line — Polish online presence when seeking work

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of stories examining social technology use on the central Kenai Peninsula.

By Jenny Neyman

Redoubt Reporter

As technology continues to worm its way further into today’s society, the resulting mash-up has ever-expanding consequences for social interactions, education, politics and professional life.

These days, finding a job in “real life” requires at least some involvement online, whether it’s searching for openings, filling out electronic applications or just noting a contact e-mail address. Woe and unemployment be to those who don’t realize the power and pitfalls their online presence can have over their work prospects.

“Once you make that transition, you’re in your senior year of college or actively job hunting, you need to rethink your online information that’s out there, on Myspace or Facebook, your e-mail address, your cell phone and voice mail. You need to start changing your image, not so much as a college kid but as a professional who wants a job, especially in this economy. Anything you can do to give yourself an advantage, you need to think about,” said Kelsey Ciufo, human resources recruitment specialist for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District.

KPBSD is the largest employer on the peninsula, and processes about 5,000 applications for employment each year, Ciufo said. These days, the process is carried out online. Job openings are posted online, the application is filled out online, resumes and other supporting documents are uploaded and submitted electronically. Even reference checks are conducted electronically, with applicants submitting e-mail addresses for their references, and the district inviting the references to fill out a confidential online survey about the applicant.

In a district as spread out as KPBSD, covering 25,600 square miles, and dealing with so many applicants, both in the district, in Alaska and Outside, having an online application process has greatly facilitated efficiency, Ciufo said.

“It cuts down on time for everyone. They’re not having to come in and get a paper application and come back to turn it in, or mail it to us or fax it in. We don’t have to store all the paper applications. It’s better tracking — we can see when a person created an application and updated it. And principals who aren’t in the central area don’t have to drive all the way in to look at files. They’ve got view access wherever they are,” she said.

The system also allows for a wider pool of applicants, she said. In the paper days, someone may learn of an opening the final day of the application period and there wouldn’t be time to request an application, fill it out and submit it by the deadline.

“Now if they see a job in the morning and it closes at 5 p.m. it’s definitely possible to get their information in time,” she said.

Most major companies and school districts are using online application programs, Ciufo said. KPBSD is the first school district in the state to use the AppliTrack program, which is now used by Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks and several smaller districts, she said. The program also is linked to education employment networks Outside, so a teacher that had applied for a job in Illinois, for example, could forward the same application to a district in Alaska and just update information specific to that position.

But for all the benefits the Internet brings to employment, there are some major pitfalls when applicants fail to treat their job search efforts online with the same professionalism they would in person.

When online media is used primarily for social interaction, such as personal e-mail accounts and social networking sites like Facebook or Myspace, job hunters don’t always realize that different standards are necessary for using the Internet for professional purposes.

“It’s incredibly important. You have to think of it as an application. Even though they’re online, you still need to use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. It’s not an e-mail where you can abbreviate things or not capitalize or not pay attention to grammar,” Ciufo said. “I find it more with people who aren’t familiar with the online application systems. They don’t capitalize, or they use all capital letters when filling out online applications. They don’t use any punctuation or don’t spell-check. It’s like they’re writing an e-mail to a friend, when you should treat it like you would a normal, written application.”

Whoever is doing the hiring may have different thresholds for how many errors they will tolerate in an application, but chances are, especially for jobs in education, there won’t be much grace granted.

“Some principals look through applications and give maybe two mistakes. After that they won’t even look at an application anymore. They can’t get past that you didn’t take the time to spell-check or use correct punctuation. You could be best teacher in the world but they won’t know it from your application,” she said.

Radio Web streaming hits log snag — Public stations stymied by digital transmission reporting requirements

By Jenny Neyman

Photo by Jenny Neyman, Redoubt Reporter. Mary Anderson DJs her “Saturday Night Special” show on Saturday night at KDLL public radio station in Kenai. The station is currently only available to hear over the airwaves. It would like to add a Web stream over the Internet but complicated digital transmission reporting requirements stand in the way.

Redoubt Reporter

For “Radio Justice” on KDLL public radio, serving the central Kenai Peninsula, the goal is sharing the love for independent musicians in Alaska. Hosts Robb Justice and David Edwards-Smith offer up live performances and conversations with local and visiting musicians, keep tabs on the evolving music scene in the state, play tracks from albums made by Alaskans — in general, spread the word that Alaska’s music scene is alive, well and vibrant.

The problem is, only listeners within the central peninsula are getting that message. And not even everyone within broadcast range, at that.

“There are people that can’t get their reception here. There are quite a few places, once you get into Cooper Landing and stuff like that, where you can’t get the show,” Justice said.

The solution Justice, many other volunteer DJs and listeners would like to see — rather, hear — is Web casting, so KDLL’s broadcast could be heard anywhere by anyone with an Internet connection.

“I am for that 100 percent. I’ve been trying to get Allen (Auxier, KDLL station manager) to do it since I started working out there,” Justice said. “I’ve got a lot of friends in Minnesota, Montana and all over that badger me about how much they would like to be able to listen to a podcast (a downloadable recording that can be played on a computer or portable music device) of the show. And also, I think it goes both ways as far as being accessible to people outside the state and people here who just can’t get good radio reception. It’d be a big benefit to just the peninsula, too.”

And elsewhere in Alaska. Justice and Edwards-Smith routinely play music from musicians in Anchorage, Fairbanks and points elsewhere and between.

“People in Fairbanks could be listening to the show when their stuff is on. We could really potentially generate a substantially larger listening audience to our show and the station,” Justice said. “We’re definitely working with quite a few different people who know their stuff is being played on the radio but don’t even have an option to listen,” he said.

KDLL broadcasts a mix of local and syndicated content. There are news programs from National Public Radio and Public Radio International, nationally syndicated entertainment shows like “World Café,” “Car Talk” and “Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” a local news show and content from KDLL’s sister station KBBI in Homer.

The syndicated content already is available to listen to and download online. But KDLL-specific content, including the volunteer DJ shows, can only be heard by those close enough to the station to tune in.

Auxier said the station would like to make the leap to the Internet, but has a little weight and a giant stumbling block holding them back.