Rod Arno: Alaska Outdoor Council endorsements for Nov. 8 include Nick Begich III, Kelly Tshibaka, Mike Dunleavy

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By ROD ARNO | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALASKA OUTDOOR COUNCIL

Alaskans’ opportunities to enjoy outdoor activities and harvest a wildfood source on public lands/waters for now and well into the future will depend on you getting out to vote.

Listed here are candidates that the Alaska Outdoor Council has experience working with and find worthy of your support at the polls Nov. 8, 2022. These candidates when elected, with your help, will work with the Alaska Outdoor Council to provide greater outdoor opportunities for all Alaskans. 

Alaska U.S. House of Representative Seat

Alaska Outdoor Council sticks with Nick. Candidate Sarah Palin would find little support in the U.S. House to further our cause. Candidate Mary Peltola has a long history for advocating for tribal sovereignty over state management of fish and game granted to the State of Alaska at statehood. 

The Alaska Outdoor Council endorsed candidate Nick Begich III for the lone U.S. House of Representatives seat from Alaska when Don Young was still in the race for reelection.

It took a lot of intestinal fortitude for Nick Begich to go up against Don Young, none of the other candidates vying to replace Congressman Young had the boldness to do that. 

Nick Begich is well aware of Title VIII in the 1980 flawed federal law, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) that divides Alaskans and is hindering resources development on 60% of Alaska controlled by the federal government. Nick will work for all Alaskans to insure subsistence needs are provided for while at the same time opportunities for regulated resource development can occur on federal lands.

Alaska U.S. Senate Seat

Alaska Outdoor Council endorses Kelly Tshibaka to replace Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has allowed federal law to divide Alaskans based on where they live. 

The urban/rural divide caused by Title VIII of ANILCA is not in Alaska’s best interest now or in the future. Kelly Tshibaka understands how the Feds have used Title VIII of ANILCA to takeover Alaska state management authority of fish and game on federal lands and thwart regulated resource development. Kelly Tshibaka will work to give all Alaskans an opportunity to access public federal lands/waters and benefit from the resources Alaska has to offer.

Alaska Governor’s Administration

Alaska Outdoor Council endorses the re-election of Gov. Mike Dunleavy. 

Gov. Dunleavy has been true to his word regarding increasing outdoor opportunities for all Alaskans during his first term. Alaska Outdoor Council has witnessed a greater willingness of department commissioners (DNR, ADF&G, DCCED, DEC, DOL) to work together to conserve fish and game and increasing access opportunities on public lands and waters. Alaska Outdoor Council is confident that with another four years of Gov. Dunleavy’s  leadership, Alaska’s outdoor folks will reap greater outdoor opportunities for years to come. 

Alaska State Senate District D

Alaska Outdoor Council endorsed Tuckerman Babcock for State Senate prior to the May 25th announcement from Sen. Peter Micciche that he would not seek another term. 

Alaska Outdoor Council’s position on state management of fisheries conflicted with Sen. Micciche and Alaska Outdoor Council was encouraging new representation from what was then Senate District O. Tuckerman Babcock is an outdoors person who has been very active within Alaska Outdoor Council and politically on the management and allocation of fish and game in Alaska for decades. 

Alaska Outdoor Council endorsed Tuckerman early this spring to let Sen. Micciche know his position on federal fisheries management in Cook Inlet was inconsistent with Alaska Outdoor Council’s purpose of supporting state management. 

Tuckerman Babcock’s knowledge of and support for Alaska Outdoor Council’s purposes will help give outdoor folks a strong leader in the Senate when legislation is introduced effecting access to public lands/waters and fish/game are up for vote in the State Senate and when negotiating with the State House for passage on to the Governor. 

Alaska State House candidates for the 33rd Legislature

Alaska Outdoor Council recommends re-election for the following Alaska State House Representatives:

                                         House District 

Sarah Vance                                 6

Ron Gillham                                  7

Ben Carpenter                              8

Laddie Shaw                                 9

Tom McKay                                 15

David Nelson                              18

DeLena Johnson                         25

Cathy Tilton                               26

David Eastman                           27

Kevin McCabe                            30

Mike Cronk                                36

The Alaska Outdoor Council recommends support for the following candidates for Alaska State House who did not serve in the 32nd Legislature.

                                             House District 

Craig Johnson                             10

Kathy Henslee                             13

Liz Vazquez                                 16

Dan Saddler                                24

Rod Arno is the executive director of Alaska Outdoor Council. To see how you can get involved, contact the group here.

15 COMMENTS

  1. The Big Three for ALL outdoor-loving Alaskans, not just the selected ones:
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    Dunleavy, Tshibaka, Begich.

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    Let’s Roll!

  2. Well, no surprise. An endorsement by Rod Arno and the Alaska Outdoor Council should be like an endorsement from Trump – something to hide, maybe bury in the backyard, certainly not anything you’d promote and you’d have to have an evasive answer prepared in case someone learned of the burden.

    Alaska Outdoor Council is a cabal of big business hunting and fishing guides catering to Outside interests at the expense of everyone else. To win a spot on the Alaska Board of Game, one must polish Arno’s impressive collection of weaponry. Forget it if you have a camera. Forget it if you object to your dog being tortured in a leg hold trap.

    The endorsement is a badge of shame.

    • What? No mention of racism? Bigotry? Criminality? Lucinda, you need to get back on your medication soon. It’s almost Halloween and your scary mask isn’t even on. You are a frightening soul, with mental afflictions.

  3. “In 1989, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that ANILCA’s rural priority violated the Alaska Constitution. As a result, the Federal government manages subsistence uses on Federal public lands and waters in Alaska … To help carry out the responsibility for subsistence management, the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture established the Federal Subsistence Management Program.” (FSMP)
    Your argument against Title VIII of ANICLA should be with the FSMP, Your argument against Title VIII of ANICLA appears to be raising racial and economic issues against Alaska Natives and rural Alaskans.

    “Alaskans’ opportunities to enjoy outdoor activities and harvest a wildfood source on public lands/waters” should start with limiting the outside big game hunters, the Seattle and Portland based commercial fishing fleets, the radical EnviroNGOs, and especially putting real constrains on outside dark money interfering in Alaska’s social/business/politics.

    • I said “EnviroNazis”, not EnviroNGOs. Nazis, not Non Government Organizations. There’s a huge difference in the two. There’s a lot of useful NGOs, but never any useful EnviroNazi. Conflating the two only serves to obscure my referent.

      • josephdj, I don’t allow people to call each other Nazis at MRAK, and instead of deleting your comment, I made it work. Next time, I’ll just delete. – sd

      • I’d have thought you’d have learned better after your anti semitic crap was dumped a couple weeks ago.

      • I know Joseph, the whole thing about conservationists promoting clean air and water, renewable and sustainable energy sources, fair management of wildlife, and even wanting a seat at the table – pure enviro – blankety blank.

  4. “Kelly Tshibaka understands how the Feds have used Title VIII of ANILCA to takeover Alaska state management authority of fish and game on federal lands and thwart regulated resource development.”
    The fed already had control.
    “In 1989, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that ANILCA’s rural priority violated the Alaska Constitution.” Alaska got into a spitting match with the fed, and lost. Nothing changed, except now there’s a dedicated fed agency baby-sitting Alaska’s subsistence use.
    Alaska Outdoor Council now wants to appear to be important in the scheme of things, by endorsing political candidates. They couldn’t catch the brass ring when it really mattered.
    How much support did they give to Trout Unlimited, Sierra Club, and all the other EnviroNazis? How much of their effort went to “Alaskans’ opportunities to enjoy outdoor activities and harvest a wildfood source on public lands/waters”; at the expense of mining, logging, and other economic opportunities lost?
    The AOC hurt me in my pocket book, and they’re probably hurting any politician they endorse, in the voting booth. We’re known by whom we associate with……………..

  5. We can thank President Trump for saving the BB Red Salmon run by denying permits through the Army Corp of Engineers, then pebble appealed and Trump said no again.

  6. Title VIII of ANILCA is here to stay. The Federal Subsistence Management Program is here to stay. The Federal Subsistence Board has a mandate to provide for a rural subsistence priority and this will sometimes come into conflict with state management. The Board and ADF&G have different mandates. It would be nice if people and organizations like the AOC would take more time to delve into the details of ANILCA and understand why the Board makes he decisions it does.

  7. “…….Alaska Outdoor Council sticks with Nick. Candidate Sarah Palin would find little support in the U.S. House to further our cause…….”
    With all due respect, Rod, this statement pretty much nails what everybody knows, whether they want to admit it or not:
    Both Begich and Peltola are drones of the Davos Uniparty, or more simply, more of the same that this society so desperately needs to escape from. Frankly, I just can’t play anymore. Good luck, and thanks for what you do.

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