March 1, 2013

It’s easy to think that the laws we pass don’t make a difference. Well sometimes they do. Or at least help those, as in foster youth Sarah Redmon’s case, who just might have moved any mountain-sized obstacles out of her way on her own.

And – I’ll write a short note about a bill we will hear Monday – that weakens Alaska’s ability to prevent developers from taking huge amounts of water from fishing streams that might damage our prized sport, commercial and subsistence fisheries. Yup. This bill (House Bill 77) violates the “promise” we once heard that Alaska would never trade one resource for another. Well, Alaska will, and our fish are coming out on the short end lately. There’s currently an application to take out eighteen million gallons a day of water from a prized western trout and salmon stream, the Upper Talarik Creek drainage off Lake Iliamna.