Anchorage AC elects sportfishing, resident hunter slate

Sport fishermen and resident hunters showed up in force to vote in six new members to the Anchorage Fish and Game Advisory Committee Tuesday night.

There were a total of six seats on the committee open.

Members Phil Calhoun and Neil DeWitt were relected.

New members Tyler Loken, Rick Rogers and Grant Koppil were also elected.

Former member Bryce Eckworth was not reelected, but was chosen by the sitting committee as an alternate.  Jeff Wieber, another new candidate for the board, was chosen as the second alternate.

Outgoing committee members Kenny Rodgers and Brian Nelson had chosen not to run for reelection.

Hunters and fishermen listen to Anchorage AC candidates talk about their goals for the committee and wildlife management, before Tuesday night’s election. 

The AC is one of several across the state that provide local input on fish and game regulations to the Alaska Boards of Fish and Game, that set regulations for Alaska Fish & Game to enforce.  ACs are intended as the citizens’ voice into the sometimes distant and confusing regulatory process.

At the 2017 Anchorage AC election, a large contingent of commercial fishermen showed up and voted in six members to the AC, all with commercial fishing backgrounds.  There has been a substantial concern that a similar election this year would hand Anchorage’s representation (more than half the state’s hunters and fishermen) to a board predominantly favoring the commercial fishing industry.

Representatives of several outdoor groups attending the meeting said it was a sign that sport fishermen and hunters can work together to effect change on the state’s game management process.

Committee chairman Frank Neumann was reelected to that post by the new committee as a whole. Neumann was honored after the election with a letter of thanks from the state’s wildlife leadership.