Lawmaker opposes Interior bison herd

JUNEAU -- A herd of about 90 shaggy wood bison that mill around the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center south of Anchorage represent an opportunity to restore the endangered species to a habitat near the Lower Innoko River by spring of next year, conservationists say.
But to Rep. Alan Dick, R-Stony River, they are "Trojan bison," and their arrival on a 1,348 square-mile patch of land in the west-central Alaska Interior will lead to that land being closed off for human use.
Dick has proposed a bill that would require legislative approval before the bison could be moved into the Interior. He said the bill will ensure the animals are relocated only with legislative consent and the full understanding of the people who will share their surroundings.
"The bison are going to be roaming free but the people are going to be locked up," Dick said.
Randy Rogers, a wildlife planner for the state Department of Fish and Game, said the organization will not move the bison until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and locals negotiate an exemption to the Endangered Species Act.
An exemption would lower the bison's designation under the Endangered Species Act from "endangered" to "threatened" and allow people to injure or chase away animals that are interfering with agriculture, mining or any other sort of human activity, said Doug Vincent-Lang, the state endangered species coordinator.
Even without the exemption, he said, the act allows for Alaska Natives or residents of Alaska Native villages to hunt the bison for subsistence. The exemption also would specify the point at which non-natives could begin hunting the bison, Vincent-Lang said.
Locals use the proposed bison habitat for berry picking, root gathering and some moose hunting, said Eugene Paul, tribal chief in Holy Cross, a village that falls within the boundaries of the release area. Paul said he has not heard any dissent from his village or Grayling, Anvik and Shageluk, villages near the release zone that he represents on a regional tribal council.
Rebecca Noblin, Alaska director for the conservation group Center for Biological Diversity, said her organization supported the relocation. Noblin said her organization has no plans to sue the state to have the bison relisted.
"Certainly, any sort of ongoing activities such as hunting moose or gathering berries shouldn't be a problem," Noblin said.
Vincent-Lang said the project's future hinges on agreement by all parties involved, legislators included.
"We'll sit down and talk to Dick and his constituents in the Lower Innoko River area who are going to be affected," Vincent-Lang said. "At the end of the day, if we can't reach some kind of consensus, we're going to abandon the effort."