October 12, 2017
Thursday AM

My name is Charles Edwardson a native born Ketchikan resident and also an Alaska native, there is no distinction of separation in my view, although both perspectives need to be understood. I am also a dual resident having a home on Prince of Wales and in Ketchikan.

I am coming out of a self imposed exile from Sitnews, I used to write frequently but my comments started being opinions, and rebuttals to readers comments that do not share my opinions. In other words opinions are like ..., everyone has one and like many of you my feeling is that if I want your opinion I will politely and respectfully ask you for it, and so I stopped offering mine until asked.

So this letter is posing only questions.

My questions - does anyone know or have we been made aware of further hunting restrictions on Prince of Wales Island to limit the bag limit to two deer for non Prince of Wales' residents?

I heard there is going to be a push by some groups to do just that, restrict non residents of POW to two deer.

My question is why? I will ask the groups pushing this issue, I will ask the Fish and Game, and also the residents of POW who rely on hunters and fishermen visiting Alaska for their patronage that helps support an economy that has been suffering a steep decline in recent years.

Questions:

SHOULD THERE OR HAS THERE BEEN OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS? (was not very public if there was)

1. Is there a shortage of deer? (not according to the Fish and Game)
2. Will this help or hurt the suffering POW economy? (ask the business owners on POW who sell food, beer, and hunting supplies, the Inter Island Ferry system, lodge and bed and breakfast cottages what this might indicate.)
3. Is not weeks prior to open season: "POW residents are granted hunting privileges on Prince of Wales island weeks before non residents ", as well as the ability to bag a doe ,and one month longer hunting season, is that not enough of an advantage for POW residents?
4. Is banning hunters from hunting federal land a traditional native subsistence issue - the elephant in the room question?

I am from a native household from the Haida Mation. I grew up in a traditional household learning the seasons and what to gather, learning our language and dances as did my children whose mother was not born Alaska native, but is a native of Ketchikan and also adopted into our tribe by my grandfather. I only point this out to point out traditionally at least as far as we can look back native groups on POW primarily stayed in the areas that have and had established to this day. Not encompassing the entire island of Prince of Wales over land to hunt deer, it was not practical or reasonable to hunt the areas by and large that are now accessible by roads in the old days. That is why we picked the areas we are now settled in was the abundance of resources.

ROADS AND ACCESS

5. Are the deer "that are not in decline "harder to get now than in the past? ( no, in fact Prince of Wales Island road system has been designated a "scenic by way ", federally funded and maintained highway system built to military standards for future transport of minerals. A world class highway that has opened up access from one end of the island to the other, further giving the indigenous groups much easier access to lands not traditionally accessed to this extent.

Prince of Wales Island has by far superior roads and access to resources than any one else in southeast Alaska.

I will be asking these and many many more question and if you are a hunter, providing for your families, a tradition not only practiced by indigenous groups, I would be asking the fish and game.

If you're a business owner on POW and in Ketchikan who cater to customers on their way to POW stopping by Tongass for bullets etc, the Inter Island Ferry folks, Walmart, Klawock fuel, Thorne Bay grocery store... The economic impact study that should be done will reveal a much bigger picture than keeping those &$###% Ketchikan hunters off our darn new roads on POW.

Please no rebuttals these are question, I'm not representing any entities, groups, businesses,or tribes. Just curious if anyone's heard about this issue and if I'm wrong and no one is pushing this issue, never mind good luck hunting.

" My grandfather Dr. Robert Cogo, Doctor of letters and Haida historian" once told me that traditionally a person was considered wealthy and their standing in the community was judged by how much he or she gave away, how much they shared and provided for others.

Chas Edwardson
Ketchikan, Alaska

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The text of this letter was NOT edited by the SitNews Editor.

Received October 07, 2017 - Published October 12, 2017

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