Guide Concession Program

The Public Comment Period for the 2012 Proposed Guide Concession Program is open February 15, 2012 through April 23, 2012 - 5:00pm

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Guide Concession Program:   Summary

It was in 1973 that the legislature created the Guide Licensing and Control Board (GLCB).  The intended purpose of this board was to, “protect fish and game management,” and, “to get competent people as guides in Alaska.”  The board was assigned the tasks of establishing guide licensing regulations, defining unlawful acts, providing for the disciplining of guides, and generally regulating guide activity in the state.  In 1974, the GLCB established an area system for limiting guides to operations within Exclusive Guide Areas (EGAs).  At the beginning this system was only applied in a few game management units, but by the end of 1976, the board had extended the program and decided to grant EGAs to qualified guides anywhere in the state.

This system of EGAs was found unconstitutional by the Alaska Supreme Court in 1988, in what is commonly known as the “Owsichek Decision.”  The court found the program to be “in contravention of article VIII, section 3 of the Alaska Constitution,” which is the common use clause. The decision cited several major reasons in support of the finding, stating the EGAs were:  not subject to competitive bidding, not based primarily on wildlife management concerns and therefore could not be justified as a wildlife management tool like other constitutional restrictions on common use (such as hunting seasons and bag limits), did not provide remuneration to the state, and were grants of unlimited duration and were not subject to any other contractual terms or restrictions.  The court went on to say that Department of Natural Resources (DNR) leases and concession contracts did not share those characteristics.  Indeed the court further stated that, “Nothing in this opinion is intended to suggest that leases and exclusive concessions on state lands are unconstitutional.  The statutes and regulations of the Department of Natural Resources authorize leases and concession contracts of limited duration, subject to competitive bidding procedures and valuable consideration.” 

Today there are no limits on the number of guides conducting big game guided hunts on state land and there are no limits on the number of DNR, Division of Mining, Land and Water (DMLW) authorizations a guide can have on general state land. There have been a number of issues identified by members of the industry, the Big Game Commercial Services Board (BGCSB), and the Alaska Board of Game (BOG), including: lack of wildlife conservation, loss of quality of experience, conflicts between user groups, a lack of land stewardship and inadequate levels of enforcement.

There has long been some level of interest within segments of the commercial hunting industry to re-create a program similar to the old EGA approach, but one that satisfies the deficiencies pointed out in the Owsichek decision and which works within the constraints of DNR’s statutory authority. In 2006, former DNR Commissioner Mike Menge initiated a review of whether the department’s authority was in fact sufficient to create such a program.  In directing department staff to accomplish this task, Commissioner Menge recognized that the lack of direct funding would limit DNR’s ability to implement such a new program, should it be found viable. 
DMLW staff, working with the Department of Law, has found that the department does have sufficient authority to create and manage a program to allocate big game guiding opportunity.  With monetary support from the Legislature, and wildlife management input from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), DMLW has committed to developing the necessary elements of a new guide concession program.   

The first drafts and concepts of what a DNR led program could look like were published and presented to the public in a White Paper and other supporting documents in December of 2009.  This scoping effort was intended to get feedback from the public, other agencies, and members of the guide industry.  Informational meetings were held in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Tok, Dillingham, Kodiak, and Kotzebue.  In order to give industry members who live outside of Alaska a chance to contribute, a meeting was also held in Little Rock, AR, in conjunction with the Western States Land Commissioner Association meeting.  The public and agency comment period was open from December 8, 2009 through March 31, 2010.  Comments generated during this time period have been considered in the formulation of this proposed decision. DMLW responses to these comments are in Appendix A, with the information organized by topic and issue.  Many of the comments received resulted in changes to the proposed program and an extensive review and edit of the scoring criteria and guide concession maps.

The mission of the GCP program is to encourage land stewardship, support wildlife conservation, and to promote a healthy guiding industry to benefit the people of Alaska.  The GCP will select qualified individuals to conduct big game commercial guiding on general state land.  The program’s allocation process would involve qualified individuals submitting an application with supporting documentation to the DMLW Lands Section, which would then be reviewed and scored by a panel of agency personnel.  There may be more than one panel, representing different regions of an agency’s jurisdiction.  Panel participants may be employees of: DNR, ADF&G, DCCED, Department of Law, Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the BLM.    Concessions would be awarded and managed by DMLW.  A concession would grant access to the land within a guide concession area and permit commercial big game guiding.  This program does not address any other commercial or private entities or any other non-participating landowners.

DMLW is currently working with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and DNR, Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation (DPOR) on the potential of implementing the GCP on their lands.  DMLW has conducted agency meetings with both landowners and is working towards Memorandums of Understanding that would outline how the GCP would apply to their lands.  BLM staff has expressed interest and support of the GCP and are reviewing what its implementation on BLM land would require.  DPOR staff are in the same process.  If the GCP is implemented on these lands, it may be that only the concession permittees will be able to operate on BLM and DPOR lands.

Agency Contact

For questions and comments regarding this program, and to submit comments via email, fax, or mail, contact:

Clark Cox
State of Alaska
Department of Natural Resources
Division of Mining, Land & Water
550 West 7th Ave, Suite 900c
Anchorage, Alaska 99501-3577
Phone: (907) 269-8565
Fax: (907) 269-8913
E-mail: dnr.mlw.gcp@alaska.gov