On Dec. 14, the Haines Fish and Game Advisory Board had three members up for re-election. On Dec. 13, Lynn Canal Conservation sent an ‘alert’ message to its members to “help elect conservation-minded board members to the three open seats.” It then lists their three choices. They packed the meeting hall, overwhelmed the vote and elected two of the three seats, missing the third seat by just one vote. The board chair is also an LCC member. Normally only five or six members attend board meetings, which will now give LCC a 50 percent to 60 percent majority. LCC isn’t about conservation. They are about preservation. They file lawsuits and get injunctions to stop development of highways, logging, mining, pipelines, hydro dams, etc., anything that threatens Alaska’s ‘wilderness.’ They prophesize disaster if the Constantine mine is developed or if Yukon ore trucks are allowed on our highways. They are truly paranoid about “saving” the environment, even if it means politicizing the advisory board system to further their cause.
Dave Werner