Senate Resources hears bill to reestablish guide concession program on state lands amid legal uncertainty

Senate Resources Committee Chair Senator Natasha Giesel convened a first hearing on Senate Bill 97 on March 10, 2025, to consider reestablishing a big-game guide concession program on state land and to receive invited and public testimony.

The bill would authorize the Big Game Commercial Services Board and the Department of Natural Resources to create limited, competitively awarded concession permits for designated game management units, with key features including open competitive awards, 10-year permits, regulated transferability and an initial pilot in a single management unit.

Proponents told the committee the program restores a tested tool for managing guide density on popular hunting lands. "This program is not novel thanks to the federal program, but it is innovative, improving public involvement in the entire process," Emma Torkelson, chief of staff to Senator Kaufman, told the committee. Jason Bunch, outgoing chair of the Big Game Commercial Services Board and chair of the 2023 work group that drafted the proposal, described extensive public outreach: "We held 16 public meetings, and we took written and oral testimony. It resulted in a common sense approach to implement concessions on state land when needed with agency and public involvement."

Why it matters: supporters said limiting guides in high-use areas can reduce competition that harms guide businesses and may protect sensitive stocks in areas like Unit 19C. Commissioner Doug Vincent Lang of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game told senators, "Sheep are challenged across the state. . . . If we could limit the number of guides in there, you'd limit nonresident hunting opportunity, guided hunting opportunity and give residents some additional opportunity." The bill’s sponsors say it incorporates legal guardrails identified by prior court decisions.

Opponents and some public commenters cautioned about economic and access impacts. Mark Richards, executive director of Resident Hunters of Alaska, said his group "opposes Senate Bill 97 as drafted" and argued the measure could shrink opportunities for resident hunters and that transferability provisions risk creating de facto private property rights that courts previously rejected. Richards referred to the 1988 Alaska Supreme Court decision discussed in testimony, saying the board should pursue other regulatory fixes rather than concessions.

Committee staff summarized the bill’s structure: Section 1 would amend the duties of the Big Game Commercial Services Board (AS 08.54.600(a)) to authorize establishment of concession areas; Section 2 would add authority to AS 16.05.262 allowing the Board of Game to select units or subunits for the program; Section 3 would add a section to AS 38.05.022 empowering DNR to administer the concessions; and uncodified sections would identify implementation steps and an immediate effective date. The sectional also lists program features: open competitive award, three concession permits at a time in a given area (per the packet language), 10-year permit duration, transferability rules to be set in regulation, and an initial selection of one game management unit to pilot the program.

Committee action and next steps: Chair Giesel set the bill aside for consideration and set an amendment deadline of Thursday, March 13, at close of business. No formal vote on the bill was taken at the hearing.

Context and legal issues: witnesses and counsel said SB 97 reenacts provisions of Senate Bill 189 (chapter 15, Session Laws of Alaska 2024) to give the concession program an independent legal footing while a Superior Court challenge to SB 189 (filed November) proceeds. Sonia Kawasaki, senate majority legal counsel, explained the reenactment is intended to address a lawsuit alleging a single-subject violation of Article II, Section 15 of the Alaska Constitution and to give the concession provisions a separate legal existence ahead of a May 12 trial-setting conference in that litigation.

The committee heard technical and policy questions from members including Senator Sandra Myers about why earlier programs were invalidated by the Alaska Supreme Court in 1988 and how the current draft differs. Bunch and board members said the work group specifically designed the program to avoid the legal pitfalls identified in earlier decisions by emphasizing open competition, limited-duration permits, and agency oversight.

Public comment reflected a split between guides and industry representatives who supported a regulated concession approach to reduce field conflicts, and hunting- and conservation-oriented groups who opposed the bill’s draft transferability provisions and the potential economic effects on resident hunting opportunities. Aaron Bloomquist, chair of the Big Game Commercial Services Board, said the program was crafted with industry and agency input and expressed confidence in the collaborative process.

The committee did not take final action; members will have until the March 13 amendment deadline to propose changes before further consideration.