If the governor’s order is allowed to go into effect, councils that for decades have overseen Wood-Tikchik State Park and the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve would be eliminated.
Lake Nerka is seen beyond Little Togiak Lake in Wood-Tikchik State Park on Thursday, July 21, 2022. The University of Washington Alaska Salmon Program's Nerka Camp is visible in the upper left of the frame.
Robin Samuelsen, a Dillingham resident who serves on the council, said he remembers the day in the late 1970s when then-Gov. Jay Hammond spoke to community members about the formation of the park. The order “seems like a solution in search of a problem,” he added. “I’m not sure the park would function as well as it does if we didn’t have local buy-in and local support.”
“The creation of the preserve and its 12-member advisory council 40 years ago resulted from a hard-fought, multipartnered agreement that struck a balance between traditional uses of this 48,000 acres of eagle habitat and the necessary protection of the world’s largest gathering of eagles,” said Tom Morphet, Haines Borough mayor, in a letter to lawmakers.
As of this month, there was one vacancy on the Wood-Tikchik council for the seat representing Dillingham, and three vacancies on the Chilkat Bald Eagle council.
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