Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns have this month announced appointments and reappointments to seats on the 10 federal subsistence regional advisory councils.

With these appointments, the membership of the Kodiak/Aleutians Subsistence Regional Advisory Council is: Al Cratty Jr. from Old Harbor; Paul Gunderson from Nelson Lagoon; Pat Holmes from Kodiak; Richard Koso from Adak; Samuel Rohrer from Kodiak; Pete Squartsoff from Port Lions; Speridon “Mitch” Simeonoff Sr. from Akhiok; Vincent Tutiakoff Sr. from Adak; and M. Richard Zacharof Jr. from St. Paul.

Hunting guide Jim Hamilton from Kodiak was newly appointed to the council.

Seats are for three years unless someone is fulfilling the remainder of a term for a council member who resigned or was removed.

The council exists to help provide comments to the Federal Subsistence Board. For example, when regulatory changes go through, the council provides information about what’s happening in the community, said council coordinator Michelle Chivers.

“Sometimes they have different information than what the agencies may have in terms of what they actually see when they are out hunting,” Chivers said.

The council advises the board on subsistence management regulations and policies, and serves as a forum for public involvement in federal subsistence management. The councils are comprised of subsistence, sport and commercial users from each of the 10 regions.

“We’ve got some really hard-working members who have done a lot of work in recent years for developing cooperative solutions with the local Fish and Game Advisory Committee,” said council member Pat Holmes. “The whole idea is to try and avoid duplication and to try to make things fair for everybody.”

The council meets twice a year. The upcoming winter meeting is in King Cove on March 21, 2006, and the fall meeting takes place Sept. 21, in Old Harbor or Kodiak.

Mirror writer Deanna Cooper may be reached via e-mail at dcooper@kodiakdailymirror.com.