The Federal Subsistence Board holds a public meeting at 8:30 a.m. Tues., Dec. 6, at the Anchorage Downtown Marriott.

At this meeting, the board determines what additional information is needed as it continues its review of the rural status of Alaska communities and will accept public testimony. If necessary, the meeting will continue on Dec. 7.

The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act requires rural Alaskans get a priority for subsistence uses of fish and wildlife on federal public lands. Only residents of communities found to be rural are eligible for subsistence priority.

The board initially determined which Alaska communities were rural when the Federal Subsistence Management Program began in 1990. Federal subsistence regulations require rural/nonrural status be reviewed every 10 years, beginning with the availability of the 2000 census data.

An initial review, completed in July 2005, determined the rural/nonrural status of most Alaska communities should remain unchanged. However, Kodiak is one of 10 communities and areas proposed for further analysis to determine if their rural/nonrural status change.

Kodiak is recommended for further analysis because its population increased above the 7,000 threshold between the 1990 and 2000 census. A community with a population of more than 7,000 is considered nonrural unless it has significant rural characteristics.

“What’s going to happen now is the board is going to make a determination as to whether (Kodiak), as well as all the other regions they took recommendations from, will still be analyzed,” said council coordinator Michelle Chivers.

She said the final determination will probably be a year from now.

“It’s still in the preliminary stages and I know we’ll be having public hearings, we just haven’t set dates yet,” Chivers said.

The official public comment period ran from July 28 to Oct. 28, but people can still express their views to the board.

“The reason for that cut-off was so we as a staff could compile a summary of the comments and prepare a report to the board,” said subsistence policy coordinator Larry Buklis.

“If people continue to write and send in comments, that is part of the record, and it will be provided to the board at the meeting, but it won’t be included in the staff report,” he said.

Comments received during the official public comment period from the Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council and the public strongly support Kodiak retaining rural status.

A summary of the comments states that seven comments were received from the public and resolutions came from the Ketchikan Indian Community, Natives of Larsen Bay and the Shoonaq’ Tribe of Kodiak requesting Kodiak retain its rural designation and hearings be held in Kodiak.

The majority of the comments and resolutions noted that many residents depend on subsistence foods for culture, health and economic reasons.

The average household’s subsistence harvest is 150 pounds per year. Loss of the rural designation would be a blow to culture and a shock to the economy. The impact on people would be devastating, the summary stated.

Council member Pat Holmes encourages people to continue to comment.

“It would be good for folks to continue to pursue their perspectives and communicate with the federal board on rural determination for the communities,” Holmes said.

“Folks could provide additional comments because it’s going to be a while before they reach the final determination.”

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