As the Bristol Bay drainage faces the prospect of numerous industrial developments, Alaskans may be unaware that the state has, over the past few years, eliminated many of the guidelines and habitat standards which formerly required that activities needing permits would be consistent with the protection and enhancement of fish and wildlife stocks.

To provide adequate protection of fish and wildlife habitat, Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, has introduced Senate Bill 67, the Jay Hammond State Game Refuge, encompassing 6 million acres of state land in the drainage, much of it within his district.

Protecting this area was a long-term dream of the late Jay Hammond, the state’s greatest governor, famous for protecting fish and wildlife habitat, as well as for creating the Alaska Permanent Fund and its dividends. His family supports this legislation as an appropriate way to honor his memory.

This proposed Jay Hammond State Game Refuge is often confused with myriad other ideas about what things should be changed in the management of state lands in the Bristol Bay watershed. Recognition by refuge status of the immense replenishable resources value of the area is long overdue.

A refuge is a step along the way to security for the resources supporting the regional economy. SB 67 emphasizes “public use of fish and wildlife and their habitat, particularly subsistence, commercial and recreational fishing, hunting, trapping, viewing and general public recreation in a high quality environment.”

The Department of Fish and Game is required to “permit support activities including landing strips, aircraft support and ATV and snowmachine use.”

The bottom line is to protect and enhance state land and water habitat for salmon, trout, caribou, moose, bears and other species, so that they may flourish and be available for the full range of sport, commercial and subsistence harvests and for observation, as they have always been.

Refuges raise the bar and ordain the use of the best tools of the state in limiting the likelihood of the incidental or catastrophic harms that poorly regulated development has caused in so many other places. The growth and propagation of fish requires some specific protection so the bill prohibits “the storage and disposal of industrial waste and the discharge of water that does not meet water quality standards.”

While some claim that water pollution of this kind is already prohibited, the refuge would help ensure it.

Creating a renewable resource refuge, critical habitat area, range or reserve is a common way we use to meet the constitutional mandate to protect and increase sustained yield for Alaskans’ use. Some situation specific language is needed to upgrade the standards by which developers must live and can refer to when seeking state permits.

In this one, access, allotments and land selections by present and possible future borough governments can advance. In fact, the management plan will be more effective to the extent that it helps streamline bureaucratic processes to complete the land conveyances to which local government is entitled. As an example, near Kachemak Bay, for the Anchor River/Fritz Creek Critical Habitat Area, the statute provides for the construction of a dam and reservoir, if needed for a community water supply. That is the sort of detail that only local residents can identify and the intent language for the Jay Hammond refuge should make it clear that the Legislature will make changes if necessary to allow such things.

If a Dillingham-based borough is formed, it will receive its land entitlement in full, and all established rights, including mining, are recognized by the state’s laws of general applicability. There is no attempt here to abolish or limit valid existing rights. But, let there be no doubt that establishing this refuge is intended to raise environmental standards as much as necessary to protect wild, renewable resources. Industrial activities, such as road building and large mining, would have to design operations to avoid unacceptable levels of disturbance. Residents and other users should be assured that flexibility is provided to deal with unintended consequences. There is nothing new in the Legislature making any needed changes.

The phrase in the bill “closed to mineral entry” prevents staking additional claims. None of the hundreds of valid claims already filed, neither the pick and shovel, stick-of-dynamite variety nor the 10 projects in the “large mine” category lose their status.

There are many good ideas for recognizing Jay Hammond’s enormous contributions to the ecology and economy of Alaska. His family, and this state chock full of his friends, are solidly behind honoring him with this refuge. The time has come for the Jay Hammond State Game Refuge, which would extend his embrace to the Bristol Bay uplands and waters which he loved so dearly.

Larry Smith has lived near Cook Inlet for 50 years and has worked on habitat issues for 30.