NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGES IN THE REGULATIONS OF THE

ALASKA JOINT BOARD OF FISHERIES AND GAME

The Alaska Board of Fisheries and the Alaska Board of Game (collectively the Joint Board) will consider proposed regulation changes in Title 5 of the Alaska Administrative Code, dealing with local fish and game advisory committees\(ACs), procedures for the adoption of fish and game regulations, and subsistence uses including the following:

FUNCTION AND UNIFORM RULES OF OPERATION OF LOCAL FISH AND GAME ADVISORY COMMITTEES, including notice requirements and public accessibility for meetings; procedures for elections; designation of seats for specific user groups; officer duties; terms of members, alternates, and officers; and processes for addressing unjustifiable absences, appointing alternates, declaring vacancies, and filling expired seats.

NONSUBSISTENCE AREAS, including the boundaries for the Fairbanks Nonsubsistence Area.

ESTABLISHMENT AND MEMBERSHIP OF ADVISORY COMMITTEES, including community designated seats on the East Prince of Wales Advisory Committee.

In addition to the topics described above, the Joint Board may also address other nonregulatory topics such as letters, findings, and policies. Nonregulatory items are typically addressed at the end of the meeting under miscellaneous business, but action may occur earlier in the meeting.

The proposed changes are available on the Joint Board meeting information website at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=process.jbmeetinginfo&date=03-25- 2024&meeting=anchorage or by contacting the ADF&G Boards Support Section Office at (907) 465-4110. Additional meeting information such as the roadmap, agency reports, and advisory committee and public comments will be added to the website as they become available.

Anyone interested in or affected by the subject matter contained in this legal notice should provide written or oral comments to have their views considered by the board. You may comment on the proposed regulation changes, including the potential costs to private persons of complying with the proposed changes, by submitting written comments limited to no more than 100 single-sided or 50 double-sided pages.

Written comment can be submitted online at www.jointboards.adfg.alaska.gov. Written comments can be uploaded as a file (.doc, .docx, or .pdf) or entered manually into the website comment submission portal. Written comments are not accepted via email. Additionally, comments will be accepted by mail to: ADF&G, Boards Support Section, at P.O. Box 115526, Juneau, AK 99811-5526, or by fax to (907) 465-6094. Written comments received by Boards Support by the deadline of March 11, 2024, will be included in the board meeting workbook, and made available for viewing prior to the start of the meeting.

Once the meetings begin, comments will be accepted online as record copies, by hand delivery at the meeting, or via fax to (907) 465-6094. Comments submitted during the meeting are limited to ten single-sided or five double-sided pages in length from any one individual or group.

As a practical matter, comments submitted after the board begins deliberations on relevant proposals are likely to receive less consideration than comments submitted earlier. Additionally, groups of people submitting numerous, form-like comments containing similar language during the meeting is not advisable, and Boards staff will be unable to process and distribute the comments to the board during the meeting. These types of comments will be grouped together or summarized for the board in a single submission.

The public hearing portion of the meeting will begin following staff reports and continue until everyone who has signed up and is present has been given the opportunity to be heard. A list will be posted daily during the meeting. The Joint Board will take oral testimony only from those who register before the cut-off time announced by the board chair at the meeting. The length of oral statements may be limited to five minutes or less for private persons and 15 minutes or less for fish and game advisory committee and federal regional advisory council representatives.

TENTATIVE MEETING SCHEDULE

Alaska Joint Board of Fisheries and Game March 25–28, 2024

Egan Civic and Convention Center 555 W. Fifth Avenue Anchorage, Alaska

Any changes to meeting locations, dates or times, or rescheduling of topics or subject matter will be announced by news release. Please watch for these announcements in the news media and on the Joint Boards website at www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=process.jointboard or call Boards Support at (907) 465-4110.

Anyone interested in or affected by the subject matter included in this notice, including advisory committee composition, membership qualifications, rules of operation, areas of jurisdiction, or procedures for adoption of fish and game regulations, is hereby informed that, by publishing this legal notice the Joint Board may consider any or all of the subject areas covered by this notice. THE JOINT BOARD IS NOT LIMITED BY THE SPECIFIC LANGUAGE OR CONFINES OF ACTUAL PROPOSALS SUBMITTED BY THE PUBLIC OR DEPARTMENT STAFF. Pursuant to AS 44.62.200, the Joint Board may review the full range of activities appropriate to any of the subjects listed in this notice.

If you are a person with a disability needing special accommodations in order to participate in this process, please contact Boards Support at (907) 465-4110 no later than ten days before the accommodation is needed to ensure that any necessary accommodations can be provided.

After reviewing written public comments and considering oral public comments, the Joint Board may adopt these or other provisions dealing with the same subject, without further notice, or amend, reject, supplement, defer or decide to take no action on the proposed regulation changes.

The language of the final regulations may be different from the proposed regulations. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT WRITTEN COMMENT DURING THE TIME ALLOWED IF YOUR INTERESTS COULD BE AFFECTED.