1. I have monitored wildlife issues in Chugach State Park for about ten years, and attended all the Board of Game meetings dealing with the Park. No member of the Board of Game has in ten years been so anti-conservation. He is the only member of the Board of Game from Anchorage, and he does not represent the views of the vast majority of residents of Anchorage.
2. Mr. Bell made a point of ignoring the recommendations of the biologists employed by the Department of Fish and Game on numerous issues at the March, 2007 meeting.
3. Mr. Bell was the prime proponent of a measure to open Chugach State Park to wolverine trapping. As you know there has been a public outcry against that measure.
4. Mr. Bell's response to the public outcry has been to make false assertions of fact. These false assertions have been made in an opinion piece published in the Voice of the Times, in remarks made to concerned citizens at a forum held on May 8 by the Chugach State Parks Advisory
Committee, and in letters to the editor of the Anchorage Daily News. I won't list all the false assertions, but only one. For instance, Mr. Bell has repeatedly said that wolverine trapping will be only "over the
mountains". Wrong. It will be within a few yards of the Seward Highway in areas used year round by Anchorage residents with dogs. I speak of Bird Ridge, the Johnson trail above the Seward Highway, the Indian Creek valley, Bird Creek valley, the bike trail along the Seward Highway south of Bird. There will also be wolverine trapping close to the highway north of Anchorage, in the Peters Creek valley, the Thunderbird Creek valley, and the lower slopes of Pioneer Peak. These areas are all close to the road. And he has mislead in other specifics. But my point is not the particulars, but the BIG PICTURE, which is that his response to the public outcry is to mislead.
5. I have attended many meetings of the Board of Game over the years.
I have never seen Bob Bell at a meeting. He has no history of involvement. No training. No expertise. His repeated rejection of biologist opinions reflects this.
6. Mr. Bell at the March 2007 BOG meeting took positions and made statements that reflected a strong bias against subsistence users.
I urge you to vote no on Bob Bell's confirmation.
Kneeland Taylor / Anchorage AK | 
