Peninsula Clarion, October 05, 2014

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Finances PFD season forces individuals, families to think about money

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Football Soldotna High edges Kenai Central Sports/B-1

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CLARION P E N I N S U L A

OCTOBER 5, 2014 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Vol. 45, Issue XX

50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday

ADFG biologist charged after aerial moose hunt By MICHAEL ARMSTRONG Morris News Service - Alaska Homer News

A golden anniversary Kenai Refuge spends a year celebrating the Wilderness Act By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion C

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Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion

Top: Tom Collopy’s loon photograph is a part of Alaska’s Voices of the Wilderness travelling art show and part of the Kenai Wildlife Refuge’s yearlong celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Above: Students in the PEEPS program hosted by Educational Specialist Michelle Ostrowski at the refuge learned about the plants that decompose vegetation in the refuge.

See WILD, page A-2

— Myron Angstman Attorney Herreman had gone hunting on Aug. 23 and shot a moose near Anchor Point but lost it. The state alleged that on Aug. 24 Herreman went back to search for the moose and had an air taxi pilot help him search for it. The pilot had limited radio communication with Herreman, the complaint said, and later reported his activities to wildlife troopers. Chwialkowski said he went to the area and found Herreman packing out the moose. The trooper said Herreman admitted See HUNT, page A-2

Platform fire flares on Friday, still being investigated By Rashah McChesney Peninsula Clarion

A fire that destroyed the crew barracks on the Baker platform, flared up briefly Friday but was quickly surpressed. The offshore natural gas platform caught fire during a safety meeting Thursday and crews spent several hours battling to keep the blaze from hitting the production areas of the platform before gaining control of the blaze. The four Hilcorp Alaska, LLC. crew members aboard the platform were evacuated — no injuries were reported. A unified command group of the United States Coast Guard, Hilcorp Alaska, LLC., and the Alaska Departmetn of Environmental Conservation worked Friday to determine whether the platform was safe enough

for investigators to board. A 2 mile maritime safety zone remains in effect around the Baker platform, according to a media release from the unified command. U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Paul Mehler III told the Associated Press that the flare-up may have been caused by a water hose hitting electrical wires on the platform. Responders from the Nikiski Fire Department used heat sensing equipment to find any remaining hotspots before the on-scene investigation was launched, according to the release. “While the exact cause of the fire has not be determined, personnel aboard the platform confirmed it began in the living quarters,” according to the release. See FIRE, page A-2

Kenai man named ‘Fisherman of the year’

Today’s Clarion Obituaries..................... A-3 Opinion......................... A-4 Alaska........................... A-5 Nation........................... A-6 World............................ A-8 Cops/courts................ A-10 Sports........................... C-1 Community................... D-1 Weddings...................... D-1 Dear Abby..................... D-2 Crossword..................... D-2 Horoscope.................... D-2 Classifieds................... D-3 Mini Page...................... D-9 TV...................... Clarion TV

For second-grader Ethan Ellis, Alaska is synonymous with the wild. In a drawing, below the black outlines of birds, trees and wild mammals filled with strokes of brown and green crayon, Ellis wrote “animals in wilderness, and snow, nature beauty and flowers,” as integral parts of his definition of wilderness. Ellis made the piece in April, alongside his peers in his first grade Nikiski North Star Elementary School classroom. It is now on display in the Voices of the Wilderness Art Show that opened Friday Oct. 3 at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center. The traveling exhibit will remain at the center until Oct. 25 before it makes its last stop for the year in Anchorage. Refuge Educational Specialist Michelle Ostrowski said students at Nikiski North Star and Soldotna Montessori Charter School were asked to design artwork that explained, what the wilderness meant to them. The student workshops where one of the of the Kenai Wildlife Refuge’s year-long programs celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act.

An Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist has been charged with two violations related to a moose hunt last August. Jason Herreman, 33, was charged with taking moose using illegal methods or means and unlawful possession of game, both minor offenses. Herreman is the area biologist for the Homer office of Fish and Game, but has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of his case, said Kenai area wildlife biologist Jeff Selinger. Herreman has not yet been served with charges, but intends to plead not guilty, said his Anchorage-based attorny Myron Angstman. According to a complaint by assistant attorney general Arne Soldwedel and based on an investigation by Alaska Wildlife Trooper Trent Chwialkowski,

‘This is a not a case of ‘he said, she said.’ This is a case of an interpretation of the law.’

Sunny 45/31 For complete weather, see page A-12 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.

By RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion

It was hard to hear the announcement over the din of the 150 people who attended 40th Anniversary banquet for the United Fishermen of Alaska — but when a table mate leaned over and said “Boy that’s great,” to Jim Butler, the Kenai man knew something was up. Longtime commercial fisherman and Kenai attorney But-

ler and three others were given UFA’s “Fisherman of the Year” award during a Sept. 26, ceremony at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage. “At first, I wondered why they mentioned my name. Did they want me to do something?” Butler said. “But I was sitting next to Kenny Coleman and he’s like ... you got fisherman of the year.” When recognizing Butler for the award, UFA members cited

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both his experience in the fishing industry and his work to advocate for fishermen. Butler was on the first public advisory group that formed the Regional Citizens Advisory Committee for the Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet. He helped with oil legislation after the Exxon Valdez oil spill and has been a member of the Kenai Peninsula Fishermen’s Association, the Kenai-Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Commit-

tee, president of the Kenai Watershed forum and helped form the Alaska Salmon Alliance, according to his UFA bio. Butler said he was surprised to receive the award. “I thought everyone went to meetings ad nauseam,” he said, with a laugh. Butler started his fishing career on a crab boat in the Bering Sea before moving to longlining and drift gillnetting in the Cook Inlet. See BUTLER, page A-2


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