Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has announced four appointments to the Alaska Board of Fisheries and the Alaska Board of Game, which oversee management of populations on the state’s lands and in its waters.
Märit Carlson-Van Dort is the only reappointment to the boards. She’s served on the Alaska Board of Fisheries since 2019. Carlson-Van Dort is from the village of Chignik Bay and is President and CEO of its Native village corporation, Far West, Inc.
The new appointee to the Alaska Board of Fisheries is Curtis Chamberlain, who is from Aniak and Bethel on the Kuskokwim River. Chamberlain works as assistant general counsel for the Calista Corporation and previously served on The Kuskokwim Corporation board of directors. Chamberlain will replace outgoing board member John Wood of Willow, whose term expires at the end of June.
For the Alaska Board of Game, the governor has appointed two new members to replace current board chair Jerry Burnett of Juneau as well as James Cooney of Eagle River, whose terms also expire at the end of June.
New appointee Jake Garner works as the vice president of operations for the Ouzinkie Native Corporation, based in Anchorage. He is a member of the Alaska Wild Sheep Foundation and Safari Club International’s Alaska chapter.
The other Alaska Board of Game appointee, Jim Baichtal of Thorne Bay, is the regional coordinator for the Mule Deer Foundation. He holds a master’s degree in geology and spent nearly four decades working for the United States Forest Service, the majority of that time in the Tongass National Forest. He also previously served as the chair of a fish and game advisory committee on Prince of Wales Island.
For both boards, members serve three-year terms. The new appointees’ terms officially start on July 1, 2024. Appointees are formally ratified by the state legislature, but may participate in meetings before that approval.
For the Alaska Board of Fisheries appointees, the next meeting on the 2024 calendar will be after the summer season and is a work session scheduled for October in Anchorage. As of April 2, the 2024-2025 schedule for the Alaska Board of Game wasn’t available online.
