Opinion ID: 1445031
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: did the superior court err in invalidating the challenged regulations?

Text: Morry and Kwethluk assert that the challenged brown bear regulations were adopted by the Board of Game without consideration of, or compliance with the applicable laws relating to subsistence. The central point of their argument is that AS 16.05.258(c) commands that the Board of Game shall adopt ... subsistence hunting regulations for each ... population for which a harvestable portion is determined to exist. (Emphasis added.) Morry and Kwethluk submit that the noncommercial, customary, and traditional uses standard contained in the definition of subsistence uses in AS 16.05.940(30) is plainly related to non-trophy uses that are for direct personal or family consumption as food, shelter, fuel, clothing, tools or transportation, for the making and selling of handicrafts, and for customary trade, barter, or sharing. [4] Morry and Kwethluk argue that in order for a reviewing court to insure both that the agency has in fact taken a hard look and that the courts are able to perform their judicial-review obligations, non-adjudicative decisions of an agency must be supported by an adequate decisional document. Citing Peninsula Marketing Ass'n v. State, 817 P.2d 917, 923 (Alaska 1991), quoting Messerli v. Department of Natural Resources, 768 P.2d 1112, 1118 (Alaska 1989). [5] Here they point out that this court is completely disabled from reviewing the subject regulations for consistency with the subsistence laws, because the APA rule-making hearing, which would have provided a record demonstrating careful consideration of the applicable subsistence laws, was never held. Accordingly, Morry and Kwethluk contend that the superior court did not err in finding that the application of the regulations to subsistence uses is wholly arbitrary and thus invalid. The State and Wilson do not directly address the issue of whether the regulations violate the APA or the subsistence preference laws. Instead, they assert that the superior court employed an incorrect analysis in its review of the questioned big game fee and bear sealing regulations. They argue that the superior court erred in substituting its judgment for the board's judgment in an area where highly specialized agency expertise is involved. Citing Meier v. State, 739 P.2d 172, 174 (Alaska 1987). The State and Wilson assert that the superior court invalidated the regulations because they do not generate enough information. In this regard they argue that the superior court acknowledged that there was some compliance with the regulations and that as a consequence, some information was collected. Given this function, they argue that the regulations were reasonable, not arbitrary. How well they served this purpose was not a proper inquiry of the superior court. As noted above, AS 16.05.258(c) mandates that the Board of Game shall adopt subsistence ... hunting regulations for each ... population for which a harvestable portion is determined to exist. (Emphasis added.) Given this command, we conclude that Morry and Kwethluk's argument, that these trophy hunting regulations do not constitute compliance with the requirement of AS 16.05.258(c) that the Board of Game adopt subsistence hunting regulations for the game in question, is persuasive. In particular, we find compelling the following arguments which were advanced by Morry and Kwethluk: [w]hatever the `noncommercial, customary and traditional uses' standard of the definition of `subsistence uses' in AS 16.05.940(30) may mean, it is plainly related to non-trophy uses that are `for direct personal or family consumption as food, shelter, fuel, clothing, tools or transportation,' for the `making and selling' of handicrafts, and for `customary trade, barter or sharing.' There is no hint that hunting for trophies is a subsistence use.... Many people, both residents of the state and non-residents, hunt grizzly bears for trophies and leave the meat at the kill site ... But it is not a subsistence use, and plaintiffs have contended throughout that it is manifestly unreasonable to apply the regulatory regime designed to govern such trophy-hunting practices to the uses in those places, such as Kwethluk and Anaktuvuk Pass, where brown bears are hunted for the meat and raw materials. [6] (Footnote omitted.) Alternatively, we uphold the superior court's invalidation of the questioned regulations on the ground that these regulations were adopted by the board in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). [7] Alaska Statute 16.05.255(a) grants the board authority to adopt regulations it considers advisable in accordance with the APA. [8] Thus, it is undisputed that it is within the board's rule making powers to consider the applicability and adoption of these questioned regulations to subsistence uses, provided appropriate public notice has been given. AS 44.62.190(a), 16.05.255, 16.05.258(b). Here Morry and Kwethluk correctly note that no hearing was ever held regarding the challenged regulations for consistency with the subsistence law prior to their adoption as subsistence regulations. Given this absence of any hearing, we conclude that the superior court's holding invalidating these tag/fee and sealing regulations, as subsistence regulations applicable to the taking and use of brown/grizzly bears in the affected game management units, should be sustained.