Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Gov. Sarah Palin appointed two new members to the state Board of Game on Wednesday, replacing the only Native representative on the seven-person board that establishes hunting and trapping regulations for Alaska.

Teresa Sager-Albaugh of Tok and Lew Bradley of Palmer were named to the board by Palin on Wednesday, which was the deadline for the governor to appoint new members to state boards and commissions.

They replace Ron Somerville of Juneau, who resigned his position earlier this week after six years on the board, and Paul Johnson of Unlalkleet, who was not re-appointed to the board after serving an interim two-year term. Johnson had been the lone Native on the board.

The governor also re-appointed Ted Spraker of Kenai to a third term on the board.

It marks the first time since the Game Board was created in 1976 that there has been no Native representation on the board. It also marks the first time there has not been a representative on the board from Bush Alaska. The only member who doesn’t live on the road system is Ben Grussendorf of Sitka.

Frank Bailey, director of state boards and commissions, said the governor considered several names that were forwarded to her by local advisory committees, including Native candidates, before deciding on Bradley and Sager-Albaugh.

“We are confident that this board will govern in the best interest of all Alaskans,” said Bailey.

Both Sager-Albaugh and Bradley are proponents of predator control to increase moose and caribou populations, one of the most controversial topics the game board has dealt with in recent years. The state has aerial wolf-control programs under way in five parts of rural Alaska to boost the number of ungulates for hunters.

Sager-Albaugh, 44, was born and raised in Fairbanks before moving to the Tok/Mentasta area, where she has lived the last 23 years. Her family has a strong background in hunting, fishing and trapping.

Sager-Albaugh served as president of the Alaska Outdoor Council, the state’s largest and most active sportsmen’s group, from 2005-07 and is a former AOC board member. She also spent 13 years working as a legislative aide for various Interior legislators, including John Ringstad, Mike MIller and Steve Frank. She works for Summit Consulting Services Inc. in Tok.

Though she didn’t apply for a spot on the board, Sager-Albaugh said she was honored to get one.

“It’s the kind of thing a person doesn’t have the opportunity to do often, if at all,” she said.

While she supports predator control and sustained-yield management of Alaska’s wildlife, Sager-Albaugh said she intends “to be fair to all interests and user groups.”

“I don’t feel like I represent any specific constituency,” she said, adding that she has a good rapport with Natives in villages around Tok.

Dick Bishop of Fairbanks, who replaced Sager-Albaugh as president of the AOC, voiced support for her nomination.

“She’s objective, fair-minded and very conscientious,” Bishop said.

Bradley, 62, is a former gym teacher and coach at Wasilla Middle School, where he worked for 26 years. He also coached wrestling, gymnastics and track and field at the school, where he was a physical education teacher from 1975-99.

An avid sheep hunter who applied for a seat on the board, Bradley echoed Sager-Albaugh’s sentiments about managing Alaska’s wildlife resources for abundance.

“I’m a hunter, and I want there to be game for my grandkids and all Alaskans,” he said, summing up his game-management philosophy.

At the same time, Bradley said the state has to be careful not to boost populations so high that moose and caribou don’t have enough to eat.

Neither of Palin’s appointments solicited a cheer from John Toppenberg, executive director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, which has campaigned for a more diverse board not made up solely of hunters.

Both Bradley and Sager-Albaugh are hunters who favor predator control and Toppenberg doesn’t expect either to stand up for the rights of other wildlife users, such as tourists, wildlife viewers and other non-consumptive users. Toppenberg and other game board critics have campaigned for years to add more diversity to the board.

“I see no change coming,” he said. “There is no representation at all for non-consumptive users.”

Somerville, who resigned earlier this week, was likely to be replaced by Palin. The governor urged Somerville to resign a little more than a year ago after he made derogatory remarks about Natives during a meeting in October 2006. Somerville apologized for the remarks but refused to resign.

Palin’s appointments must be approved in a joint session of the Legislature, which typically doesn’t occur until the end of the session, Bailey said.

Contact staff Writer Tim Mowry at 459-7587.