Alaska anglers are supporting Ballot Measure 1 to protect our wild salmon legacy and promote responsible development.
By: Jenny Weis
You’ve read the Ballot Measure 1 language, understood the expensive deception campaign is full of it, and have pledged to vote YES in November. Now what? We need your help!
Once you know that Voting Yes on 1 means protecting salmon habitat and fishing and tourism jobs while allowing for responsible resource development, you have all the tools you need to help us ensure the measure passes. Since opposition is outspending us in ads, word of mouth is critical for the future of wild salmon in Alaska.
Please help tell your neighbors that our current protections for wild salmon are outdated, vague, and open to political influence and corruption. Help explain the basics: Ballot Measure 1 creates a permit review system for projects in salmon habitat that is based on science, that encourages responsible and balanced resource development, and puts Alaskans in charge of managing our resources by adding comment periods and public hearings to decisions about major projects likes mines, roads, or dams proposed in salmon habitat.
Tell them that, if passed, Ballot Measure 1 will modernize our laws to balance responsible development with fishing and allows us to hold corporations accountable if they hurt Alaska or our fish.
Beyond having conversations with your neighbors and friends, there are a few other things you can do to help ensure Ballot Measure 1 passes on November 6:
1. Send an email: We’ll never match our opposition in funds, so word of mouth is critically important. Please take a few minutes to reach out to a few friends via email, phone call, post on Facebook, etc. to tell them what Ballot Measure 1 is, why you’re voting yes, and when they can vote (early voting begins October 22!). This page includes more information as well as a sharable factsheet.
2. Have them sign our pledge: Click here to find and sign our pledge so we know who we still need to talk to about Ballot Measure 1, and who we know will already be voting yes!
3. Make sure your people are registered to vote and know how to vote early or where to go on election day. This site can help with that.
4. Show your support! We’d love to send you a yard sign or a few stickers so you can show your support of Ballot Measure 1. Email ebooton [at] tu.org to get yours!
5. Join us for a Get Out the Vote call night! On October 16, October 24, and November 1, we’ll meet at the TU office (3105 Lakeshore Drive #102B) to call fellow TU members, hunters and anglers in Alaska. We’ll provide the pizza, beverages, and a simple script. It will only be a couple hours of your time with the potential to have a big impact! Not in Anchorage but still willing to call fellow anglers and ask them to vote yes? Please let us know, we’d be happy to send you a list of a couple dozen people to call and our script.
If you have questions about Ballot Measure 1 or would like to learn more, please call or email us! We’re happy to help clear up misconceptions or share more about why we’ve decided to back this initiative.
The work we do today to pass Ballot Measure 1 is the legacy we leave for our children and future Alaskan anglers. If we want strong runs of wild salmon to continue in Alaska, passing this initiative in 2018 is our best chance to ensure that happens. Thanks for your support.
Jenny Weis is the Alaska communications director. She lives and works in Anchorage.
Paid for By Trout Unlimited Alaska, Anchorage, AK. Nelli Williams Director, approved this message. Top Three Donors are Dan Michels, Wasilla, AK; Alaska Fishing Unlimited, Port Alsworth, AK; and Josh Grieser, Anchorage, AK.