Stu Paychek...........that's a blast from the past. Can't remember if I ever met him but remember the name!

Lots of folks on here know that I worked in the Land Office (Div of Mining, Land and Water) at DNR for over 30 years. There were good times and bad, but here is a quick story that will explain what JR and others are up against...

For many years I managed the "front counter" (Public Information Section) in the Norther Regional Office off Airport Way here in Fairbanks. I tried to be helpful and always had glowing evaluations. But one year I was called into the Regional Manager's office and stood at attention while I was lectured. The RM and assistant told me that I was being moved off the front counter and back into a cubicle somewhere deep in the bowels of the bureaucracy. I was told that the reason for the move is that I was being "too helpful" and that I "needed to remember that I worked for the STATE and NOT those people coming through the front door!"

That came as a surprise to me, since I considered the Alaskans coming through the front door to be whom I actually worked for. I thought my job was to use the statutes, regulations and policies to actually get citizens what they requested. Turns out, according to the managers, I was instead supposed to comb through the statutes, regulations and policies to find reasons to DENY applications.

That did not sit well with me. It was the moment in my career when I knew I had "irreconcilable differences" with my bosses. I poked around for a few days and found a way to transfer over to Div of Forestry (still within DNR) where I worked until my retirement.

I did not make a very good bureaucrat.....!

Pete

I have no horror stories regarding my state permit. The last renewal,got hit with a 400 dollar application fee. That was a shocker, but affordable. My nps trapping cabin permit process resulted in a lot of effort for no permit.



The state ones come with arbitrary rules that appear to be aimed at people who want to use thier cabins for other recreational purposes.

Dave,

One of the provisions in the new legislation is a standardized (much lower than $400!) application fee.

Pete

Interesting. My last renewal had a $100 application fee and a $500 permit fee. And yes, some new rules like can’t use it or camp within 5 miles during moose season. Otherwise they were easy to work with.

I bought my cabin from another trapper in 2012. Stu Paychek was the cabin permit guy and he just let me run on the other guys permit till 2015 and then apply for mine. Everything was seamless and went great. He checked with the other trapper to make sure I wasn’t trying anything tricky. Since then I’ve emailed my evidence of use in every year. I did notice this year my email was forwarded to a new person and got a reply from someone different than the previous few years. Mine expires 25 so will probably start that paperwork this winter.

BTW, Stu's last name is Pechek! Sure miss having him there at DNR. Common sense guy and a trapper himself.

A few years ago he went nuts and ran for Don Young's seat in Congress, but other than that he's a common sense guy!

Pete