Want to learn more about what the future could hold for Alaska’s wild salmon runs? Join us at Juneau’s Centennial Hall on Friday, November 9, at 4:30 to hear a lively and thought-provoking presentation by Dr. Robert Lackey, a professor of fisheries science and adjunct professor of political science at Oregon State University.Dr. Lackey co-edited the anthology Salmon 2100 in which diverse authors tackle the question — “What is it really going to take to have wild salmon populations in 2100?” He will share a retrospective look at the Salmon 2100 project and offer his vision on policy, social changes and restoration practices that provide insight into wild salmon conservation. Dr. Lackey will close with a discussion of how all this applies to wild salmon populations in Alaska, specifically the Southeast Panhandle. The talk is sponsored by the Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership whose current members include Trout Unlimited, Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, The Nature Conservancy, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. The event kicks off with a social gathering at 4:30 p.m. followed by the talk at 5:30 p.m. Questions? Contact Deborah Hart, Coordinator, Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership, at 907-723-0258. by Austin Williams The Parnell administration’s Timber Task Force recently unveiled a proposal to carve out two million acres of theTongassNational Forestfor clear-cut logging under a state-managed “logging trust.” The stated goal is to reviveSoutheast Alaska’s timber industry that collapsed two decades ago amid changing market conditions, logging cutbacks and evolving public opinion about timber harvesting on national forests. Trout Unlimited supports sustainable resource development. But any attempt to turn back the clock, roll back important protections for salmon streams, and return to the days of industrial-scale logging in the Tongass – home to one of the country’s healthiest and most productive salmon fisheries — is a complete non-starter. Rather than seeking a return to the days when timber and subsidies were king on the Tongass, with hundreds of millions of board feet logged annually at huge losses to taxpayers, the state should promote the existing fishing and tourism industries in Southeast Alaska that create huge economic returns for the region and require a healthy forest to sustain. One way to do that is to support the Tongass 77 campaign, an effort led by fishermen and supported by scientists that would require the Forest Service to manage the Tongass’ top 77 salmon-producing watersheds currently open to development for fish first. The Tongass 77 is about protecting fishing industry jobs and keeping watersheds intact for the visitor industry and local residents. Salmon and trout are a billion dollar industry inSoutheast Alaska and employ more than 7,200 people – about one in 10 residents. According to a recent McDowell Group report, the visitor industry also contributes nearly $1 billion to theSoutheast Alaskaeconomy and provides about 20 percent of overall employment. This is not a question of pitting one industry against another. We can have a sustainable wood-products industry in the Tongass without sacrificing salmon-producing watersheds. We can do this without handing over 2 million acres of the Tongass to the state and supplanting important federal protections for salmon such as stream buffers with the inadequate state standards. The Forest Service should support Southeast Alaska’s small businesses and create a favorable climate for new wood products entrepreneurs to invest in the region by offering innovative stewardship contracts and small timber sales tailored to strike a careful balance between habitat conservation, forest restoration and some logging. As the Tongass moves into the 21st century, we should promote existing and emerging industries such as fishing and ocean products, visitor services, and renewable energy instead of sacrificing the region’s economic drivers to an ill-conceived 2 million acre give away. If one ever doubts the economic contribution of fishing in the Tongass, one needs to look no further than at figures produced by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI). Gross earnings from commercial fishing in Southeast in 2009 totaled $173 million, according to ASMI. The seafood industry workforce in Southeast topped 10,150 that year. Southeast had more seafood-industry jobs in 2009 than any other area of the state, surpassing the Aleutians and Pribilofs which had a seafood work force of 5,309 in 2009. Even Bristol Bay, Southcentral and Kodiak trailed Southeast as far as seafood jobs. Instead of futilely trying to re-create one industry at an unsustainable scale, state officials should regard the Tongass for what it really is – a salmon forest that employs thousands of fishermen and seafood processors, as well as provides jobs to guides, tourism operators, loggers and miners. The Tongass 77 is a balanced approach to moving forward and giving Tongass wild salmon the status they deserve. This initiative would place 1.9 million acres of the Tongass – 77 of the highest-value salmon and trout watersheds currently open to development – into a fish-focused conservation status. This isn’t an environmental issue – it’s a jobs campaign. It’s about protecting an existing wild resource that contributes billions of dollars to the regional economy and sustains thousands of good-paying jobs. Southeast Alaska is home to the Tongass National Forest, a rain forest with more than 17,690 miles of salmon-bearing rivers, streams and lakes. The region draws more than a million tourists a year who come to see glaciers, view wildlife, sport fish, and generally be wowed by the natural beauty of one of America’s best wild places.Many towns in Southeast Alaska in recent years have invested in the tourism industry, which brings nearly $1 billion to the regional economy and contributes about 20 percent of employment opportunities. One of them is Hoonah, a predominantly Tlingit community on Chichagof Island, a roughly half-hour plane ride from Juneau. Formerly a logging town, Hoonah is now a cruise-ship destination for visitors seeking to experience Alaska Native culture, eat some locally caught wild salmon and halibut, and watch humpback whales cavorting in nearby waters. Hoonah’s successful transition from a struggling economy in the late 1990s to a place where tourism entrepreneurship is on the rise is captured in the September issue of Alaska Business Monthly. It was reprinted this month in Sitnews, a regional online news source in Southeast Alaska. Read the article here. A new short film about Trout Unlimited’s Tongass 77 campaign in Southeast Alaska has captured a best cinematography award in The Drake Magazine’s 7th Annual Fly Fishing Video Awards, presented by Simms. The “Last Salmon Forest” by Detonation Studios is a digital short that showcases the natural beauty of the Tongass National Forest and features narration by TU, Alaska Program, director Tim Bristol. In his voiceover, Bristol describes what’s at stake in the Tongass and why Trout Unlimited is organizing fishermen and others to support conservation of the forest’s most high-value salmon and trout watersheds that remain open to development and other threats. “It’s a success story. We’re building on success. We have a healthy, viable fishery. We have a lot of people employed in the fishery. We have enough of the resource to go around for all the user groups. That’s something to be celebrated but it’s not something you take for granted. It’s not something that’s just always going to be there if you’re a good steward, if you’re not pro-active. So we want to take those next steps to make sure that we protect and conserve this resource over the long-term so it’s not something you just admire — it’s something you actually get to use; so that every year we have a healthy, fishable population of salmon. Protecting that near-shore habitat, that upland habitat, those are the things that we can do, that we have control over, that the American public can weigh in on to make sure that this remains a success story. We’re really serious about calling the Tongass a salmon forest,” said Bristol. Congratulations to filmmakers Ian Majszak and Bryan Gregson for producing the award-winning digital short. They expect to release a longer version of “The Last Salmon Forest” later this fall. Majszak and Gregson told The Drake: “After a grueling but rewarding 11 day shoot in South East Alaska’s Tongass National Forest we were invited to submit a digital short for The Drake film awards. With only a handful of days to edit this is our submission that won an award for Best Cinematography. Gratitude—To all the phenomenal Alaskans that put a roof over our head, kept us fed and opened up their lives to us. Without their support this project would not have been possible.” Trout Unlimited’s Alaska director, Tim Bristol, has been selected for a prestigious award honoring his contributions to Alaska environmental conservation.The Alaska Conservation Foundation recently named Bristol as the 2012 winner of the Olaus Murie Award for Outstanding Professional Contributions. The award is named for the late Murie, a famed naturalist, author and wildlife biologist who served as president of The Wilderness Society, The Wildlife Society and as director of the Izaak Walton League. Among his many accomplishments, Murie successfully persuaded President Eisenhower to set aside 8 million acres as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which was later expanded to 19 million acres. The Olaus Murie award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions and displayed strong leadership in the non-profit or public sector toward building a more influential Alaska conservation movement. “Alaska is blessed with so many outstanding conservation professionals it is tough to single out the best of the best but Tim Bristol truly qualifies. His dedication to the movement and his organizational brilliance set an incredibly high standard for all of us to follow,” said Peg Tileston, chairperson of the awards committee. Tileston has been active in the environmental movement since arriving in Alaska in 1972, having served on many boards including the Alaska Conservation Foundation, Alaska Conservation Alliance and Alaska Conservation Voters. She has known Bristol and observed his work for some two decades. Bristol arrived in Alaska more than 20 years ago and initially worked the slime line in a Ketchikan salmon cannery. After college, he returned to Alaska and began his environmental career as a grassroots organizer for the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council at the height of the Tongass National Forest timber wars. “At the time Tim started working to preserve the Tongass, industrial scale logging was well beyond sustainable levels and hundreds of thousands of acres of old growth forest had already been clearcut and turned into dissolving pulp or shipped unprocessed overseas. Meanwhile, the Alaska Congressional Delegation was pushing for more roads to access this forest and more clearcutting. In an effort to come up with more sustainable economic alternatives to large-scale logging in the Tongass, fishermen, independent loggers, conservationists, and tourism operators came together to shepherd through a new management plan for the forest – one far more protective of fish, wildlife and local jobs,” according the Alaska Conservation Foundation award announcement. This further solidified Bristol’s belief that “unless your effort is powered by people, nothing will change. You need to listen to other’s opinions and needs” to get to answers to tough issues, the announcement stated. As the Alaska director of Trout Unlimited – the nation’s oldest and largest non-profit dedicated to the conservation, protection and restoration of North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds – Bristol focuses primarily on the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska and Bristol Bay in the Southwestern part of the state. In the Tongass, his goal is to gain permanent protection of nearly 2 million acres of prime salmon and trout habitat that remains open to development activities that can harm fish. In Bristol Bay, Bristol’s team is leading efforts to protect the world’s largest sockeye salmon run from the proposed Pebble mine. Bristol said he hopes that more Alaskans will be engaged in ensuring “this incredible place is zoned properly with an eye towards future generations.” Congratulations to one of Alaska’s most inspiring and influential conservation leaders on a well-deserved honor. |
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