Hoonah Stewardship Council Discusses HNFP Opportunities and TRAYLS

The Hoonah Stewardship Council met for their monthly meeting on 03/15/2018 to discuss a student summer program in natural resources (TRAYLS) and opportunities from the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership. Here’s a recap.

Date : 03/15/2018

In attendance : Faith Grant, Niccole Williams, Jackie Dick, Ben Mcluckie, Bob Hutton, Glenda Hutton,Ian Johnson, Dennis Gray, Jeromy Grant, Sean Williams

Training Alaska Youth Leaders and Students (TRAYLS)

HIA was recently awarded $50,000 from the BIA Youth Initiatives grant. These money will be used to employ four students (age 16-25) for the summer to do natural resource work and build their resumes for future work or school. Crews will be professionally run by a Student Conservation Association trained leader and each student that participates will be paid $100/day for a 12 week program. This is a VERY exciting opportunity! Some of the activities for the summer include participating in culture camp, working on trail layout with the USFS, comopleting shellfish surveys, helping in stream restoration, and professional development.

Students and parents can learn more about this program by contacting Ian Johnson (ijohnson@hiatribe.org) or Sean Williams (swilliams@hiatribe.org) or by stopping by our office at HIA!

There are two types of positions available :

• Crew Members – Application is easy at. START HERE.
• Crew Leader – This paid position would oversee the students for the summer. A great opportunity to receive professional training and do meaningful work in Hoonah! Contact Ian Johnson for more information (945 3545 or ijohnson@hiatribe.org)

Opportunities from the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership

The Hoonah Native Forest partnership will result in an 80 vision of land management and a first 5 years of opportunity. The vision will be to enhance and restore our lands to provide fish, berries, deer, timber, access, job, and economic opportunities for all people who living in Hoonah. This work is here to stay and a community member you should understand how providing your voice can help guide actions.

Here are examples of how these data can help us:

• Deer and Timber – We know where thinning for timber can be combined with ways to create food for deer. Targeting these in areas that hunters can go to can
• Berry Production – We know where blueberry production is highest and are proposing to areas where managing for just blueberries (removing tall trees and competing shrubs) can provide for the community and those looking to pick and sell berries.
• Stream Restoration – There are many streams where restoration can take place to help spawning and young fish. By improving habitat we hope and expect that more salmon will return and spawn.
• Road Maintenance – Our road system is key to harvest resource and our data show where culverts and bridges may impact access in the future if the structures fail. These structures need to be fixed, repaired, or replaced to maintain access and protect stream habitat. Some of these structures may be blocking fish and good habitat.

What’s next?

We will be at the Clan workshop to help the community understand the unique opportunity that we have through the HNFP. The Clan workshop will be held April 23-25th and we look forward to discussing this with the community. We hope that community members will be able to make our session which will have more details announced in early April.