HIA Community Catalyst and Environmental Coordinator Ian Johnson led presentations and workshop to address needs around the Land Management Plan being written for the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership.

Clan Workshop

The clan workshop brings in community elders and Clan Leaders from Hoonah, Juneau and beyond. It was the goal during a one hour presentation to catch-up the leaders on the progress of the project and to get their insight into questions around land usage. Over 40 members attended the presentation.

We received 20 responses to the surveys. Their responses will help with future watershed priortization and to capture community value and need as it pertains to land usage and management. Questions asked included:

1. Why is Subsistence Important to You?
2. If you had to pick one watershed that you use most for resource gathering, which is it? (I know, this one’s hard!)
3. How do you use the land to sustain your family?
4. Why Are Deer Important to You?
5. Why Are Salmon Important to You?
6. Can you tell us what plants you gather (berries, medicinal herbs) and why those are important to you?
7. How has road access changed for your in recent years?
8. How do you use the land to make money (products or employment)?
9. What has change the most about the land around Hoonah in the last 10 years?
10. What are some things about our lands could be managed better around Hoonah?
11. What else would you like to tell regarding resources and land management in Hoonah?

We will use the data collected in the final land management to identify themes, and priority watersheds. The themes from the question “How do you use the land to sustain your family?” are pretty evident in this visualization!

Community Meeting

It was so exciting to see the enthusiasm and discussion at the community meeting! We had 29 people at the meeting including 4 technical team members, 3 HNFP/TRAYLS team members, and 22 community members. Ecotrust provided the food for the event.

Ian Johnson led a two-way discussion for 60 minutes the group to bring everyone up to speed on the history of the project and where we are at today (Presentation Below). The HNFP is currently working on writing and editing the Land Management Plan. That will include a 5 year action plan in Spasski that we are seeking community feedback on for project and values prioritization.

HNFP Community Meeting Pizzaz for Land Management

Click through the presentation above for information about the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership.

We broke into two breakout groups led by technical team members Conor Reynolds (Forester), Bob Christension, and Doug Martin focusing on Vegetation/Forests and Fish/Roads. There were two objectives in the breakout sessions:

• Identify projects of interest in Spasski that may be prioritized for action.
• Identify resource targets important to community

The community came up with a list of priorities. Ian Johnson will be translating these into targets and priorities and will ensure this important information gets into the final watershed management plan. Future meetings on the HNFP will be held with the Hoonah Stewardship Council who’s meetings are every Thursday of the month.

Thank you to ALL (!) who came to this meeting. Lots of important opportunities for our future as we move forward.

 

In Attendance :

Adrien Lee, Jeromy Grant, Sheryl Contreras, Frank Wright, Miakah Nix, Jacob Pratt, Niccole Williams, Faith Grant, Glenda Hutton, Doug Martin, Bill Dalton, Jon Bonksoksi, Sean Williams, Jeff Skaflestad, Bob Christenson, Dennis Gray, Conor Reynolds, Andy Savland, Marlene Duvall, Heather Powell, Miguel Contreras, Donovan Smith, Ricardo Contreras, Jackie Dick, Francis Dalton, Levi Mills, Phillip Sharclane, Rebekah Sawayers, Bob Hutton