On 07/18/2019 the Hoonah Stewardship Council met to discuss everything that has happened in the last month. And it’s a lot! Next meeting is August 15th @ 5PM. HIA Environmental Office. Here’s the recap.
In attendance : Niccole Williams, Stephanie Harold, Jackie Dick, Ricky Contreras, Sean Williams, Jeromy Grant, Ian Johnson, Sam Sheakley, Arianna Lapke, Phillip Sharclane
Stream Restoration and Hoonah Native Forest Partnership
The crew of the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership (Phillip Sharclane, Jeremy Johnson, Derek Barton, Ricky Contreras) have been busy! In early July they installed 13 structures in two streams near Spasski. This work will help the stream recover from logging which cut all of the old growth and have kept trees from falling in. Please visit here to watch a video and learn more about that important work!
For the rest of the summer the crew is improving habitat for deer, blueberries, and other timber by installing “gaps” in the forest. These gaps get light to the forest floor and promote deer food and shrubs to grow. They also create healthier trees which could be harvested at a later date. You may hear the sound of their saws in Spasski Watershed.
Food Fair
The 2019 Traditional Food Fair is already being prepared for. On July 12th the HNFP crew, TRAYLS crew, community members, and HIA Environmental staff gathered 27 gallons of beach asparagus! We picked 72 pints of it for distribution at the Food Fair on September 7th, 2019.
Upcoming events include Fireweed collection for jelly making on July 24th.
Keep your eyes peeled for a community blueberry picking event!
Electronic Waste
The IGAP Department has been tasked by the Tribal Board to recycle. We are starting to do that by collecting electronic waste so it can be responsibly disposed of. We have collected >5,500 pounds this year! We are partnering with the City and AML to do this. We will probably work with Gustavus more in the future as they already have a program that works well and reduces their waste.
It’s not too late to donate! It’s free, simply contact Jeromy or Sam. If you cannot get it to us this year there will be time next Spring when you can donate. We want to make this an annual program.
We would like to build this program to holistically look at more responsible ways to deal with waste in our community. We would like to work with the City to find out how IGAP can help develop and maintain a solid waste plan that includes recycling and reducing burnable trash.
Coastal Program
First dives for the Coastal program in Hoonah waters are July 19th!
There will be a Diving Education Day on Friday, July 26th @ 3pm. This program will help teach about the science of the work we are doing.
The Coastal program will be monitoring for marine invasive species which can be bad for underwater habitats. We are currently monitoring for sea star wasting disease.
There will be more opportunities for training SCUBA diving once the pool reopens. Keep your eyes and ears open for that!
Community Concerns/Broad Questions
- What is the history of recycling discussions in Hoonah?
- The Forest Service recycles their paper, can we tie into that?
- How much waste is created by cruise ships? How much money is thrown away?
- Will there be composting units available? No, we have switched our strategy on this. We are looking at a larger vision of integrated composting and gardening.
- What is the issue with Mussels and micro plastics?
- Can we set up a community alder program?
- What is the impact of ISP on the larger environment? This includes Jeeps, helicopters, bear acclimation to humans, etc. We need to talk more about this.
- We’ll be sure to keep you informed on the Roadless Rulemaking once the public environmental statement is released.
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