Easter Bunny Benefit
Dear Editor: On behalf of Sitka Community Hospital and Oceanside Therapy Center, we would like to thank the community and volunteers for supporting our recent fundraiser, “Breakfast with the Easter Bunny.” Funds raised at this event will be used toward the purchase of cardiac rehabilitation equipment.
Our special thanks to Harry Race Photo Shop for donating their time in taking photographs, Bob and Betty Allen for their generous donation to purchase helium for decorations and donating directly to the cardiac rehabilitation program, Harrigan Centennial Hall staff, and the employees and food services department at Sitka Community Hospital who volunteered their time or donated baked goods.
Also, thank you to the following people and organizations that helped us get the word out: Dan Etulain, KCAW, KIFW, Old Harbor Books, and the Daily Sitka Sentinel.
Each year Sitka Community Hospital continues to advance its mission to restore, maintain, and improve the health of those in our community through competent and compassionate delivery of care. Your support of our efforts to raise money for our cardiac rehabilitation program is sincerely appreciated - we are excited to offer this important service to the community!
Kay Turner, PT, DPT,
Rehabilitation Services Manager,
Oceanside Therapy Center,
Sitka Community Hospital
Sealaska Bill
Dear Editor: The current version of the Sealaska legislation is scheduled for a hearing on April 25 in the Senate Public Lands Subcommittee. This Sealaska bill is a threat to the public lands of the Tongass and to the ways that Sitkans use the Tongass.
This legislation would transfer lands on the Tongass to Sealaska that are outside of the original boxes where they were allowed to select lands. The legislation would affect us in Sitka because the corporation is asking for in-holdings throughout the Sitka Ranger District that are some of the most valuable areas for access and use.
The bill would allow the corporation to select in-holdings in North-Arm/Hoonah Sound, Kalinin Bay, Fick Cove, Lake Eva, Wrangell Island off Biorka, Port Banks, and many others. On Prince of Wales Island, the corporation has cherry-picked the lands that have the highest concentration of the remaining economically valuable cedar trees, the oldest and fastest growing second growth, and the timber stands that have the most investment made by taxpayer dollars in roads, culverts, and forest thinning.
The in-holding selections might seem a familiar topic. The corporation is selecting them in the same process they are using for Redoubt Lake. It is claiming that fishing access areas are eligible for selection under authorities that were meant for cemeteries.
In the case of Redoubt Lake that means that one of the most important sites for public use and subsistence on the Sitka Ranger District could be privatized and owned by a corporation that has a for-profit mandate and is run by a board of directors that has created its own closed circle of power (remember when Sitkans tried to get elected to that board).
The CEO of Sealaska came to Sitka a few weeks ago and made many promises about public access. That all sounded good, but how long is he going to be around? None of the agreements they proposed are legally binding. What happens when their board of directors decides that they don’t want to allow everyone to fish there anymore? What happens when they decide that they “are obliged to make profit for their shareholders” and the best way to do that could be to capitalize on the asset of Redoubt Lake and build a lodge on the island between the two falls? Promises made today don’t necessarily stand the test of time when lands are not in public hands and are not managed by a publically accountable entity.
For all of the above reasons, SCS will be telling members of the Senate Public Lands Sub-committee that the Sealaska Legislation is not good for the Tongass and not good for Southeast Alaska. Information on how to contact members of that committee can be found on the SCS website: www.sitkawild.org.
Andrew Thoms,
Executive Director,
Sitka Conservation Society
Red Herring
Dear Editor: I feel compelled to respond to the inaccurate and uninformed letters submitted by J.G. Moebus. I am a commercial fisherman, and I participate in the Sitka sac roe fishery. As a permit holder, I feel the pain of not harvesting the full quota, but not the pain I’d feel if the herring biomass was truly in decline.
Managers and fishermen agree the herring returned in large numbers, the stock strength was evident. It was the opportunity to catch the quota that didn’t fully materialize. The herring spawned in a short period of time as they did in 2012. The fact that they staged and spawned mostly in an area closed to commercial fishing had an adverse impact on harvest opportunities, and from what I observed it bolstered subsistence opportunity. It shows a complete lack of logic to equate stock strength to commercial harvest. If ADF&G allowed the harvest of double the set harvest rate, would that mean the stock was stronger than expected? If I go deer hunting and return without a deer, does it mean there are no longer any deer in the woods?
The reality is that the ADF&G does a phenomenal job of using the best available science to conservatively allow harvest of herring. Commercial fishermen involved in the fishery care deeply about the long term health of the herring stock, our investments are long term commitments.
If you look at ADF&G’s data you will see they have under-predicted the returning biomass 14 consecutive years before last year! This is the result of the department making sure that factors going into the model such as natural mortality and egg deposition estimates are on the conservative (RESPONSIBLE!) side. Last year was the first over-prediction, even though the returning spawning biomass was still a whopping 75,000 tons. Even in this scenario, the department held the herring fleet to a harvest rate of less than 20 percent of the returning biomass.
From what I have seen this year, based on 10 days of driving around from Dorothy Narrows to Salisbury, looking at a very good sonar, I believe that the spawning biomass will be at least the 75,000 tons predicted by the department. If history holds true, the spawn may not even be complete yet. We will not know how many herring returned until this fall when the department concludes their biometrics. When they do publish their numbers it will be based on mathematical application of number of eggs in the water (transects physically counted) and mileage of beach with spawn. It will not be based on agenda driven rhetoric. Supposition is not science, good science in this case takes meticulous collection of biological parameters and time.
I happen to be on the email list of Mr. Moebus (I am not sure how). His note to his audience when he submitted his article contained the following quote: “While some may view this year’s no-show as something of a short term tactical ‘‘victory’’ for some of those concerned about herring, I believe it is much more important to recognize that it has the potential to become a strategic opportunity” . . .
I understand that not everyone understands or agrees with the management plan and harvest strategy. I understand not everyone grasps or agrees with the computer modeling and the mathematical process used to predict biomass. However, I can’t conceive of someone that has such an agenda driven bias against the commercial fishery, that they would view a collapsed herring stock as a potential “victory.”
Thank you for your time.
John Barry, F/V Pillar Bay, Sitka
Forest Recreation
Dear Editor: Recreation on the National Forest is important to all of us. In Sitka, there are many who put stewardship of the Tongass into action.
I would like to thank some local businesses and organizations that have donated time, funding, and labor to help maintain the quality recreation opportunities Sitka Ranger District has to offer. Baranof Wilderness Lodge has kept the cabin at Baranof Lake maintained and stocked with firewood and has stored the boat every winter annually, for many years. Because of decreased budgets and increased costs this cabin would have received maintenance only once every few years by Forest Service crews.
Greenling Enterprise has helped keep the Mud Bay trail system on Kruzof Island clear of litter. They have improved drainage on the trail and kept the trailside brush at bay. Lee Craft has donated time to repair equipment used to maintain our trails. Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture and Sitka Conservation Society have contributed information concerning recreational use in the area of Hidden Falls and of our Wilderness. The Boat Company has provided funding to assist with monitoring recreational use on east Baranof. Sitka Trail Works Inc. has been a partner in promoting trails on the National Forest and providing a venue to get more people out hiking.
Contribution from these businesses and organizations has enabled the Sitka Ranger District to stretch decreased budgets and to complete work that otherwise would not have been accomplished. Thank you so much.
Carol A. Goularte
District Ranger
Tax Day Penny Poll
Dear Editor: Sitkans have an opportunity to weigh in on how we want our federal tax dollars spent by participating in the annual Tax Day Penny Poll on tax day weekend. Community members are encouraged to come to Kettleson Memorial Library this Sunday, April 14, 1-6 p.m., to cast their vote by distributing 10 pennies in jars representing a wide range of government programs, from education to veterans benefits to the war in Afghanistan. In addition to programs featured in previous penny polls, this year, the penny poll will include jars representing funding for the Coast Guard, food security and libraries. Pennies will be provided.
The event will also feature an interactive tool that generates a receipt telling taxpayers exactly how their income tax dollars were spent by the federal government, based on how much they paid in taxes in 2012, and then allows them to plug-in their own choices and share their plan.
The annual Sitka event, sponsored by Sitkans for Peace and Justice, is designed to engage the community in a discussion of federal budget priorities. Information on the 2014 federal budget will be available.
The penny poll will be staffed by Sitka-lebrities representing diverse interests—small business owners, educators, health care professionals, public service employees, retirees and members of non-profit organizations.
Sitka is facing difficult financial choices as a result of reduced local tax revenues and reductions in state resources. We depend on federal funding in the form of cash assistance funneled through state and local agencies, and through government services like building roads and bridges, and the enforcement of safety regulations for things like aviation safety, food and drinking water quality and clean air. As citizens and taxpayers, it is our right and our obligation to see that our tax dollars are spent in ways that reflect our priorities.
Results of the penny poll will be shared with Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich and with Congressman Don Young.
The penny poll is an opportunity to advise our elected officials of how Congress should allocate tax money to support the needs of our community, families and businesses. Please take a few minutes on Sunday to add your voice!
For more information on the Tax Day Penny Poll event or to vote by absentee ballot, contact me at 623-3969 or cindylitman@gmail.com.
Cindy Litman, Sitka
