Halibut Point Rec.
Dear Editor: It is almost a year since State Parks left the Sitka area without funds. The present policy for HPR Rec. has been usage on a first-come basis. This worked last summer. Requests were posted and honored. No need for controlled reservations.
As for honey buckets, where did that come from? The park is public. Small children are brought to the beach to play in the sand. (By the way, sand is not regenerated. Once removed, it is gone. Sand can be purchased from five gallons on up in town.) The school children come every May to beachcomb and picnic. Don’t dump honey buckets on the beach! The latrine across the bridge is open. Bring your bucket and line it with plastic for the big jobs. If going to urinate and using tissue, put the tissue in a small plastic bag. Place the used bags in the garbage. This is a health issue. For large groups there are portable toilets available for rent.
There will always be the party with leftover broken glass, cans everywhere. A mess for others to clean up.
The policy of the State Parks is there must be a staff person in a park before there can be hosts. In this time of crisis the policy should be changed. We should be able to have a mature adult couple volunteer to stay at the cabin. They could help clean the park and control the parties. Reservations could be made electronically. Similar to USFS. The funds could be used at the park for supplies and utilities.
The volunteers could be responsible to the state board in town who are responsible to the Juneau office.
To alleviate the other problem: the latrine by the large shelter was pumped out last April. It is pumped once a year so it is in good shape. It should be opened to be used. If the year is up, donations could be taken to have it pumped. The amount for pumping is reasonable.
The public must help in getting the head office in Anchorage to consider changes. Filling their mail box full of letters should help. It is a health problem! Also it shouldn’t cost them. They always bring up liability. I’m sure that could be handled with paperwork.
They should at least give us a chance to be heard. Write to: Ben Ellis, Director of State Parks, 550 West 7th Ave. 1380, Anchorage, AK 99501-3568.
Thank you.
Dorothy (Brownie) Thomsen
A friend of Halibut Point Rec.
Shee Atika Inc.
Dear Editor: I urge you to please go to one of the Shee Atika Shareholder meetings to meet the board candidates and vote for the ones who will make a positive difference for our corporation. It is extremely important to vote, so that the current board cannot use them to continue with business as usual.
For those of you who don’t know, this year Shee Atika posted on the corporation website that because these meetings are not conducting binding business, that because they are informal they don’t have to send out letters to everyone, and it is just a courtesy when they do. Also, last year our corporation did not send out letters to come to these meetings until the last minute. This is a conflict from what the Shee Atika Inc. bylaws state in Article II, Section 4. There is no mention of formal or informal. Do you think that listening to the candidates, the people who are going to be in charge of our company, is not conducting business for the corporation?
Also for those who are unaware, there are petitions that are being circulated for resolutions for the removal of directors, for term limits, and to add discretionary balance to elections. We have collected enough signatures to add these issues for your votes.
Just as a reminder, as I previously stated in a letter to the editor of the Sitka Sentinel, there have been no checks and balances with Mr. Ken Cameron being the CEO/president and the board chairman. Our company has consistently been losing money from 2012 to 2014 with a total loss in equity of $3,828,825, and its cash flow dropped from $8,088,766 in 2013 to $3,991,815 in 2014. This is in the Consolidated Statement in Changes in Equity in the 2014 Annual report. During this same period of time Mr. Cameron’s salary grew rapidly to almost $400,000 in 2014 from $379,013 in 2013. All this while our distributions dropped last year to $5 a share from $6 a share in 2014.
Moreover, recently everyone was sent a survey about our company, and I just want to point out that in the survey there is a statement about the Shee Atika Fund Endowment. They claim that they have to sell off investments to pay for our distributions, and they are considering changing the distributions from two times a year to one, comparing it to the Alaska State Permanent Fund. In contrast, they are wanting to do this while Sealaska’s distributions have increased from $758 last year to $953, which is a positive increase of $195 for those with 100 shares.
Furthermore, I previously stated in another Letter to the Editor of the Sitka Sentinel that Shee Atika Inc. had a statement on its website that claimed an eagle tree was removed on Alice Island because the eagles were a high risk to aircraft. On that site it stated that our corporation was working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife when in reality, according to an article that was in the Sitka Sentinel newspaper, our corporation is under investigation for the removal of the tree. I grew up on Alice Island, and I used to watch the eagle’s activity from the time I was small, and it was not, nor has it ever been, a danger to aircraft. This is another reason to change the leadership of Shee Atika Inc.
Again, I urge everyone to come to the meetings, listen to the candidates, and exercise your right as a Shee Atika shareholder to vote. We need positive change to our corporation, so that it will still be here for our children and our children’s children.
The meeting days and times are: April 23, 2016, Informational/Candidate Meeting, Anchorage, 10 a.m.; April 24, 2016, Informational/Candidate Meeting, Juneau, 12:30 p.m.; April 26, 2016, Informational/Candidate Meeting, Sitka, 6 p.m.; April 30, 2016, Informational/Candidate Meeting, Seattle, 11:30 a.m.; and May 14, 2016, Annual Shareholder Meeting, Sitka, 9 a.m.
Norman Johnson
A Shee Atika Inc. Shareholder
Letter Response
Dear Editor: Regarding the letter to the editor in the Friday, April 1, Sentinel comparing the effects of alcohol and marijuana, we know that various individuals react differently to each of the two. But, let us not fool ourselves, both of them destroy one’s physical body and debilitate the spirit that inhabits it.
In Sitka, with the wonderful pure water and the clean fresh air we enjoy, who needs either alcohol or marijuana? Just take a hike – in any direction – and feel invigorated and joyously blessed.
A.J. Smith, M.A.T., Sitka
Community of Excellence
Dear Editor: This is a letter to let our community know that Southeast Alaska has been recognized as Alaska’s first “Community of Excellence in Research” by the Alaska State Committee for Research. The designation acknowledges the region for promoting science research and innovation and for its potential as a research hub.
Sitka is a vibrant part of the research community in the region and the Sitka Sound Science Center is working with community partners to conduct a breadth of scientific exploration in a place highly dependent on understanding the natural world for its economic and cultural sustenance. Sitka has a long history of scientific discovery that has developed a community culture of science that is recognized around the state.
The recent award was presented by SCoR, based at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, to the Southeast Research and Development cluster working group during the Juneau Economic Development Council’s annual Innovation Summit. The R&D cluster working group represents a consortium of research and development entities working to improve the research agenda for Southeast Alaska.
Our region has a robust array of research facilities relative to its population including the federal research labs (NOAA, U.S. Forest Service), state (University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries in Juneau, University of Alaska Southeast, Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center, Alaska Department of Fish and Game), nonprofit/private (Sitka Sound Science Center, Alaska Whale Foundation, Inian Island Institute, Nature Conservancy, Southeast Watershed Coalition) and tribal (Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Sealaska). These institutions, along with others, provide the foundation for the tradition of science excellence and the framework for the future growth of a science industry here. Fishing groups are also particularly interested in science in our region, and work collaboratively with organizations, including the Science Center, to understand what influences fisheries sustainability.
The Science Center and the R&D Working Group understand that science and innovation create critical commerce that can contribute to the economic health of Alaska. Scientific thinking inspires ideas that can help us be more resilient to changes in our environment and allow our economies to grow. We also understand that preparing our students with a solid scientific education is fundamental to building a research community for the region and helping our nation prosper. We believe getting students interested in educational and career pathways for Science Technology Education, Art and Math disciplines will benefit all of us down the line.
Lisa Busch, Executive Director,
Sitka Sound Science Center,
R&D Regional
Cluster Member, JEDC
Canoe Team Benefit
Dear Editor: As the skipper of the Sitka canoe going to team, on their behalf I would like to say thanks to those who turned out for our fundraiser. Indian tacos and fried bread was enjoyed by all. The generosity of this community never ceases to amaze me. People not only paid what we were asking, but reached into their pockets and donated more.
The funds raised will go towards paying for the food, and other supplies or other unforeseen needs that arise for the team. The journey is partially sponsored by SEARHC Suicide Prevention, ANB/ANS, with support from the Tribe.
As you can imagine something like this is not on easy task and needs a lot of coordination and supplies for the team. Just to let you all know, we will be doing a raffle with some awesome prizes that were donated to the team: red and yellow cedar traditional woven hat by Natalie Brown; head band by Clara Gray; silver bracelet by Doug Chilton; sea otter pillow by Anna Bradley; kuspuk by Rachel Moreno; sea otter hat by Vanessa Bradley. The tickets will be sold at $5 apiece. The drawing will be held on May 19 at the ANB Founders Hall. If you would like to buy some tickets, make a donation or just want to hear about the journey you can give me a call at 738-5507.
Wilbur Brown, Sitka
