Rotary Club Grant
Applications Ready
Sitka Rotary Club is taking grant applications to fund projects located in Sitka.
Applications and more information can be found at https://sitkarotary.org/ or by contacting John Weitkamp at jweitkamp@aol.com.
Methodists Plan
Online Auction
An online auction to benefit the missions of the United Methodist Church of Sitka invites the public to an online auction to benefit the missions of the church.
A variety of art, handcrafts, collectibles and other items will be available. To look at the items and register to bid, go to charityauction.bid/SUMC2021. Bidding starts Monday, Feb. 22, and ends March 12.
Those with questions can contact Julia Smith at 738-6336.
Monthly Grind
Presented Online
Sitka Monthly Grind will present its February show online beginning Saturday, Feb. 20.
Hosted by Ted Howard, the family-friendly show of music and dance includes a variety of performers.
Tune in at YouTube.com by searching “Sitka Monthly Grind” or follow the link on Sitka Monthly Grind’s Facebook page. Any questions, call Jeanne at 738-8083 or Jeff, 747-4821.
Money Raised for
S-K Syndrome
The Sitka Boxing Club has challenged by Eric Emerson Kelly, Sitka born and raised, to raise awareness for Smith-Kingsmore syndrome.
Victor Littlefield said the club will be completing the challenge Saturday and any donation to this cause would be appreciated. It is a nonprofit event and 100 percent goes to the SKS foundation for research of the rare disease.
Go to https://smithkingsmore.org/donations/ to donate and for information.
F&G Advisory
Board to Meet
The Sitka Fish and Game Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting via web-conference 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24. Due to the pandemic the meeting will be digitally on Zoom.
The call-in information is: meeting link, https://zoom.us/j/93129685031?pwd=ZllpSWtpZVl2d2V1ZDJ5R1dUL01OQT09; phone number, +1 253 215 8782; meeting ID, 931 2968 5031; and passcode, 684038.
The agenda will include the following items: Board of Fisheries proposals on shrimp and miscellaneous, and shellfish proposals (170, 173 -213); notice of proposed changes in the regulations of the Alaska Board of Game; notice of proposed changes on Southeastern Alaska commercial salmon fishing regulations of the Alaska Board of Fisheries; and notice of proposed changes in the regulations of the Alaska Board of Fisheries.
The online public notice page is http://notice.alaska.gov/201466.
Meetings are open to the public.
For further information contact John Murray, vice chair, jmfish3@gmail.com or Annie Bartholomew at the Department of Fish and Game, 907-465-4046 or annie.bartholomew@alaska.gov.
BIHA Board
Meeting on Tap
Baranof Island Housing Authority’s monthly Board of Commissioners meeting will be held 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, via Zoom.
Those wishing to participate may submit an e-mail request to info@bihasitka.org before noon on Feb. 24.
Drill Conductor
Training in Sitka
The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association will offer a fishing vessel drill conductor class 8 a.m.-7 p.m. March 4, at NSRAA, 1308 Sawmill Creek Road.
The cost is $125, including sales tax, for commercial fishermen and $175 for others. Mariners may register online at www.amsea.org or call 747-3287.
Instructor Jerry Dzugan, will cover cold-water survival skills; EPIRBs, signal flares, and mayday calls; man-overboard recovery; firefighting; flooding and damage control; dewatering pumps, immersion suits and PFDs, helicopter rescue, life rafts, abandon ship procedures, and emergency drills.
The workshop meets the U.S. Coast Guard training requirements for drill conductors on commercial fishing vessels, 46 CFR 28.270 (c).
AMSEA is offering the class at a reduced cost to commercial fishermen with support from the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, and AMSEA members.
Stability Awareness
Class for Fishermen
The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association will offer a stability awareness for commercial fishermen class from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 5 at NSRAA, 1308 Sawmill Creek Road.
The cost is $100, including sales tax, for commercial fishermen and $175 for others. Mariners may register online at www.amsea.org or call 747-3287.
Instructor Jerry Dzugan will instruct the U.S. Coast Guard-accepted course. The Coast Guard recommends stability training for commercial fishermen. AMSEA is offering this class at a reduced cost to commercial fishermen with support from the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, and AMSEA members.
Climate Connection
By Callie Simmons
Food is never far from our thoughts. New research in Southeast looks to understand how communities are responding to the health impacts of environmental change, especially issues related to food security. Shifts in bloom timing, rainfall patterns, and temperature are all impacting our food production. Changes in land use planning, laws, and regulations also impact our food. Understanding how communities adapt to these stresses will help us create a road map for the future.
Researchers first need to understand how groups are responding to these environmental changes. How do they recruit and keep volunteers? Are there common success stories among resilient organizations? Common missteps? By understanding these patterns, we can create a framework and remove some uncertainty. Helping to create a model for future work that is more efficient and cost effective.
Access to healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate food is threatened by environmental change. Extreme weather, heat, and droughts impact food production systems and local foods. Adult salmon are becoming smaller. Warmer sea water temperatures may support harmful algal blooms making shellfish inedible. Societal changes are also creating risk. The pandemic, limited ferry schedules, and rising fuel costs expose the fragility of the western food system in Southeast. The repeal of the Roadless Rule has the potential to impact subsistence hunting and gathering.
Many Tribal Governments, non-profits, and local organizations are stepping in to fill the gaps left by already overwhelmed state and federal agencies, often with limited resources. And great work around food security is being done as a result. Sitka Tribe of Alaska is continuing to fight for herring egg harvest. The Sitka Conservation Society created a mutual aid network to support one another during the pandemic. But many of the great things done around food security happens within a single organization. By looking across organizations, researchers can work to understand what worked and what didn’t, on a larger scale.
That’s what an international team of researchers hopes to do in Sitka. For the next three years, researchers from the RAND Corporation, University College London, University of Norway, University of West Indies, and the Sitka Sound Science Center will conduct a series of food-related interviews in Southeast. The responses from those interviews will then be compared to similar communities globally. This will identify common lessons learned and best practices shared across these organizations.
By creating a guide to best practices, researchers aim to improve the way food security risks are addressed in Sitka. They also want to support individual organizations’ goals. This includes writing journal articles, editorials, letters to the editor, and more. Researchers wrote an editorial about the Roadless Rule for the Sitka Conservation Society. The research team wants to interview community members who are working to address food and environmental issues. If you would like to speak with the team or learn more, please contact Max Izenberg- izenberg@prgs.edu.
Many environmental changes are impacting our access and relationship to food. Colonialism and challenges unique to Southeast heighten the threat of climate change on our food. By understanding how Sitkans tackle food security, we can help ourselves and other places.
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Callie Simmons is research coordinator at the Sitka Sound Science Center and a member of Citizens Climate Education.
Spelling Bee
Set for Feb. 24
The Friends of the Library Adult Spelling Bee will be held 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
‘‘Flex your spelling muscles and help support your local library,’’ organizers said.
The fee to enter is $20 per person, with all proceeds going to the Friends of Sitka Public Library. Individuals and two-person teams are welcome, and masks and social distancing will be in place. Teams will compete for prizes including $100, $50 and $25 in local merchants’ gift certificates. To register or for more information, contact Jeff Budd at jbudd3500@gmail.com.
MMIW 5K Walk
To Raise Awareness
The No More Missing Sisters 5k run/walk will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, beginning at the Crescent Harbor shelter.
The purpose of the free event is to raise awareness about the high prevalence of murdered and missing indigenous women, (#MMIW). No preregistration is required, and all participants are asked to follow COVID safety precautions, including masking and social distancing.
Walkers and runners are being encouraged to take their own water bottle and wear red to show support. The route goes through Sitka National Historical Park and ends at the display of Ambers Webb’s Kuspuk in back of the Sitka Public Library.
For information, contact Crystal Duncan at 738-1910.
