Yellow Cedar
Dear Editor: I was born in Ketchikan and have hiked and explored in the area of the proposed Saddle Lakes cut. Though still beautiful and wild, the area is already heavily scarred, and I am disappointed that the Forest Service is choosing to cut more mature forest rather than manage the young growth we’ve already created there.
I am also a young Alaskan who hopes to raise a family and build a home in the Tongass, and our forest has a special meaning to me, as a resource and source of hope for our future. I am particularly disappointed that the Forest Service is still following a policy from 1968 which incentivizes the export of round yellow cedar logs, making local processing of these valuable trees all but economically impossible.
Alaskan yellow cedar is a truly remarkable tree, globally unique and endangered. I have made baskets from its bark and hope one day to lay the foundation sill of my house with its rot-resistant wood. About 400,000 precious board feet could be exported to Asia from this Saddle Lake cut alone.
Why are we exporting this unique resource? Why aren’t we realizing the full value of Alaskan yellow cedar locally, in Southeast Alaska’s small mills, in the traditional arts of our Native peoples, in our homes? In terms of lost economic potential, exporting AYC in the round is analogous to limiting our tourism industry to exporting postcards.
The Tongass Advisory Committee has the potential to come up with more valuable, sustainable, more creative options for our forest products industry. Their meeting next week in Juneau is an opportunity to think critically about forest policy in the Tongass. I hope we can live up to our forest’s potential.
M. Jackson, Sitka
SHS Retirement
Dear Editor: I recently retired after 29 wonderful years working at the Sitka High School. The Sitka School District carried contracts over those years so I was not blessed to be working specifically under the Sitka School District, but I was blessed to continue my employment through the various contracts that they held at the high school.
While working all those years at Sitka High School, I met many teachers who not only became my friends but helped me during difficult times. Teachers have come and gone over the years, but I remember and will continue to remember every teacher I have ever had the pleasure to meet.
One thing that really makes me proud in addition to my friendships with the teachers are the parents and students over the years. I will walk down the street or be in a store and it never fails that a past or present parent or student stops me and talks to me and remembers who I am. They talk to me with respect and even thank me for the work I did keeping their school looking good and clean. Although I did not think I could ever make an impression at the job I held, I look back now and smile, knowing that I did.
Thank you to the present Sitka High School staff for throwing me such a nice retirement party and your wonderful gift. Thank you past and present students and parents, as well as past and present Sitka High School staff for appreciating the work I have done over the years. I am proud of what I have done and although I miss seeing everyone daily, it is a joy and pleasure to see you all outside of the school area.
God bless and thank you all so very much for allowing me to be who I am and who I will continue to be
Frank E. Joseph, Sitka
Health and Wellness
Dear Editor: Pacific High School’s health and wellness class would like to formally acknowledge and sincerely thank the members of our community who helped us critically think about how we define health.
From Jessica Fransen of LOVA Health, we learned how to set goals, plan ahead, and take action. Isaac Grody-Patinkin practiced mindfulness (concentration, overcoming fear, and how to be present) which gave us confidence to climb as high as we could on the climbing wall at Hames. Charles Hart taught us about our muscles and reminded us how important good posture is in the age of incessant screen watching. He asked us to think about all the muscles in our bodies and how they work together.
We then had the opportunity to practice using every muscle in our bodies when Charles and Franni Donohoe taught us how to work with aerial silks. Betsy Decker joined us in the classroom for a lesson on the nervous system and the importance of brain/mental health. Most of us had never considered how amazing our brains are and how important it is to keep them happy and healthy. Emily Reilly led us in a beginning yoga class which was a challenge for most of us. She emphasized the importance of stress relief and how controlled breathing can help refresh our bodies and minds.
We also had our bodies challenged in ways we had never experienced by Michalene Smith and Jessica Fransen through TRX and Spin classes. Finally, we would like to thank the Hames Center (especially Caitlin Blaisdell and Dan Gunn) for all their time and support of Pacific High School. Health and wellness is not just about being skinny or buff, it’s about strength of body, mind, spirit, and community. Thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge with us.
Hillary Seeland for
Pacific High School’s
Health and Wellness class
