Pioneers Home Funding
Dear Editor: A resolution of Sitka Men’s Igloo 22 and Women’s Igloo 12 of the Pioneers of Alaska regarding future revenues and management of Alaska’s Pioneers Homes, FY2020.
Whereas the need for services for senior citizens in Sitka and other communities is increasing, and there is an evident need for future senior housing in all areas of Alaska; and
Whereas other than in Pioneers Homes, choices within Alaska for seniors who need elder or Alzheimer’s care are nonexistent; and
Whereas in the absence of the Pioneers Home system many senior citizens would be forced to seek elder care outside of Alaska, in essence removing them from the support and nurture of their families and friends; and
Whereas the proposed FY 2020 state budget for support of Alaska’s Pioneers Homes has been drastically cut and cost to those residents, both present and future, are projected to be raised significantly; and
Whereas Pioneers Home residents need advocates to protect their rights and care; and
Whereas in Sitka as well as in other communities, Pioneers Homes have a reputation for being a major part of the local economy; and
Whereas historically the Pioneers of Alaska showed foresight during Territorial Days in recognizing that the people of Alaska would need care as they aged, and proved influential in creating and supporting homes for seniors in various locations throughout Alaska; and
Whereas all Pioneers Home residents contribute financially, to the degree they are able, and so are not a significant drain on Alaska’s resources; and
Whereas the Pioneers Homes have clearly demonstrated both physical and financial care far superior to that in the private sector, for example, in terms of care for Alzheimer’s patients; and
Whereas Sitka Men’s Igloo and Women’s Igloo 12 believe that it is in the best interest of the citizens of Alaska that quality care for its seniors be maintained.
Therefore be it resolved that Sitka Men’s Igloo 22 and Women’s Igloo 12 of the Pioneers of Alaska:
1. strongly encourage the State of Alaska to maintain stewardship of its Pioneers Homes at FY 2019 levels as a minimum; and
2. urge the Legislature of the State of Alaska to explore reinstating a state income tax, or imposing a state sales tax, or other to further these goals; and further
3. urge the Legislature of the State of Alaska to explore utilizing resources such as the Permanent Fund as it was created and was intended to do in times of state economic hardship; and
4. urge the Legislature of the State of Alaska to limit the distribution of Permanent Fund distributions so as not to negatively impact vital state services.
As authorized by Sitka Men’s Igloo 22 and Women’s Igloo 12 at regularly meeting of March 7, 2019.
Jamie Elstad, President,
Men’s Igloo 22
Leigh Kainulainen, President,
Women’s Igloo 12
Herring Fishery
Dear Editor: Knowing they had dug a hole for themselves, sac roe permit holders have been trying to preemptively explain away a failed fishery since before the season opened. All the way back in a Dec. 18, 2018, letter to the editor, a permit holder tried to lower expectations for the fishery by explaining that market conditions wouldn’t allow for the harvest of the kind of fish that are expected to return to Sitka Sound. But baked right into his argument that the herring population would limit the commercial sac roe harvest is a tacit acknowledgement of two of the community’s longest-standing arguments against the sac-roe fishery.
First, is that this fishery caters to a very narrow Japanese market that only pays for a very small amount of the fish; just 10 percent. The rest is ground into fish meal. This alone would be un-Alaskan. Ethical Alaskan fisheries are about feeding people. In no other fishery do we allow a 90 percent rate of by-catch, but ADFG manages for 90 percent by-catch when it comes to the sac-roe fishery.
But even more un-Alaskan is the cost to subsistence users, who are trying to ethically feed themselves the same way Alaska Natives have since the beginning. The persistent commercial harvest of older, more fertile females (alongside many thousands of tons of younger females and male herring) appears to have drastically altered spawning patterns in Sitka Sound, disrupting both traditional spawning locations and the traditional spawning season. Traditional knowledge and science align on the importance of older females to guide spawning patterns.
For some good scientific reading on the importance, I suggest a paper by Hixon, Johnson and Sogard, published in the October 2014 issue of the Journal of Marine Science. For traditional knowledge, you’d have to take the time to listen to an elder, something ADFG could benefit from. Needless to say the traditional spawn-on-branches practice, by creating additional spawning substrate and leaving adult herring to return to spawn another year, has essentially no negative impact on herring populations.
The seiners appear to be patting themselves on the back for realizing that they won’t be able to harvest their quota. But that’s not a true conservation ethic, they’re simply arguing that when the mature females come back in a few years they should be continued to allow to harvest them at a 90 percent rate of waste. ADFG can continue to calculate biomass, but will continue to miss the underlying point of spawning ecology and Alaskan subsistence ethics. Until permit holders, processors and managers realize that the sac-roe market and the sac-roe fishery are fundamentally at odds with herring ecology, subsistence users and Alaskan values, there will be conflict over the sac-roe fishery, because it is exactly those mature, fertile females that need to spawn without commercial disturbance.
Mathew Jackson, Sitka
Advocacy Café
Dear Editor: Concerned about the recent proposed budget cuts? Want to learn more? UAS and other community programs are coming together to host a weekly Advocacy Café to help support and empower all of Sitka’s community members. Come for the free coffee, tea, and snacks—but more importantly, stay to connect with other Sitkans who have the same concerns you do.
You can see how the proposed budget cuts might impact you and your family, and you can share stories and get empowered to advocate for yourself and your family. Learn how you can get involved: hear about opportunities, figure out how to write a letter or to testify, or simply stay connected with more conversations.
Feel free to bring any of your own relevant resources. Drop by for even just five minutes if that’s all you have.
It is every Wednesday, 6-8 p.m., at Beak Restaurant (in the Cable House at 2 Lincoln St.) and sponsored by UAS.
Math Trafton,
UAS-Sitka Campus
