Wild Foods
Dear Editor: Wild food is all around us. It grows along the Cross Trail, prances along Indian River, and swims out in Sitka Sound. Here in Sitka, we are nourished literally and figuratively from the bounty of our backyard. We hunt Sitka black-tailed deer in the fall, we collect herring eggs in the spring, we forage for wild berries and mushrooms over the summer, and we fish for wild Alaskan salmon all year-round.
The Sitka Conservation Society recognizes how important these local and wild foods are to the community – for our physical, cultural, and economic well being. In many ways, wild food sums up a lot of the work that we do – we’re all about living in connection with this place, supporting the local economy, protecting natural ecosystems, conserving large intact areas of wild land, and helping to create a more sustainable food network.
Last Sunday, nearly 200 people gathered in ANB Hall to celebrate the wild foods that nourish us. The Sitka Conservation Society would like to thank everyone who attended the potluck and everyone who lent their valuable time to make this event possible. In particular, we wish to thank Paulette Moreno, Steve Warren, Wilbur Brown, and all the other members of Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 1 and Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 4. We also wish to thank the Pioneer Mountain String Band for sharing their music with us and all the volunteers who helped us throughout the evening.
We look forward to dining with you next November at our 2016 Wild Foods Potluck. Until then, all of us here at SCS will continue working in this community to strengthen our connections to each other and the natural world in which we live. With gratitude,
Spencer Severson,
Sitka Conservation Society
Board President
