ANS/ANB Joint
Meets Postponed
Joint Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 1 and Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 4 meetings – including tonight’s – have been postponed until further notice.
The group is working to implement Zoom meetings.
Those with questions can call Harriet Beleal, at 907-744-6912, or Nancy Furlow at 907-227-9102.
Youth Readers
Invited to Vote
Youth readers across the state can join “Books Get Our Vote” by voting for a book character for president and learning about literature and democracy.
Ballots will be available at Sitka Public Library from Oct. 19 through Nov. 3, both in the building and through window service. On Nov. 4, the library will announce who the children of Alaska have chosen as their book character president. Special ‘‘I Voted’’ stickers and ballots will be available.
Candidates are: Jordan Banks from ‘‘New Kid,’’ Greg Heffley from ‘‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid,’’ Molly Mabray from ‘‘Molly of Denali,’’ Raina Telgemeier from ‘‘Smile, Pete from Pete the Cat’’ or a write-in candidate.
Ballots can be returned in the book drop or handed to a library staff member anytime before Nov. 4.
For information contact Maite Lorente at 747 4022 or maite.lorente@cityofsitka.org.
Sitka’s Ferguson
Named to State
Travel Board
Camille Ferguson of Sitka Tribe of Alaska was named to a one-year board-elected seat to the Alaska Travel Industry Association board of directors. The announcement was made Oct. 9 at the group’s virtual convention.
ATIA is a nonprofit trade organization for Alaska’s tourism industry. Its board identifies the association’s priorities, approves its annual budget, guides Alaska’s statewide tourism marketing program and acts on issues important to tourism businesses and partners.
ATIA is Alaska’s largest statewide membership trade association for the travel industry and represents more than 600 members and businesses supporting Alaska tourism. For more information, visit www.AlaskaTIA.org or call 907-306-2331.
Native Group,
USDA Sign
Agreement
The Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and USDA Forest Service have signed a long-term partnership agreement supporting the creation of an Indigenous Guardians program for Southeast Alaska.
The five-year agreement awards up to $300,000 of federal funding and, through collaboration, will support a variety of projects and programs connecting community-led indigenous stewardship, technical knowledge, conservation science and natural resource management of the national forest system and adjacent lands throughout Southeast Alaska.
“We have been inspired for years by the work of the Coast Funds, Coastal First Nations, Coastal Stewardship Network, and Indigenous Guardians programs in the First Nation territory of the north coast of British Columbia and Haida Gwaii,” said Tlingit & Haida President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson. “This agreement with the Forest Service recognizes the critical role and inherent sovereignty of tribes in all aspects of stewardship of our homelands and waters and importance of a co-management governance structure to monitor, protect, restore and manage our natural and cultural resources to ensure our customary and traditional way of life for our future generations.”
Tlingit & Haida and the Alaska Region Forest Service entered into the agreement to ensure the integration of diverse perspectives into activities and efforts associated with shared stewardship to bring new capacity to watershed restoration efforts; adaptation planning to ensure integration of diverse knowledge into vulnerability assessments and adaptation efforts; heritage to provide assistance in monitoring and protecting heritage sites and resources; and subsistence to increase information sharing and opportunities for public and tribal involvement related to the Federal Subsistence Management Program, a press release from the Forest Service said.
“We recognized that the tribes are the land’s first stewards, conservationists, and multiple users of the Tongass National Forest,” said Alaska Regional Forester Dave Schmid. “Through this agreement, we will continue to enhance our collaboration and identify priorities to meet the needs of the people in our communities who depend on forest resources for food security, health, and sustainable economies.”
A network of partners will continue to build the capacity of the Indigenous Guardians program and identify priorities and future visions that promote shared leadership by tribes and other indigenous entities. Current partners under the program include Hoonah Indian Association, Organized Village of Kake, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Sealaska Corporation, Southeast Sustainable Partnership, Spruce Root, Nature Conservancy, Ecotrust and the Alaska Conservation Foundation.
Area Closed to
Goat Hunting
Sitka District Ranger Perry Edwards, under authority delegated by the Federal Subsistence Board, on Oct. 11 closed the Upper Blue Lake Zone to the harvest of mountain goats. It will remain in effect through the rest of the 2020 season, which ends Dec. 31.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has issued a concurrent closure in the same zone.
A map and description of the closed areas are available from the Sitka Ranger District and the Sitka area office of ADF&G. Information on federal subsistence management special actions for the Tongass National Forest can be found at http://www.fs.usda.gov/news/tongass/news-events.
For additional information, call Zone Fish and Wildlife Biologist Justin Koller at 747-4297 or email him at justin.koller@usda.gov.
Information on the Federal Subsistence Management Program can be found at https://www.doi.gov/subsistence.
