NRCS Alaska News

August 10, 2007

In This Issue

From Ideas to Action: First Phase of Hooper Bay Subsistence Trail Complete

Ryan Maroney, Lower Kuskokwim Resource Conservation & Development Program Coordinator

As the use of modern all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) for subsistence hunting and gathering practices in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta has increased over time, so too has concern for the impact of these machines on tribal and federal lands. In the coastal village of Hooper Bay, Sea Lion Corporation land is rich in subsistence resources, especially waterfowl.

But, as many there know, the reckless use of ATVs can cause severe damage to both plants and wildlife in lowland tundra environments. Residents of this community understand the dangers of unrestricted motorized access and began working with the Lower Kuskokwim RC&D program to document and look for solutions to this problem.

Conservation Planning

Hooper Bay residents participated in an ATV trail mapping and planning exercise in April of 2006, to identify resource concerns related to ATV use on Sea Lion Corporation land and to develop plans for improving their trail network. William Naneng, general manager of the Sea Lion Corporation and Ryan Maroney, NRCS Lower Kuskokwim RC&D program coordinator provided facilitation for the meeting. In subsequent planning sessions, the Sea Lion Corporation board selected an initial trail hardening project at Akulikutaq Creek and requested technical and financial assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) program.

How Trail Hardening Can Help

A single improved trail can redirect and funnel traffic into planned routes, allowing the decommissioning of other trails. Proper use of a hardened trail in Hooper Bay will reduce soil erosion and habitat fragmentation, protect threatened and endangered species, and restore traditional subsistence areas. Essentially, an improved trail network will protect subsistence resources while maintaining local access to traditional hunting and gathering grounds.

Ideas to Action

The Sea Lion Corporation was awarded NRCS cost-share assistance from the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program to design and build the first phase of the trail and also selected to receive National Park Service RTCA program assistance. In July of 2007, after more than a year of planning, the Sea Lion Corporation installed 2,290 linear feet of 2 meter wide GeoBlock trail connecting the city dump and lagoon to the upland trail network north of the community across Akulikutaq Creek. The Sea Lion Corporation board intends to install more GeoBlock trail in 2008 utilizing existing partnerships.

The Value of Partnerships

Numerous organizations and individuals in and outside of Hooper Bay worked together to help turn local trail ideas into action. The community trail mapping session was organized and facilitated with Lower Kuskokwim RC&D program assistance and is fantastic example of how RC&D coordinators can help develop partnerships and projects leading to increased NRCS cost share in rural areas. Aimee Rhoner, Ann Rippy, Andy Oxford, Crystal Leonetti, Chet Fitzgerald and Bill Wood provided NRCS technical and financial cost-share assistance. From the National Park Service RTCA program, Lisa Holzapfel, Kevin Meyer and Heather Rice provided invaluable technical and logistical assistance during the planning and implementation process. Myron Naneng, Bosco Olson and other Sea Lion Corporation board members worked throughout the planning processes with employees of the Sea Lion Corporation and the Native Village of Hooper Bay’s Tribal Council. Finally, REI, USFWS, and the Lower Kuskokwim RC&D program provided support.

Looking Down the Trail

Outside of Hooper Bay, news has begun to spread about the project and neighboring tribes have expressed interest in working on similar trail improvement projects on their private lands. As trail improvements continue in the region, educational outreach sharing ethics of appropriate ATV trail use will be essential in seeing the intended conservation results on the ground. Recognizing this challenge, the Sea Lion Corporation has requested assistance from the National Park Service RTCA program, the NRCS Lower Kuskokwim RC&D program and the USFWS to develop an ATV ethics and education program highlighting Yup’ik conservation values. This future outreach and education program will focus on subsistence hunting and gathering trail use commonly practiced in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta.

Photo: Heather Nanuk of Hooper Bay works with Aimee Rhoner and Chet Fitzgerald of NRCS to assemble the GeoBlock panels. Photo R. Maroney.

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State Conservationist Visits St. George Island

During the last week of July and the first week of August, Range Conservationist Karin Sonnen and State Conservationist Bob Jones traveled to the remote Pribilof Island of St. George, located in the middle of Alaska’s Bering Sea. Bob needed to gain a better understanding of the arctic rangeland issues that the NRCS deals with, and understand how the rangeland in Alaska is assessed and monitored. 

The 33,000 acre St. George Island is home to 300 reindeer and summer resident populations of Northern Fur Seals, Stellar Sea lions, and millions of sea birds that travel to the island each summer to nest in the tundra and on the cliffs that rim the island. The St. George Tribal Council has been awarded an EQIP contract to carry out prescribed grazing and to protect some of the sensitive tundra that has been heavily grazed and is in need of rest. 

After four wet and foggy days, we had hiked steep ridges, lush valleys, and rocky upland areas, covering over 28 miles while monitoring all of the ecological sites the island has to offer. The data collected will be used to create Reindeer Utilization, Apparent Trend, Similarity Index, and Rangeland Health maps for the reindeer managers.  In addition, an initial stocking rate will be computed for the island. 

Photo: Alaska State Conservationist Bob Jones and Kit Jones measure lichen lengths as a part of the Range Survey completed on St. George Island in July 2007. Photo by Karin Sonnen.

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Bernard Creek EWP Project Underway

In early October last year the Copper River Valley near Copper Center experienced severe flooding.  The flooding was the result of a warming trend in the high country which melted the snow followed by several inches of rain in a short period of time.  This was the same flooding event that caused many problems in Valdez, including the closure of the Richardson Highway. 

Bernard Creek and the structures around it suffered extensive damage during the event.  The flood event size is unknown due to the lack of historic hydrologic data.  Several homes and historic sites were damaged in the event.  A telegraph station built in 1905 was carried downstream.  Two homes were completely destroyed and three others suffered considerable damage.  A heavy sediment load is currently on the historic Valdez-Eagle trail.  Copper Valley Electric Cooperative has to replace all their power poles and the telephone company lost their fiber optic line.  The runway at the Tonsina Lodge suffered damage from erosion and sediment and the lodge itself was only saved by sandbagging efforts of the owners and local patrons.  Also, the Richardson Highway bridge across the Tonsina River near the mouth of Bernard Creek suffered a great deal of damage.   

Immediately following the event, Doug Vollman with the Kenny Lake SWCD and former District Conservationist Joanne Kuykendall evaluated the damage and spoke with local landowners.  One of the first issues that needed to be tackled was finding a sponsor.  Typically with EWP the sponsor needs to be some sort of unit of local government.  Since that area of the state is not in a borough or municipality, this became a big stumbling block.  After three months of discussion, the Kenny Lake SWCD agreed to sponsor the EWP project.

A team consisting of Catherine Hadley, Brett Nelson, Joe White, Bill Wood, Phil Naegele, and Doug Vollman competed the Damage Survey Report in February.  Since the original cost estimate was done while the ground was covered under snow and ice, Aimee Rohner and Brant Dallas visited the site in June to re-evaluate the situation.  Shortly after their visit, we learned the EWP project would be funded.  The project design is nearing completion and consists of engineered log jams and debris removal.  Construction is scheduled to begin shortly and will protect the remaining structures from future damage. 

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NRCS Helps Tribe Restore Beach

The beach access on Cannery Road in Kenai was used as a construction staging and materials storage area as Cook Inlet platforms were being built in the 70's.  Approximately 10 acres on and above the dunes was leveled and denuded leaving only a bare face of sand and gravel. 

Kenaitze Indian Tribe (KIT) has since come into possession of the parcel and uses it for an educational set net fishery. In 2002 Mitch Michaud worked with KIT to begin to restore the former construction site by beginning to fill in an approximately 2 acre area. KIT's conservation specialist then constructed a fence to exclude ATV traffic  detrimental to the plants. This summer, youth from KIT harvested beach wild rye and replanted to fill in among the previous planting and inside an additional two acres. The outing included instruction by Mitch on how plants reproduce and why we were depending on rhizomes and not seed to make this reclamation successful. KIT plans to treat additional acres next summer. 

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Teachers Get Introduction to Soils Instruction Techniques

Dennis Moore made a soils presentation for about fourteen teachers from elementary to high school grades during Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom Summer Teacher Institute Funded by the Alaska Division of Agriculture’s Alaska Grown Program, Alaska Farm Bureau, AITC Consortium and USDA. Dennis shared his two teaching techniques, one for kindergarten to fifth grade, and one for sixth grade through high school.

Younger students are challenged to name all five food groups and to think about how our clothing comes from soil. The older students are tasked with naming something we use in everyday life that does not come directly or indirectly from soil.

The next part of the presentation consisted of covering basic soils information such as texture, structure, bulk density, soil reaction (pH), and the five soil forming factors. The teachers got a demonstration on soil particle sizes, an opportunity to texture soils, and descript how the soils feel when dry and wet.

The last part of the presentation was an outdoor classroom at two soil pits about fifteen yards apart. One pit was a Knik soil that occurred on hills, the other was a moderately well-drained Bodenburg that occurred on a depression on a hill toe slope. The teachers had an opportunity to observe different soils horizons and two different parent materials (loess and glaciofluvial deposits), to feel different bulk densities, and to texture soil. Observing the similarities and differences between the two soils pits provides a timely occasion to cover soils genesis and morphology. The teachers asked many questions concerning use and management of soils from agriculture, landfill sanitation, septic tanks absorptions fields, home site development, and etc. The loss of farmlands to urban development was a big concern for many of the teachers.

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Alaska Division of Ag Awarded USDA Funds for Peony Project

Last Friday Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today awarded over $1.3 million in 26 matching grants for agricultural market research and demonstration projects. These grants, provided under the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program, explore new and innovative approaches to marketing U.S. food and agricultural products and help improve the efficiency and performance of the marketing system.

The Alaska Division of Agriculture will receive $59,845 to explore niche regional, national and international markets for Alaska peonies and other cut flowers and develop a marketing strategy to take advantage of an annual seasonal deficit in world supply.

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Personnel Actions

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