Featured Employee - Karin Sonnen

Location: Homer, Alaska
Date: March, 2008

Karin Sonnen just might be NRCS’ leading expert on lichen. As a range management specialist in Alaska for the past 11 years, her area extends more than 1,000 miles from the Aleutian Island Chain to the northern Seward Peninsula, an area encompassing 32 million acres - larger than the state of New York. Her customers are producers that graze reindeer, elk, bison and cattle. Given the remoteness of some of Alaska’s best grazing lands, it is not uncommon for Karin to take three planes and a boat to get to a producer’s operation.

Karin particularly enjoys helping reindeer herders manage their range and the lichen resources the deer graze. “Lichens are fascinating in that they are extremely variable,” Karin said. “They grow very slowly, and grazing rotations in lichen tundra can require years instead of months.  Reindeer have different preferences, and by looking closely the lichen species present at a site you can tell the history of the site, including the intensity of the grazing that occurred more than 50 years ago.”

Karin’s expertise developed through her education in Forestry Ecology at Paul Smith's College and Rangeland Management at the University of Idaho, and through on-the-job training with her NRCS predecessor. “There are a lot of unknowns concerning the lichen tundra, and a lot of things that I've had to figure out along the way,” Karin said. “I am still learning - I make connections and understand something new about the arctic ecosystems every time I go to the field.” 

Through her work for NRCS, Karin has completed the first comprehensive ecological site maps on several Aleutian and Bering Sea islands and on grazing areas near the Arctic Circle. Her utilization maps include islands and grazing allotments ranging in size from 25,000 to 1.4 million acres. She has developed more than 100 ecological site descriptions that were previously undefined. 

Karin believes the future of range management in Alaska will be exciting. “I am interested in strengthening my knowledge and gaining a better understanding of the ecology of the circumpolar arctic tundra areas. There is so much more to learn, and the more I know, the more I can discuss with the land managers.   With a greater understanding of the range, the managers can ensure sustainability of both the land and their grazing operation.  Both can be productive indefinitely.”

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