thecordovatimes

U.S. Coast Guard inspection teams in Cordova through May 12

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:24:31 -0800

The U.S. Coast Guard will offer courtesy dockside examinations of commercial fishing vessels in Cordova in anticipation of the 2008 Cordova salmon fishery, slated to begin May 15.

The Coast Guard will also be working with the Alaska State Troopers on the enforcement side to ensure the fishery is carried out safely.

Fishermen can sign up for an exam by calling Chief John Hawkins at the Marine Safety Unit Valdez at (907) 255-8724 or by speaking directly with one of the U.S. Coast Guard examiners working in Cordova’s harbors.

Vessels participating in the opener will have priority in scheduling, though operators of other commercial fishing vessels may request courtesy dockside exams as well.

The program offers fishermen an opportunity to work with Coast Guard representatives to ensure that their vessels meet federal safety regulations.

The exams focus on safety and address items such as flares, charts, navigational signals, fire extinguishers, Emergency Position Indicating Locator Beacons (EPRIBS) and the serviceability of immersion suits, to name a few.

"It’s far more desirable to find your immersion suit has a leak when you’re five feet from shore than in the open ocean," said Charlie Medlicott, commercial fishing vessel safety coordinator for western Alaska.

Understanding stability is vital to safely operating. Examiners will be evaluating the stability of the vessels they examine and may make recommendations to improve the overall safety of the vessel.

The number of lives lost during Alaska fisheries has been in decline since the adoption of the Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Act of 1988.

The leading cause of fatalities in the commercial fishing industry is drowning due to the loss of a fishing vessel. However, man overboards are still a serious concern. The extremely cold temperatures of Alaska waters coupled with weather conditions and vast distances from shore are a deadly combination.

Of the 641 deaths that occurred among fishermen in the United States from 1994 to 2004, 138 (30 percent) resulted from a fall overboard.

In a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health analysis of Alaska fishing fatalities from 1990 to 2005, the rate of fatal falls overboard did not decrease despite a significant decrease in the overall rate of commercial fishing fatalities.

It is recommended that all fishermen wear personal flotation devices, or PFDs, when on the deck of any vessel.

There are more types and styles of PFDs available now than ever before, with several styles to fit the needs of commercial fishermen, including several new slim, lightweight, inflatable PFDs that are worn like suspenders and PFDs that are integrated into raingear.

These free exams give fishermen an opportunity to find and address any safety issues that may be present before they get under way. The examiners will not issue fines or other penalties for problems they discover at the dock.

Each vessel that passes a dockside exam earns a decal. Fishermen operating vessels with recently issued decals benefit by being less likely to have to suspend fishing operations to accommodate an at-sea Coast Guard or Alaska State Trooper law enforcement boarding.

U.S. Coast Guard enforcement assets will be on scene during the opener and into the season to ensure the safety of all vessels working on the water.

The Alaska State Troopers will be running fisheries enforcement operations concurrently with the U.S. Coast Guard. Again enforcement will focus on, but is not limited to, non-decaled vessels.

The U.S. Coast Guard sent an examiner from Valdez that began public outreach and encouraged dockside exam participation on May 1.

The representative will meet with the fisherman’s union and work with the harbormaster, Alaska Marine Safety Education Association and the Coast Guard cutter Sycamore.

The U.S. Coast Guard held a fishing vessel safety fair on May 3 to conduct safety gear inspections and immersion suit inspections with dockside exams. A larger inspection team will be present in Cordova on May 7-12.

New police chief plans open-door policy with Cordovans

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:24:31 -0800

For The Cordova Times

The city of Cordova has hired Chris Canaski as chief of police.

Canaski, who began his job on April 3, lists priorities including increased efficiency and visibility, positive and effective relationships with Cordova residents, and open dialogue between officers, city departments and the community.

"We are all in this together, and no one person has all the answers," Canaski said.

"I have an open-door policy and will always put time for community members first. Call me, e-mail me, come in and talk."

Canaski’s management philosophy is equally inclusive.

"The department needs to depend on cooperative problem solving and informed decision making that utilizes the expertise and input of all our officers," he said.

Canaski’s open-door policy and affable personality are backed up with solid credentials and more than 21 years in law enforcement. Canaski graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy in 1996 and has well-rounded experience ranging from patrol officer to supervisor.

His particular area of expertise is criminal investigation including crime scene, property, narcotics and white-collar crime. He commanded a narcotics division for three years and served as assistant chief of detectives for two years prior to his arrival in Cordova.

Top issues to be addressed by the new chief include department staffing and modernization. For the four months prior to the chief’s arrival, two officers were manning the department 24/7.

Canaski has already hired a new officer who starts the first week of May and anticipates having a fourth officer hired in June.

Under the chief’s direction, the department is upgrading computers and reporting systems to increase efficiency and minimize paperwork so that officers can spend more time out on the streets. Modernization to the jail is also planned.

Prior to moving to Cordova, Canaski and his wife, June, lived for 25 years in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, 25 miles north of New Orleans. They have five adult children, including one son currently serving as a helicopter crew chief for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, and three grandchildren.

The Canaskis are also fostering a 19-month-old, Trysten, whom they are in the process of adopting. Trysten is a special-needs child who was born 10 weeks prematurely, weighing 2 pounds, 10 ounces, with neurological problems.

At the request of the baby’s family, the Canaskis stepped in and have been Trysten’s parents from the time he was born.

"Trysten is a wonderful child who receives plenty of special attention from everyone," Canaski said.

The Canaskis made the decision to move to Cordova for both professional and quality of life reasons.

"We liked the career opportunity and the quality of life that Cordova offered," Canaski said.

They have received an outpouring of support from Cordovans.

When Libbie Graham put the word out that the Canaskis needed a stroller, they had one the next day.

Other helpful items have made their way to the family, including a microwave and furniture.

"The support has been overwhelming, and everyone has been great, even perfect strangers," Canaski said.

Canaski plans to hold a community "meet and greet" when the department is fully staffed and also looks forward to holding open community discussion forums with the department.

In the meantime, he encourages community members to call (907) 424-6100, drop by or e-mail him at

Jennifer Gibbins can be reached at the Prince William Soundkeeper at (907) 424-5701.

Hometown flavor marks Cordova’s 100th birthday party

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:24:00 -0800

Cordova’s Centennial birthday bash featured live bluegrass and jazz, a pie social with homemade chocolate and vanilla ice cream in churns and poetry readings.

And of course a barbeque offered lots of seafood, including barbequed red salmon, smoked black cod, fresh halibut, rockfish and Prince William Sound oysters.

A lumberjack contest had Cordovans competing all afternoon, as one set of contestants after another tried their skills. Men, women and children tested their ability to handle a two-handled crosscut saw, aided by Susan Farzan squirting soapy water on the blade.

The day’s record for sawing through a large log was 26 seconds, achieved by applying a steady downward pressure and working rhythmically to pull without binding the blade.

Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Haines, made the trek to Cordova to help celebrate the 100-year birthday.

The day began with a bit of rain and blustery winds, but by 3 p.m. the sun was shining brightly and the wind had died down.

Cordovans and their guests packed the streets and joined a 45-minute line to enjoy seafood, hot dogs, hamburgers, fresh oysters, salads and many side dishes.

The pie social in the Masonic Hall featured a table groaning with two dozen pies, with flavors including meringue, berry and apple, ready to be topped with ice cream from old-fashioned churn.

Completing the old-timey feel were a piano playing and poetry readings by Foley Weems, Torie Baker and others, celebrating the history of Cordova in formal rhyme and more humorous hip-hop.

Centennial committee co-chair Martin Moe viewed Cordova’s birthday as an unqualified success.

"I am so grateful that the weather held out for us and the day was filled with positive comments," Moe said. "All had a good time, and over 500 people were served with some folks just enjoying the camaraderie of the day.

"All of the canneries donated product, and we could not have done it without them," Moe said, thanking Trident/Bear and Wolf Seafoods, Copper River Seafoods, Ocean Beauty and Prime Select Seafoods.

Jim Aguiar also donated hundreds of Prince William Sound oysters, Moe said.

Dozens of volunteers helped, led by organizers Jennifer Gibbins, Dan Logan, Patty Kallander and Kim Kiml.

Lynne Steen and her volunteers helped to make the pie social a great success, Moe added. "I look forward to the next downtown extravaganza which will be a Centennial Fourth of July, including kelp box derby races," Moe said.

The Cordova Times copy editor, Jeannette Belliveau, contributed to this report.

Joy Landaluce can be reached at (907) 424-7181.

Trustees OK $7 million for Cordova Center

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:24:31 -0800

A huge turnout of 250 residents '97 one-fourth of the entire adult population of Cordova '97 jammed the Mount Eccles auditorium on Thursday, May 1, to give testimony in support of the Cordova Center project.

After nearly six hours of listening to heartfelt pleas, around midnight the six members of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council unanimously granted the community’s request for support for $7 million.

The late-night announcement, arriving on Cordova’s official 100th birthday, came as a delightful surprise to the 60 or so residents still around, who had not expected a same-day decision on their request.

Public speakers also asked for funding to help restore the Prince William Sound herring fishery, but the trustees have not yet ruled on that request.

The Cordova Center would feature a 200-seat auditorium with a professional sound and lightning system, an expanded museum and library, an oil-spill response center and an oil-spill exhibit.

The center, with energy-efficient windows and heating system, also would house city hall.

The center is viewed as critical to a potential economic renaissance for Cordova, offering the city the capability to bring in lucrative convention business and jumpstarting its sluggish recovery from the 1989 spill.

The trustees journeyed to Cordova seeking direction for use of remaining funds in the oil-spill settlement. Cordova had requested $7 million from the fund, which reportedly has more than $120 million remaining.

The council is charged to spend these funds on human and environmental restoration activities linked to the spill.

Mayor Tim Joyce started off the testimony with a PowerPoint presentation on the Cordova Center.

Fisherman John Bocci told the trustees that Cordovans, like herring in the Sound, are a recovering species.

"Regardless of how it turns out in June, we could use some help," Bocci said, referring to the impending U.S. Supreme Court decision on punitive damages in the oil-spill litigation. "The Cordova Center could be one positive thing from this experience."

Jennifer Gibbins from the Prince William Soundkeeper stated that this center could be a legacy for the Prince William Sound.

Cordova Center Committee Chair Dan Logan said that the center would address human services injured by the oil spill.

"The Cordova Center combines a conference center with theatre/auditorium and meeting rooms, library, museum, Science Discovery Room, Oil Spill Response Center and visitors’ center, as well as some city offices," Logan said. "We need to make sure we have a strong community, and that takes a strong center.

"Investment in the people of the sound is a tangible restoration."

Sylvia Lange, co-owner of the Reluctant Fisherman Inn, stated that she was impressed by the fact that half of the seats were still filled at midnight.

"It felt so good to be part of this crowd," Lange said. "We have truly become a community united."

Cathy Sherman, the lead person for the city on the project, answered the questions posed by the trustees concerning the business plan, construction plans and operation and maintenance for the Center.

The questions centered on dedicated square footage for activities related to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, as well as what constituted, under the trustees’ charged duties, appropriate use of the funds.

The $7 million will be offered under three conditions: that the operations and maintenance of the building be born entirely by other sources; that the $7 million is available only until 2010 under a "use it or lose it" provision; and that funds are to be exclusively used for this project.

A few minutes past midnight, the motion passed unanimously.

Martin Moe, executive director of the Cordova Chamber of Commerce, agreed that it was an incredible night.

"Congratulations on the rousing success of this public meeting," Moe said. "Participation was awesome, and we convinced the trustees to throw their backing to the project.

"Now we move forward with acquiring the additional funding necessary to break ground and construct our community center," Moe said.

Organizers hope to acquire the remaining funds for $29 million project from other sources, including the Denali Commission and the Rasmuson Foundation.

Joy Landaluce can be reached at (907) 424-7181.

Denali Commission meets in Cordova for first time

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:24:31 -0800

The Denali Commission, an innovative federal-state partnership designed to fund rural projects, met in Cordova for the first time on Thursday, May 1.

The meeting, held at the Reluctant Fisherman Inn, allowed Cordova officials to describe some of the community’s needs for the future, especially in regard to sustainable energy.

Members of the commission listened and complimented residents on the beautiful setting of the meeting, with the Cordova boat harbor visible outside the inn’s windows.

"I do not believe that the commission has ever held a meeting with such a spectacular view," Denali Commission Federal Co-Chair George Cannelos said.

"The Native Village of Eyak, the city of Cordova have shown us great hospitality with the potluck dinner held last night, and the tour of the Ilanka Health Clinic and the Ilanka Cultural Center was very rewarding and is very well done."

Mayor Tim Joyce gave a PowerPoint presentation of the history of Cordova, including the loss of the Copper mine to the 1963 fires, the 1964 earthquake and the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Joyce pointed out that the work of the Denali commission could be seen throughout Cordova: "From the chip seal on the streets, to the hydroelectric project, the Ilanka Health Clinic, Ilanka Cultural Center and Museum, marine transportation support, Cordova’s future boat haulout, the breakwater reconstruction and the walkway to the new ball field.

"Tourism is the next industry for Cordova, with the spectacular, world-class Child’s Glacier facility," he added.

"Over 3 million sandpipers migrate here, and Cordova has great salmon fishing in the fall," he said. "Add that to the 200 miles of trails, and you can see that we need a new venue with the construction of the Cordova Center."

Bruce Cain, executive director of the Native Village of Eyak, stated the importance of the meetings being held in Cordova.

"Thank you for making Cordova your destination for this meeting. We thank you for all you have done for this community," he began.

"I was at the ferry terminal this morning to watch the Alaska fast ferry Chenega take its maiden voyage for the season," Cain said. "Transportation is very important, and daily ferry service is a must. Everyone needs to be all together on one page, that is the answer."

Clay Koplin, executive director of the Cordova Electric Cooperative, spoke to the need for education, transportation and the struggle to afford rural energy.

Koplin described the need to store hydroelectric power for the growing demand of electricity in the summer for freezing and processing fish.

"We also need to store power during the off-season for the hydroelectric plant when it is not running in the cold months," Koplin said. "The future is in the ability to store energy, wind power and hydrogen."

"Energy education is a must, with the use of creating incentives for customers to use less electricity," he added.

Sylvia Lange, co-owner of the Reluctant Fisherman Inn, also thanked the commission for choosing Cordova as the venue for its meeting.

"I want you to take away the feeling that Cordova is no longer a community divided," she said. "We will work together to fill the needs of the this community as we move into the future."

Joy Landaluce can be reached at (907) 424-7181.

Floating health clinic visits Prince William Sound communities

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:24:31 -0800

For the last eight years, Trans Alaska Pipeline Service employees and health-care volunteers have visited some of the region’s most remote communities to deliver health and safety messages.

This year, the Prince William Sound Traveling Health and Safety Fair and Events kicked off the week of April 14.

Volunteers traveled for a week by boat throughout the Sound, visiting with children, elders and community leaders, staging educational assemblies and informative meetings.

They offer services such as mammograms, blood pressure and diabetic screenings, and lessons in everything from emergency preparedness to dental hygiene.'a0'a0

"Having the opportunity to provide health and safety programs to the communities and villages in Prince William Sound is so rewarding," said Ruth Black, Alyeska’s Valdez communications manager, who coordinates the event.

"It is a wonderful opportunity to go to the communities and interact with everyone, from babies to the elders," Black said. "I learn something new every time."

In the beginning, the traveling health fair was a joint project between Alyeska and state agencies, to target Prince William Sound communities with unmet health-care needs.

In 2006, Lynden-owned Alaska Marine Lines from Cordova and Bering Marine Corp. joined as full sponsors, providing the marine crafts and crew to move the volunteers through the Sound. Alyeska’s SERVS provides the fuel.

The effort this year reached a broad audience. With stops in Tatitlek, Chenega and Whittier, the teams provided 67 activities in six days and made 1,436 individual contacts. The week wrapped up with no safety incidents or injuries.

The fair’s theme this year was "Celebrate Life with the 3 Ps: Prevent, protect and plan." Activities included a women’s tea, where women discussed domestic violence, wrote songs and beaded memory bracelets; a breakfast for fathers to discuss healthy relationships; school assemblies for children; and in each of the three communities, a health and safety fair with booths geared toward physical and mental health and general safety and emergency preparedness.'a0

Other services provided to the communities included mammography clinics, height/weight checks, vision tests, blood pressure and diabetes screenings, and lessons about diet and exercise, first aid, oral health, relationships, domestic violence, prescription medication, sexually transmitted diseases and the WIC program.

Alyeska also sponsored community dinners in the villages of Tatitlek and Chenega Bay.

The event receives support from Jack Rasmussen with Bering Marine Corp. and Jim Holley with Alaska Marine Lines, Black said.

For the last three years, they have co-sponsored the event by providing the use of the Cordova Krystal Sea Provider/Tug and Barge.

Black also thanked Pam Shirrell, Valdez public health Nurse, for her co-coordination of the event and all the health providers who provided their services during the event.

Ship Escort Response Vessel System personnel, who assisted with the health fair and provided logistics support, included Martin Parsons, Jerry Saylors, Sue Smith, Sissy Mattison, Steve Hood, Deb Burkes, J.W. Bogart and Henry Irish.

Sparrows of Shishmaref sing happily far from their normal range

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:20:33 -0800

For Alaska Newspapers

Just in from Shishmaref science teacher Ken Stenek: On this late April day, two house sparrows are singing their little hearts out while perched on the metal roof of the Shishmaref School.

This is unusual, because the closest brethren of the tiny birds are at least several hundred miles away, with most of the population many thousands of miles away.

Stenek, who for the last decade has lived in the village on the exposed sand spit just above the Bering Sea, saw a group of about five birds near the school last October. At least two of them seem to have survived a harsh winter in the windy village, and birders have taken note.

The "house sparrow is a very rare visitor anywhere in Alaska, with only a few records in the state," wrote renowned birder David Sibley on his blog.

"Interestingly, one of the few prior Alaska records comes from Gambell, on St. Lawrence Island, in mid-summer about 15 years ago. So the question is whether these (Shishmaref) birds, at the very western edge of Alaska, came from North America or Asia."

House sparrows are one of the most common birds in the Lower 48, but they don’t normally occur farther north than about Fort Nelson, B.C. The same species occurs in Asia but thousands of miles southwest of Alaska.

Stenek first identified the Shishmaref sparrows when he e-mailed a photo to Dan Gibson, an ornithology research associate at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. Gibson replied: "Where in the world did you get those pictures of house sparrows?"

In Fairbanks, from his office at the museum, Gibson said that if house sparrows are indeed residing in Shishmaref, they might have reached there from the Russian Far East. Though naturally occurring populations of house sparrows do not exist close to northeastern Russia, people have introduced the house sparrow to communities there several times in the recent past.

People brought a few house sparrows from Moscow to Provideniya in the early 1990s, Gibson said. Shortly thereafter, a group of researchers on a birding fieldtrip to Gambell found a dead house sparrow in the dump there and brought it back to the museum in Fairbanks. It was only the second specimen of a house sparrow from Alaska; the other was a bird found in Petersburg.

As for the Shishmaref sparrows, Gibson had many questions on how such a bird survived the winter in a place with such brutal weather.

"What are they doing to sustain themselves during the winter, where are they roosting, where are they feeding?" he asked. "I would have expected a bird like that to perish during the winter."

He thinks that the Shishmaref sparrows are probably from one of the communities in eastern Russia where people imported and released them in the recent past. Another researcher has a theory that the Shishmaref birds are the result of range expansion, but Gibson doubts that.

"I think it’s unlikely this would be a case of natural range expansion in Asia, because of the absence of appropriate habitat and a good travel corridor," he said.

Stenek has a guess that the birds couldn’t have survived a trip across the Bering Strait, and that they may have hitched a ride in one of the many large boxes on a barge that came up last fall. Right now, the origin of the birds is a mystery, and the two male house sparrows sing from the roof of the Shishmaref School, calling for a mate that probably isn’t there.

Ned Rozell is a science writer at the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Statewide photography exhibition winners announced

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:20:00 -0800

Alaska Positive 2008, a statewide photography-as-art exhibition organized every two years by the Alaska State Museum in Juneau, opened with a reception on Friday, May 2.

The Alaska Positive show was juried by Bill Owens, a photographer known for his depictions of American lifestyles, most notably in the landmark book "Suburbia" published in 1972, showing life in a new California tract-house development.

Owens selected 56 photographs by 42 photographers for the Alaska Positive exhibit. Overall, 80 Alaska photographers from 10 Alaska communities submitted 267 photographs for the competition.

The top award, the Juror’s Choice Award, went to Bonnie Landis of Anchorage for a photograph titled "Rooftop." Second- and third-place cash awards went to Ben Huff of Fairbanks and Deanna Lampe of Juneau. Brandon Hauser of Juneau received a fourth-place award.

In addition, 10 other photographers were given honorable mentions. They are: William Heath, Kenai; Ben Huff, Fairbanks; Jayne Jones, Kenai; Pat Kalbaugh, Juneau; Barbara Kelly, Juneau; Clark James Mishler, Anchorage; Tama Phelps, Anchorage; John Schwieder, Anchorage; Nathaniel Wilder, Anchorage; and Carol J. Zeien, Seldovia.

Commenting on the exhibition, Owens said, "There were about 270 photographs to look at, and from that number I had to select the best first, second, third, and fourth place and 10 honorable mentions.

"As a photographer who is always involved in the documentary image, I was looking for the winners to be people who had a big vision of Alaska, and the winner was a landscape image with an abandoned building that had the composition and color, the mountains, and the mist and spoke to me over other images where the photographer failed to get the composition right, the subject material was not interesting, or the making of the image wasn’t really thought through.

"One thing that was conspicuously absent from the group of photographs were photos relating to other humans '97 a dynamic portrait. There were only a handful of portraits of people in their environment. The images tended to be random, not really giving me the photographer’s point of view of concern for the environment, or concern passion for other human beings.

"It is time for photographers to move on to photographing our environment and to show the impact that we have on the land and the sea. Today, with global warming being real, it is time for us to evaluate our lifestyles and to become concerned about how we live. Photographers should show this environment."

Alaska Positive 2008 will be on exhibit in Juneau through Oct. 18. It then begins a one-year tour of other museums in Alaska.

For more about the Alaska Positive and its winners visit online http://www.museums.state.ak.us.

DNA links Alaska Natives to ancient glacier man

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:20:33 -0800

Seventeen Alaska and Canada Natives have been linked by DNA to an ancient man whose remains were found in 1999 in a glacier.

Among the first to be notified last week was Juneau resident Fernando Rado, who found out on Thursday, May 1, he is one of them.

Rado was one of 250 Native people tested for a DNA match in a project sponsored by the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and Sealaska Heritage Institute.

The DNA results show nine people from Alaska and eight people from Canada are related to the ancient man, named by tribes Kwaday Dan Ts’inchi (Long Ago Person Found).

"It’s kind of overwhelming and it’s kind of very exciting because I feel like I’m related to a piece of time in history," said Rado, an Eagle Killerwhale whose family is from Klukwan.

Hunters found the remains in a melting glacier in British Columbia, and scientists believe he died roughly 200-300 years ago, possibly longer. He was wearing a spruce-root hat and a robe made of squirrel skins.

In 2001, a DNA study was launched to determine whether Long Ago Person Found had any living descendants in Canada and Alaska. Mitochondrial DNA was extracted from blood samples given by Native people in Canada and Alaska.

Of the Alaskans related to him, three are affiliated with CAFN and have been notified by the tribe, including Rado, who believes his mother enrolled him with the Champagne tribe.

The remaining six Alaskans have yet to be notified, and Sealaska Heritage plans to work with CAFN to locate them. Their identities will be kept confidential unless the individuals authorize public release of their names.

Fifteen of the people identified themselves as Wolf or Eagle moiety; two did not identify their moiety.

It’s not a huge surprise Long Ago Person Found is related to tribes from both Alaska and Canada. Oral histories and genealogical studies have shown there were migrations of Southeast Tlingits into the Interior and of Interior Natives to Klukwan.

There were also intermarriages between the two tribes. It’s also known that people from the Yanyeid'ed (Wolf) clan live in both Alaska and Canada.

"Alaska Native oral traditions talk about extensive contact between Southeast Natives and Canadian tribes," Dye said. "Oral histories also indicate Native people did travel from Southeast to the Interior and from the Interior to Southeast. So, the test results really just strengthen that bond that already existed between Alaska and Canadian tribes."

The news has strengthened Rado’s ties to Canadian Natives, too.

"With this information, I need to go and visit the Champagne tribe, because there’s a whole piece of family that has 100 percent enlarged my family," said Rado, also a shareholder of Sealaska, the regional Native corporation for Southeast Alaska.

Long Ago Person Found may have been from Southeast Alaska. One study found more than 90 percent of the protein in his diet was from marine sources.

That study, by the University of Glasgow, concluded he "had strong coastal connections during his life and had been on the coast shortly before he died about 550 to 600 years ago."

Some Southeast Alaska Natives believe him to be Kaakaldeini, who was immortalized in oral traditions. Many years ago Kaakaldeini was hurt while traveling to the Interior to trade.

When a storm rolled in, he told his companions to leave him, fearing if they carried him, they would go too slowly and all die in the storm. His companions piled blankets on him and left, and he was never seen again. Kaakaldeini was of the Sockeye Clan.

Cancer survival handbook aims at Alaska Natives

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:20:33 -0800

The best defensive weapon of choice for Alaska Native cancer survivors is a return to traditional subsistence food.

In a world gone awry with high-fat, processed food, scientific health studies show that a cancer-fighting, low-fat, low-processed diet can be found locally for Alaska Natives '97 indigenous people with the highest cancer death rates in the country.

In fact, the evidence is so powerful that the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium has built a book, "Traditional Food Guide for Alaska Native Cancer Survivors," around the research.

Beyond its role for cancer patients, the book serves as a practical guide to wild food available throughout the state.

"The traditional food guide is not only for Alaska Native cancer survivors and their medical providers, but (also) for everyone who enjoys the natural foods from Alaska’s lands," said Desiree Simeon, a Tlingit nutritionist from Ketchikan.

Co-authored by Simeon, Christine DeCourtney and Karen Mitchell, a Yup’ik, the full-color spiral-bound book has an initial press run of 3,000. The co-authors work in the consortium’s cancer program.

"It’s the first of its kind," said DeCourtney, the consortium’s cancer program planning and development manager. "It’s healthy eating for all people."

The book, available for $24.95, is being distributed statewide by the consortium so that Alaska Natives have one of their first opportunities to not only see traditional subsistence food move center table in the cancer fight but also read about the nutritional value that scientific research has assigned to it.

"The book is very informative," said Patricia Bunyon, a Yup’ik elder from Hooper Bay. "I eat some of the Native foods described in the guide but did not know a lot about some of them, like gumboots, and some of the plants gathered from areas other than the Y-K area."

Developed with grant money from the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the 142-page book also received financial support from the consortium, the Alaska Cancer Survivorship and Wellness Program, Alaska Regional Hospital’s Cancer Care Center, the American Cancer Society, the Intercultural Cancer Council, the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service, Seattle Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center and the state’s Comprehensive Cancer Control Program.

Two years in the making, the book was an idea in the development stage since reports on nutritional information regarding traditional Alaska Native foods became available about 10 years ago, said DeCourtney.

"I always thought that information would be so valuable to someone someday," she said. "Now it’s going to be distributed to every Alaska Native cancer survivor in the state."

DeCourtney said that all Alaska Native village clinics, libraries and regional hospitals in the state would be sure to get copies for distribution.

"Of course, we want them to go to people who will use them," she said. "It’s information for healthy eating and healthy living and it connects to the true value of wild Alaska food."

After an introduction that sets out the connection that binds subsistence lifestyle with healthful food resources, the book offers several pages of tips and suggestions on some primary cancer-battle challenges, including getting protein and fiber in the diet.

In addition, it addresses the importance of diet in fighting fatigue '97 long a cancer survivor’s enemy. Then it shifts to accurate explanations about natural vitamins and their importance to healthy body function.

After some tips on disease prevention, such as hand washing and food preservation, the handbook moves quickly to subsistence meat sources, with Alaska Native names, definitions, explanations and nutrition information.

Included are glimpses of the historical role each subsistence animal has had in the traditional lifestyle of Alaska Natives. And preparation tips are provided for those who have disconnected from the traditional lifestyle.

From meat to seafood and then to plants '97 from beach asparagus to stinkweed '97 the handbook continues to provide essential information on nutritional value based on one-cup servings.

In a wrap-up choked with tried-and-true recipes, the book shares instruction on how to make just about anything from caribou soup to herring egg salad.

Under other foods, the book focuses on at least two favorites: pilot bread and Eskimo ice cream. And tucked on two pages near the end is a useful outline of moose and caribou parts, along with tips on how to use everything but the noise.

With 11 Alaska Native cultures in more than 200 rural and urban areas, the book signs off with a pitch for sharing and exchange '97 again, part of the traditional lifestyle known today mostly to the elders.

But that pitch is an invitation for urban and rural Alaska Natives to continue using their strong family ties to share the subsistence food resources that have sustained the many cultures for thousands of years.

For more information, contact DeCourtney at (907) 729-3922 or by e-mail at ul cdecourtney@anmc.org . Or go to the consortium’s Website at ul www.anthc.org .

Randall Howell can be reached at (907) 348-2463 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 463.

State tries to get a grip on deckhands’ economic impact

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:20:33 -0800

It’s hard to account for a work force if you don’t know who or where it is.

An ambitious new project aims to craft a system that will provide labor data on the thousands of crewmembers who work aboard Alaska’s fishing fleets.

Best guesstimates peg the number of deckhands at 20,000. Because fishermen are contract workers, no wage reports are collected by the state. Crew licenses are required, but they don’t tell where or when a crewmember fished, how much they earned or if they even fished at all.

"Without that information, communities really don’t have any basis for accurately estimating the effects of fishing. It makes it difficult for both harvesters and communities to apply for economic assistance or other state and federal programs," said Mike Catsi, executive director of the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference.

The conference has led initiatives to get fish harvesters counted for several years.

The project will use a $150,000 one-time appropriation to develop a system to collect and input the new information into a database at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

It will be able to use electronic landing reports and fish ticket systems already in place.

The first step will be to hire a contractor and begin scoping meetings around the state, said Geron Bruce, deputy director of the state commercial fisheries division.

"I want the stakeholders to have an advisory role in what questions we ask, how we shape the study and what outcomes we want. From the beginning, everyone needs to feel that we are moving forward together with a common purpose," Bruce said.

Two advisory groups will be formed during the summer, Bruce said. One will comprise members of various state agencies; another will include fishing stakeholders representing different regions and gear groups.

"We really need to broaden the discussion to include more regions," Bruce said. "Basically it has been focused in the'a0Westward Region, particularly dealing with fishery rationalization programs, either existing or proposed ones. For other regions, it’s not even on their radar screen. But it’s going to be a statewide program and will affect everyone."

"Given the wide variety of fisheries and areas around the state, it will take some time to sort through all the issues," division director John Hilsinger said.'a0"We need a system that works in Bering Sea crab fisheries as well as skiff fisheries on remote rivers."

There is general agreement that the harvester workforce is an important part of the employment and economic picture, and better data is needed. But there is no consensus yet on how, who or where to get it.

"Both the state and'a0the fishing industry would be best served to take their time to design a program that works best for everyone," Bruce said. "It might put a year or more lead time before it is in place, but it will be time well spent."

Solar tenders

Alaska fishermen, processors and small businesses can benefit from two federal grant programs aimed at reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

Nearly $16 million is available nationwide through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Program.

One grant helps fund renewable energy projects that include geothermal, biomass, wind and solar energy. That could be a natural for fishing tenders, said Dean Stewart, program director of the Alaska USDA Rural Development Program.

"They could use solar energy or some other type mounted on their vessel while they are anchored up in the fishing grounds rather than using diesel generators. Solar panels also can power ice machines," he said.

A second grant is designed for energy efficiency projects, such as improving insulation in fish holds or improving fish chilling systems.

Both grants cover up to 25 percent of the eligible costs of the project. The maximum grant for renewable energy projects is $500,000 and $250,000 for energy efficiency projects.

Deadline to apply is June 16. Call the USDA Rural Development agency in Palmer at (907) 761-7722 or visit online at www.rurdev.usda.gov/ak/.

Feed me Omegas

Omega-3s have become one of the most popular food additives due to a whole host of health benefits. Last year, omega-3 fatty acids were added to 250 food products, from eggs to orange juice, and the list is growing fast.

National surveys show that baby boomers are very aware of the benefits of omega-3s and are adding more to their diets. But most young parents don’t know how essential omegas are to developing'a0babies. According to a Harris Interactive poll of 1,220 U.S. parents, 60 percent were not aware of the benefits of so called DHA omegas to their children’s health.

DHA is one of two key omega-3 fatty acids essential for brain and eye development. It is especially important between birth and 5 years of age, when the brain increases nearly 3-1/2 times in weight. Leading authorities recommend 150 milligrams daily for children aged 1 through 5.

Omega-3s cannot be produced by our bodies and must be obtained from foods. All omegas are not created equal – the critical DHA compound is found only in seafoods, especially wild salmon, or in fish supplements.

The Fish Factor column appears weekly in 20 newspapers and Websites. Laine Welch’s daily "Fish Radio" programs air on nearly 30 stations across Alaska.

19th Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival takes flight May 8

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:15:25 -0800

"The shorebirds are coming. The shorebirds are coming."

The Cordova Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Forest Service Cordova Ranger District and the Prince William Sound Science Center invite visitors to come along for the ride.

The 19th annual Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival begins Thursday, May 8, with opening receptions of two art shows:

• The Senungetuk Art Show from 4-6 p.m. at Orca Book and Sound

• "Bird Flew" from 5-7 p.m. at The Cordova Library meeting room.

The Ilanka Cultural Center is presenting a storytelling of Feathered Legends at 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

The action begins Friday, May 9, with Salmon Chile in the Cordova High School Commons, a benefit for education programs at The Prince William Sound Science Center.

Local biologist/photographer Milo Burcham will present a pictorial introduction to Prince William Sound and the Copper River Delta at 6:30 p.m., followed by a talk on the ecology and evolution of Prince William Sound by Paul Meyers of the Cordova Ranger District.

The avian world of migratory movements is explored at 8 p.m. when Kevin Karlson begins his keynote presentation, "Birds on the wind: The miracle of migration."

Saturday, May 10, is International Migratory Bird Day as well as a day filled with shorebird-related activities.

The Birder’s Breakfast kicks off the day at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, followed by the Ikumat Dancers at the Ilanka Cultural Center and the Shorebirds by Impression Workshop and the International Bird Presentations at the Masonic.

Bird Academy at the U.S. Forest Service Building and the Children’s Art Workshop at the Masonic Lodge are designed to educate younger birders.

The Birder’s Sunset Cruise on Cordova’s fast ferry, Chenega, will take visitors on a two-hour cruise featuring Cloud 9’s hors d’oeuvre buffet, a silent auction, live music by Kinda Celtic, guided birding and wildlife viewing.

Allen Marquette, from Prince William Sound Science Center, will speak on the evolution of birds on Sunday, May 11, at the Masonic Lodge. On Sunday afternoon, art viewing at "Bird Flew" and the Senungetuk Art Show will remain available.

Festival partners include the Cordova Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Forest Service Cordova Ranger District, the Prince William Sound Science Center, Alyeska Pipeline Services, ConocoPhillips, Alaska Airlines and ERA Aviation.

A complete schedule of events, tickets for the Sunset Cruise and general information is available at the Cordova Chamber of Commerce, (907) 424-7260, with information online at www.cordovachamber.com.

Tourism growth in Prince William Sound ‘slow but steady’

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:15:10 -0800

For The Cordova Times

A study by Ecosystems, an Anchorage economic consulting firm, found that tourism – along with tourism-related employment and earnings – is slowly but steadily growing in Prince William Sound.

The National Wildlife Federation funded the study, entitled "Prince William Sound Tourism Economic Indicators."

"We are encouraging the growth of sustainable tourism in Prince William Sound. If planned right, tourism can help the economy while preserving our quality of life and the natural environment," says Jim Adams, director of NWF’s Alaska office.

"This is the first of what we hope will be annual reports allowing us to monitor tourism and document its benefits to the region."

The study notes that there are no direct economic measures for tourism. It relies on various indirect indicators such as bed, rental car, and sales taxes, business licenses and employment in the hospitality and leisure sector to identify tourism trends.

According to the study, "Collectively these (indicators) provide measures of the movement of people in and out of the region and employment and income related to resident and non-resident travel."

In good news for Prince William Sound, the bed and other special taxes collected between 2000 and 2006 increased by $601,666, or 23 percent.

During the same period, total wages in the hospitality and leisure sector increased by $1.5 million, or 24 percent.

Cordova, Valdez and Whittier all saw an increase in tourism-related business licenses between 2000 and 2006, while license numbers stayed roughly the same in Chenega Bay and Tatitlek.

Not all the tourism economic indicators were so rosy. Adams noted that ferry and highway travel to Alaska declined between 2000 and 2006, while cruise ship numbers increased.

"This is an important trend because ferry and highway travelers are frequent visitors to Prince William Sound, and they tend to stay longer and spend more money in our communities than other visitors," the foundation reported.

While the study suggests that the number of ferry and highway travelers continues to increase in Prince William Sound, Alaska’s tourism marketing program needs to do a better job of attracting independent travelers to the state as a whole."

The National Wildlife Federation is the nation’s largest conservation-education organization.

Tony Turrini is with the National Wildlife Federation Alaska Natural Resource Center in Anchorage.

Happy 100 years, Cordova

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:00 -0800

For The Cordova Times

We’ve made it. Cordova is officially 100 years old as of today, May 1. Reaching this moment has not been easy.

Some nay-sayers said we’d never get here, that our town would dry up and fade away, becoming a ghost town like Katella.

"The last one to leave town, please turn out the lights," has been said over and over again, and yet the lights are still on. We’re still here, and Cordova is far from being a ghost town.

Cordova is not the bustling seaport that was once her aspiration. Cordova is no longer the razor clam capital of the world as she was before the 1964 earthquake. She no longer has the multi-million dollar herring industry she enjoyed before the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The population has dropped from more than 2,500 year-round residents in the ’80s to just 1,800 now. Empty spaces in the downtown blocks are mute reminders of the thriving stores that were lost to fire and neglect.

The number of canneries has dropped by more than 50 percent, and the number of air taxis operating out of Cordova has been slashed to just three single-operator businesses; both giving sad testament to the changes in the fishing industry.

Buildings on First Street that were once occupied by mercantile businesses and rooming houses are now filled with service-oriented businesses and not-for-profit corporations. Our old-timers are disappearing one by one, and with them, our links to our early years.

Does all this mean Cordova is a dying town? Absolutely not! Cordovans are adapting and Cordova is heading in a new direction. Ecotourism is the new buzzword as Cordova is being promoted as one of the last pristine frontiers in America.

Every May, the shorebirds and bird watchers flock to Cordova to stand in the rain and the mud; one group getting a much-needed break and nourishment for their bodies and the other for their souls.

Every summer, sports fishermen and bears make their way upstream along following the salmon. Every fall, hunters stalk the mighty moose and elusive deer to fill their freezers for the winter.

Cordova is no longer a sleepy, quiet town in the winter because those adventurous spirits who climb out of helicopters and ski down the magnificent mountain slopes surrounding her have discovered her.

Those people who are truly the hardiest and devoted to Cordova have remained behind to see her through all the changes that have occurred in the past century. Some of them are becoming her "new" old-timers.

They are charged with remembering those who were linked to Cordova’s past and with raising the children of her future. They are now her links between the old and the new Cordova.

It’s time to celebrate Cordova and her people.

Come to the town picnic at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 4. First Street (Main Street) in downtown Cordova will be filled with delicious food – barbequed red salmon, smoked black cod, halibut and many other Cordova specialties. Enjoy exciting games, pulsating music and dancers, interesting historic exhibits and all-around fun.

After the picnic, make your way up the street to the historic Masonic building and join your neighbors for an old-time Cordova pie social. Eat ice cream and scrumptious homemade pies while enjoying some literary entertainment.

Dixie Lambert and Martin Moe are co-chairmen of the Centennial committee.

‘Sea Monster’ discovery on Glacier Island the buzz of old Cordova

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:45 -0800

For The Cordova Times

One of the strangest chapters in Cordova’s history began on Nov. 10, 1930, when Jerry O’Leary and Charles Gibson discovered the carcass of sea creature floating in Eagle Bay on Glacier Island.

O’Leary, a fox farmer, and Gibson, his employee, were making their rounds to feed their foxes and spotted the carcass floating on its back amid the icebergs from Columbia Glacier, six miles to the north.

The head and tail sections were devoid of flesh. However, the midsection was mostly intact.

O’Leary and Gibson towed the carcass to shore and chopped off the meat and hung it in the smoke house, intending to use it as feed for the foxes. Gibson described the meat as "looking and smelling like horse meat."

They saved the skeleton, which was described to be anywhere from 27 to 42 feet long, with a long tail and peculiarly shaped flat triangular-shaped head. They ventured to guess that it had been entombed in the Columbia Glacier before breaking off and floating in the sea ice.

Word of its existence reached Valdez and Cordova and sparked the interest of Charles Flory of the U.S. Forest Service and W.J. McDonald, the district forest supervisor of the Chugach National Forest. McDonald, Lee C. Pratt, Captain E.N. Jacobson, John V. Lydick, Howard W. Stewart and A.C. Faith launched an expedition to document the creatures’ remains.

The Cordova Daily Times notified the Associated Press, and a reporter contacted Bernard Brown, a curator of the American Museum of Natural History.

Brown expressed his interest in the creature and said, "So far we know of no prehistoric animal of the dimensions given in the Alaska dispatches, but if the creature was encased in ice, it must have lived when the ice was formed."

The prehistoric animals in Alaska are the mammoth buffalo and many small creatures, but none that would reach the dimensions of the lizard-like creature, which the description suggests.

It appears that the reptile is similar to the dinosaur, but they died out millions of years before the ice was formed. The only other possibility is that it would be a marine creature, such as a whale.

An expedition led by McDonald set out on the U.S. Forest Service launch Chugach on Nov. 25. The men took precise measurements of the skeleton, which measured 24 feet, 1 inch from tip to tip.

Its snout or beak from the tip to the center of the forehead was 3 feet 3 inches with a width of 11 inches at midsection and a circumference of 29 inches. Only the upper left jawbone was found, and it was described to be devoid of teeth.

The head was 4 feet 7 inches long and 3 feet wide at the widest part. The body section from the back of the head to the end of the rib cage was 6 feet 2 inches, and the tail was 14 feet long. The head attached directly to the torso with no visible neck. The skeleton’s flippers were 3 feet 11 inches long with an average width of 8 inches.

The width of the skeleton at its widest part was 3 feet 2 inches, not including the flippers. It contained 37 vertebrae and it was thought that the skeleton was missing a few on the tail.

When the description was relayed to Brown, he stated, "The creature found imbedded in the ice near Cordova may be one of the smaller whales and undoubtedly is of considerable antiquity. The description given me convinces me that it is some marine creature, perhaps one unclassified as yet."

Howard Stewart took numerous photographs, which were sent to the Associated Press. The skeleton was tentatively identified as that of a pike whale, but that did not stop one enterprising entrepreneur from Cordova from marketing the skeleton as "Alaska’s Prehistoric Monster."

Tom Vevig, a taxicab company owner, purchased the skeleton for $600 in January 1931. He planned to mount the skeleton and put it on display, first in Cordova and then in the Lower 48. By Feb. 12, 1931, the skeleton was reassembled and on display in the Seattle Room on First Street.

On Feb. 22, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Vevig boarded the steamer Yukon and took the skeleton to Seattle to begin a cross-country tour in a truck specially outfitted to carry the skeleton.

By June, the Vevigs were in Chicago and by August, they were ready to return to their home in Cordova. They had taken the skeleton on tour throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Their public exhibits were advertised as "Alaska’s Prehistoric Monster – Millions of years old. Nearly 30 feet long. Baffles the scientific world. Queerest monster ever found. Discovered in Columbia Glacier. Now on Exhibit. Here for a short time. Don’t miss it. 25 cents Adults, 15 cents, children any time."

On Sept. 9, the Vevigs were once again back in Cordova without the skeleton. They reported that their skeleton drew big crowds in everywhere it was displayed, but they were homesick for Cordova and decided to come home.

The skeleton had been donated to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Thus ended one of the strangest chapters in Cordova’s history.

John Vevig, Tom’s nephew, was kind enough to provide a photograph of the mounted skeleton.

I was able to confirm that the skeleton is in storage at the museum and has been identified as that of a minke whale. It is said to be one of better specimens owned by the museum and has been made available to researchers from around the world.

Dixie Lambert is the co-chair of the Cordova Centennial Committee.

Twenty years of the Alaska Volcano Observatory

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:44 -0800

For Alaska Newspapers

Twenty summers ago, earthquakes rocked the town of King Cove on the Alaska Peninsula. Some people were so worried that the nearby volcano, Mount Dutton, was going to erupt that they caught flights out of town. Others called in the cavalry – members of the fledgling Alaska Volcano Observatory.

In 1988, John Power had just finished his master’s degree when he became the observatory’s first full-time employee. He flew out to King Cove with a few colleagues to check on the volcano.

"I remember that the biggest earthquake happened in August, on 8/8/88," said Power, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center who still works for the observatory in Anchorage. "It happened right at the peak of salmon season, so there were a lot of people in town."

After installing a few seismometers on the flanks of 4,800-foot Mount Dutton, eight miles from King Cove, Power and his comrades saw that the character and the size of the earthquakes didn’t suggest that Mount Dutton was going to explosively erupt that August.

"We told people, ‘We’ll watch it, but evacuation doesn’t make sense right now,’" Power said.

While spending a few weeks in King Cove and bunking at the Peter Pan cannery, Power noticed the earthquake activity waning, showing that the volcanologists had made the right call. The new Alaska Volcano Observatory was one for one in advising people what to do, or, in the case of Mount Dutton, what not to do.

Since that first response in 1988, the Alaska Volcano Observatory has grown from a good idea lobbied for by scientists – including John Davies, Syun-Ichi Akasofu, John Filson and Tom Miller – into a team of people in Anchorage and Fairbanks who have their fingers on the pulse of more than 30 volcanoes in Alaska.

The observatory is a cooperative program of the Geophysical Institute, the USGS and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. The job of the experts there is to monitor volcanoes and give Alaska residents information when they need it most.

"Alaska has more explosive eruptions than any other state," said Jon Dehn, an associate research professor at the Geophysical Institute.

"It’s AVO’s responsibility to be prepared so the average person doesn’t have to worry about it."

Like other AVO scientists tuned into Alaska’s volcanoes, Dehn is never far from his cell phone, which rings with Jimmy Buffett’s "Volcano" when an Alaska volcano shows signs of unrest. He and other observatory scientists now monitor an impressive data stream, which was just a trickle in 1988.

The last two decades have seen the development of satellite sensors that allow people to check for volcano hotspots several times a day, precise GPS receivers that enable scientists to watch volcanoes inflate and deflate, infrasound sensors that record sudden changes in air pressure during explosive eruptions and the advent of a helpful tool called the Internet.

"When AVO was founded, there was no e-mail," Power said.

"We were really kind of winging it in 1988," Dehn said. "But in ’08, our game is pretty tight."

Nowhere was that more evident than during the 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano, across Cook Inlet from Homer. The observatory not only predicted the eruption but also forecast the migration of ash clouds, which can shut down aircraft engines.

"We ended up with the best dataset we’ve had so far," said Steve McNutt, coordinating scientist at AVO and a research professor at UAF’s Geophysical Institute.

Other improvements to the volcano observatory include the late 1990s instrumentation of volcanoes in the Aleutians. Right now, scientists are monitoring most of the potentially dangerous volcanoes that make up the remote islands, which about 80,000 large jets fly over each year.

That wasn’t the case when McNutt joined AVO in the early ’90s, when a volcano named Westdahl was spewing ash into the sky.

"The first report was from a pilot who said Shishaldin (a nearby volcano) was erupting," McNutt said. "That’s what happened 16 or 17 years ago. Nowadays, we catch it first. We’re the ones telling airline pilots, not the other way around."

Ned Rozell is a science writer at the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Alaska Army National Guard returns from Iraq

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:00 -0800

Families welcomed home soldiers of the 297th Support Battalion at the Alaska National Guard Armory on Fort Richardson upon their return from Iraq on April 24.

Nearly 180 soldiers with the Alaska Army National Guard returned home after a successful six-month deployment to Iraq.

The returning Guard members are from Bravo Company, 297th Support Battalion and hail primarily from Southcentral Alaska, although most regions of the state are represented by unit members. The soldiers have been serving as security forces based out of Camp Anaconda, Iraq, since October 2007.

"We are excited to welcome home another successful Alaska Army National Guard unit," said Maj. Gen. Craig E. Campbell, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard. "These soldiers had the difficult and dangerous mission of providing convoy and route security, in addition to their other security forces duties; we are proud that they are returning home safe and victorious."

The soldiers of the 297th Support Battalion were mobilized for active duty at the end of August 2007. They spent two months training at Fort Richardson in preparation for the deployment to Iraq.

"We executed our security mission effectively and efficiently while we were deployed to Iraq despite attempts by the enemy to counter our productiveness," said Capt. Joshua Shrader, commander of Bravo Company, 297th Support Battalion. "We encountered numerous IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and enemy fire while on missions, but our training, skill level and the caliber of our soldiers were no match for the enemy. We are returning to Alaska with success and the knowledge that we helped keep U.S. and Coalition Forces safe while were there."

The unit was recognized for exceptional service while deployed. So far, unit members have received four Bronze Stars for Valor, 21 Bronze Stars for Service, two Army Commendation Medals for Valor, 62 Army Commendation Medals for Service, six Purple Hearts, 79 Army Achievement Medals for Service, 31 Combat Action Badges and four Combat Infantry Badges.

Tribal health issues find champion with Gilbert

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:00 -0800

For Alaska Newspapers

Alisa Gilbert is committed to bringing quality health care to Alaska Natives

The director of the Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation said she draws on her own life experiences, her indigenous heritage and family support as she builds toward the goal.

Also, Gilbert is quick to attribute her accomplishments to teamwork and the many mentors she has had throughout her career.

A cancer survivor, Gilbert has been instrumental in getting the foundation off the ground. Part of that launch effort was a recent inaugural Raven’s Ball fundraiser in Anchorage that brought the black-tie-only set out for a Saturday evening that included an Alaska Native art auction that reportedly hit the $300,000 mark.

The foundation, part of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, is focusing on five basic initiatives: cancer care improvement, wellness and prevention, healthy village environments, scholarship funds and elder care support, according to Gilbert, former director of the Alaska Chapter of the American Cancer Society.

She said that the consortium, which is less than 10 years old, already has made significant contributions for the birth of the foundation.

"The one thing they didn’t have was the fundraising stream," she said, noting that that’s why she came on board a year ago this month.

"Our vision is that the Alaskan Native people (can be) the healthiest in the world, but right alongside that vision, we have a huge challenge of not having enough funding to provide support to many of our programs," Gilbert said.

"So how are we going to figure that out?" she said. "A lot of that has to do with building signature events, fundraising, building community to support what we’re doing, and those are the things that I happen to be pretty good at."

Gilbert, who sees the Raven’s Ball as the foundation’s annual signature fundraising event, said the financial goal is likely to be at $500,000 next year.

"I believe in what I’m doing, so it makes it easy for me to do this work," said Gilbert, who has been working in the nonprofit world for more than a dozen years, 10 of which have been in Alaska.

She said she was drawn to nonprofit work because of adversity she faced when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Gilbert said had to choose between treating her cancer and getting a job so there would be enough money for food and rent. She said she knew she couldn’t do both.

Bald and struggling through chemotherapy, Gilbert forced herself to ask for help. She said that was humiliating but life changing.

She said afterward she dedicated herself to making sure others would not have to go through the same experience.

"I know there is an easier road," said Gilbert, who worked for many years with the American Cancer Society before becoming its director. "I know we can connect patients with the care they need. I know there are these missing gaps because I faced them myself."

Gilbert, who left that post to join the consortium, also was chosen as an Echoing Green Fellow for her program working with Alaska Native cancer survivorship. Echoing Green provides seed money to organizations.

She said that being chosen as a fellow opened her eyes to the "enormous possibility for change."

Gilbert said she always has been drawn to Native issues because of her American Indian heritage. Her family and that background have been very influential in shaping her altruistic perspective, she said.

Gilbert said her grandmother and mother taught her that the issues close to home should always come first. For that reason, she said she is "extremely community driven" and believes that "we must take care of the people in our own backyard" before addressing the plights of people on other continents.

There is much to do, she said.

Cancer is the leading cause of death among Alaska Natives, and there are 39 villages in Alaska that do not have access to fresh water, she said.

"We can do better," said Gilbert, who along with her husband has two children, two stepchildren and a grandchild.

Gilbert said her husband, a senior director at the consortium, supports her work. She said he even took over all the parenting and housekeeping responsibilities during the intensive periods of planning for the recent Raven’s Ball.

If it weren’t for that support, Gilbert said she thinks it would be impossible to give so much back to the community.

Gilbert said she believes that anyone can make a difference in the nonprofit world if they believe in what they are championing.

She confesses to being "up at night" thinking about what to do next.

"All of these problems have solutions. That’s the great thing," said Gilbert, who considers herself an optimist.

It’s just about getting the right people involved, she said.

U.S. lawmakers take aim at uninspected seafood from foreign farms

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:00 -0800

The 2008 Alaska legislative session might be a near wrap, but several new "fish laws" are still moving at a good clip through Congress.

One is aimed at improving the safety of seafood surging into the United States from foreign countries.

"This bill will deal with about 80 percent of the seafood consumed by Americans, because it is imported seafood," said Sen. Ted Stevens, a co-sponsor of the bipartisan bill. "We’ve had enormous increases in imports, but strangely enough, we only inspect about 1.6 percent of that seafood."

Seafoods from foreign aquaculture operations – mostly farmed shrimp, salmon and tilapia – often are not held to the same health and environmental standards as U.S. producers.

"Some of this is full of all kinds of crap. It is not fit for consumption," Stevens said in a phone conversation from Washington, D.C.

The seafood safety bill would expand the authority of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Food and Drug Administration agents to test and track imported seafood as it is distributed throughout the United States.

FDA agents also will have authority to inspect foreign seafood operations and facilities.'a0Funding for the seafood safety program has been authorized at $15 million through 2013.

Agents already are in Chile inspecting its farmed salmon industry, according to the Pew Environmental Group. The FDA will gather data on chemical use in five fish farms and assess'a0Chile’s overall operations, a press release said.

"In contrast with Norway and Scotland, Chile has not been forthcoming with adequate data on the amount of antibiotics, anti-foulants and other chemicals used in its operations. The public needs to know," said Andrea Kavanagh, an aquaculture specialist and Pew spokesperson.

Last year Chile sent more than 250 million pounds of farmed salmon to U.S. markets, and only 40 samples were tested by the FDA, a Pew report said.

Stop fish pirates

Another new law aims to stop illegal fishing on the high seas, a piracy valued at $9 billion annually. The International Fisheries Stewardship and Enforcement Act of 2008, introduced last week by Sens. Stevens and Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, would tighten U.S. laws and ban products from illegal, underreported and unregulated fisheries from entering this country.

"These huge vessels the size of battleships fish on the high seas, then dump it in various places. They know what they are doing is illegal, and they try to convince the world they have the right to fish outside the 200-mile limit using any method they choose," Stevens said. "We want to send a strong message to the world that these vessels and fish products are not welcome in U.S. ports and we hope other nations will follow suit."

Stevens said he is working with the United Nations and hopes to get global support to stop IUU fishing this fall.

"The world did not take any action against high seas driftnets until we did it. Same for the 200-mile limit. We went to the U.N. and asked them to follow us and they did. Now we’re going to do the same thing with IUU fisheries."

Stevens said curtailing IUU fishing is especially important to protect waters of the Arctic Ocean, which are expanding from global warming and can be entered from many regions.

Stevens said he is optimistic that IUU, seafood safety and other "fish laws" will be passed by Congress.

"Most of these will not have to be debated. They will be worked out on a consent agreement, and I think these bills should go very quickly," Stevens said. "Also, we have built strong bipartisan support. That has made things work out much more easily."

Farmers of the sea

It appears the keepers of the U.S. Farm Bill have finally opened the door a crack to America’s fishermen. U.S. fish farmers have long been eligible for subsidies and other federal programs and benefits.

"The House indicates it is going along with my amendment that allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make loans to small commercial fishermen, the same way they make loans to small farmers," Stevens said.

"This will help the next generation of fishermen be able to get long-term, low-interest loans to help with purchases of vessels and permits and operating expenses," said Mark Vinsel, director of United Fishermen of Alaska.

"The fleet is graying – and to continue sustainable fisheries, the first thing we need to sustain is the occupation."

Also tagged onto the Farm Bill is a measure by Sen. Lisa Murkowski that will help reduce the tax burden to Exxon award recipients.

Another bill coming before lawmakers this week is the Commercial Fishing Industry Health Care Coverage Act. It would provide $50 million in'a0matching grants to states or organizations to jump-start health-care programs for fishing industry families.

"Alaska’s delegation can’t go it alone. Any coastal senators should be hearing from their fishermen in support of fishermen’s health care," UFA’s Vinsel said.

"If they are not hearing from us, then we can’t expect anything from them. But we need them to help support our industry."

Tattletale trash

To provide a "global snapshot of the trash problem out on the water," the environmental group Ocean Conservancy organized an International Coastal Cleanup day last September.

Nearly 400,000 volunteers scoured 33,000 miles of shoreline in 76 countries and in 45 U.S. states. In all, they picked up 6 million pounds of trash in one day from world beaches.

The volume of the trash tells only part of the story. To learn how people were behaving around or on the water, the conservancy cataloged the collected trash into more than 7 million items.

In all, 57 percent of the trash came from two million food wrappings, containers, cups, plates and plastic eating utensils and 1.2 million bottles and beverage cans.

One-third of the ocean trash came from smokers. Beachcombers and divers collected 2.3 million cigarette butts, filters and cigar tips.

It reveals a "general carelessness" about what’s being tossed into the water, the conservancy stated in a report released on Earth Day. Find it at

The Fish Factor column appears weekly in 20 newspapers and Websites. Laine Welch’s daily "Fish Radio" programs air on nearly 30 stations across Alaska.

Energy authority to host local town hall meetings

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:12:44 -0800

The Alaska Energy Authority has begun a sequence of meetings it will present in 25 communities around the state with the goals of hearing what Alaskans know about local energy resources and asking how they think those resources can be developed to lower energy costs.

AEA’s Energy Plan Town Hall meetings, to be held throughout Alaska, started April 28 in Palmer and will conclude June 4 in Anchorage.

"Our goal is simple: We must reduce the cost of energy in Alaska by using locally available energy resources," said AEA executive director and energy coordinator Steve Haagenson.

"To reach that goal we are engaging Alaskans in the process of creating and deploying solutions that will not only provide stable-cost energy now but will help ensure affordable, reliable energy for our children and grandchildren as well."

Teams comprised of representatives from AEA, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development and the Denali Commission will be traveling throughout Alaska to meet with the public, business, community and regional leaders and utility managers.

"We are holding these Town Hall meetings to gain answers for two fundamental questions," Haagenson said. "First, we want to ask Alaskans what they know about local energy resources and which resources they think could possibly be developed to help lower costs. Second, we want to ask residents which resources they prefer not to develop, and why."

Alaskans are invited and encouraged to participate in this process by attending a Town Hall meeting or by e-mailing comments to energycoordinator@aidea.org . Comments may also be sent to Alaska Energy Authority, Attn: Steven Haagenson, 813 West Northern Lights Blvd., Anchorage, AK 99503.

Energy Plan Town Hall meeting schedule:

Meetings were held last week in Palmer, Soldotna and Fairbanks.

Upcoming meetings are as follows:

Galena May 1, 5-9 p.m., High School

Fort Yukon May 1, 4-8 p.m., Council Elders Hall

Tok May 1, 4-8 p.m., Tok Visitors Center

Bethel May 6, 4-8 p.m., Cultural Center

Aniak May 7, 4-8 p.m., Community Hall

Nome May 8, 4-8 p.m., Mini-Convention Center

Kotzebue May 8, 4-8 p.m., Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly Chambers

Valdez May 12, 4-8 p.m., Valdez Convention and Civic Center

Naknek May 14 *

McGrath May 14, 4-8 p.m., Captain Snow Building, Assembly Room

Dillingham May 15 *

Unalaska May 20, 4-8 p.m., The Grand Aleutian Hotel, Makushin Room

Sand Point May 20 *

Kodiak May 22, 4-8 p.m., Kodiak College

Juneau May 27, 5-9 p.m., Centennial Hall Ballroom 1

Ketchikan May 28 *

Wrangell May 28, 4-8 p.m., City Hall, Council Chambers

Craig May 29 *

Kake May 29, 4-8 p.m., Community Hall Gym

Barrow June 2 *

Glennallen June 3 *

Anchorage June 4 *

* Time and location to be announced.

More information on the Alaska Energy Plan and updates to the Town Hall meeting schedule are available at www.akenergyauthority.org