2015 KHLT Newsletter

LANDMARKS 2015 Newsletter for Kachemak Heritage Land Trust HIGHLIGHTS

HoWL Youth Finish Fence Project Mountains to Sea Conservation from Afar New Addition to Anchor River Properties Raising the Bar Poopdeck Platt: 1904–2000

Director’s Column

Marie McCarty Executive Director

“The image of a community is fundamentally important to its economic well-being.

If all places look alike, there’s no reason to go anywhere.”

- Ed McMahon, The Conservation Fund Kenai Peninsula communities share a common legacy of a love of salmon, a love of self-sufficiency, and a long tradition of caring for family land. We hunt, we fish, we hike, we work, we play, we share our lives with our families and friends, and we share a hope that this place will remain special for future generations. We have in our minds’ eye a vision of the future that includes our beautiful mountains and ocean and places to lead healthy lives.

This July folks from Anchor Point, Homer, other parts of the Peninsula, Anchorage and beyond came together on a sunny evening on the Anchor River to celebrate community and one of the Peninsula rivers that we hold dear to our hearts. Over two-hundred and fifty people joined us for an evening of sun, music by people who grew up here, presentations by our partners, kids splashing in the river, all enhanced by food grilled by neighbors and friends, young and old. It was an evening not to forget.

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The Anchor River, like so many on the Kenai Peninsula, is the heart of community. The river is where many learned to fish for salmon, where we camp, what we see as we drive by in all seasons. It is like other accessible rivers, like the Kenai, as it functions as a place that pulls the community together. It is for that reason that Kachemak Heritage Land Trust’s conservation work on the Anchor and other rivers is critical to communities. We recognize that rivers are the glue that holds many communities together. Our role is to help to protect habitat so that the Kenai Peninsula rivers remain healthy and productive for fish and other wildlife over time.

KHLT Board Members Sam Means, President Donna Aderhold, Vice President Larsen Klingel, Treasurer Scott Connelly, Secretary Joey Allred Marian Beck Nancy Lee Evans Hannah Heimbuch John Mouw

KHLT Staff Marie McCarty, Executive Director Mandy Bernard, Conservation Director Rick Cline, Accounting/Grant Manager Joel Cooper, Stewardship Director Denise Jantz, Communications & Development Coordinator

Website Nina Daley, Volunteer

KHLT Contact Information

We were honored to be asked to tour the US Fish and Wildlife Services Coastal Program managers on properties we own for conservation. On yet another sunny summer day in our string of crazy good weather, we brought Coastal Program managers from across the country on properties we own on the Anchor. As king salmon rolled and spawned in front of us and mergansers with chicks floated downstream, the managers saw firsthand the story of KHLT’s permanent conservation work and how our partners’ scientific work compliments ours.

Kachemak Heritage Land Trust 315 Klondike Avenue Homer, AK 99603 (907) 235-5263 | (907) 235-1503 (fax) www.facebook.com/ kachemakheritagelandtrust www.KachemakLandTrust.org

Our work provides lasting and positive impact to our communities, and I’m thankful to each of you who support Kachemak Heritage Land Trust and our conservation work as we protect places that matter to communities on the Kenai Peninsula. I hope this issue of Landmarks will inspire you to continue or increase your local support so that we can keep protecting places that are special to our communities long into the future. 

WELCOME AND THANK YOU.................... 2

Credits Cover Photo © Denise Jantz Children play and fish on the Anchor River Layout Design | Debi Bodett

CONTENTS DIRECTOR’S COLUMN............... 1

MAKING THE CONNECTION......... 3 HoWL YOUTH FINISH FENCE PROJECT..................... 4 FOR THE LOVE OF THE RIVER. . ...... 5 A REASON TO HOPE................. 6 MOUNTAINS TO SEA. . ............... 7 POOPDECK PLATT SITE PLANNING.. 9 NEWEST ADDITION TO ANCHOR RIVER PROPERTIES. . ................ 10 GOODBYE FOR NOW, HOMER .. ..... 11

Marie McCarty Executive Director

CONSERVATION FROM AFAR........ 12 RAISING THE BAR................... 12 POOPDECK PLATT: 1904-2000...... 13

www.KachemakLandTrust.org

WELCOME ABOARD TO OUR

New Committee Members Kevin Mertzweiller joined our Land and Easement Committee in the spring of 2014. Kevin is from California and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business. He celebrated his second year of Alaskan residency with the purchase of 10 acres where he is building a cabin from the ground up—something he says he is “VERY Kevin Mertzweiller proud of.” Kevin brings fresh eyes to Land and Easement the committee and tries to keep the Committee wheels moving. He states “I am quick with a joke to bring a smile to those around me but always keep my eye on the objective.” We are excited to have you on board Kevin!

Nina Cunningham

grew up in San Diego and started a family, but with her love for travel she soon realized that a life on the road was calling her name. Last spring she found herself driving up the ALCAN, which landed her and her family in Anchor Point. She spends her day’s homeschooling her two children, Nina Cunningham managing local campgrounds, and is Development an active participant with the Anchor Committee Point Chamber. “I’m always up for an adventure and I know working with KHLT will be no exception.”

Nina is now part of our Development Committee and we are thrilled to have her!

Christi Griffard

is our most recent addition to the Budget and Investment Committee.

Christi moved to Homer from South Florida in 2006, and is currently a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones. She has been in the financial industry since 1993. Christi holds her Chartered Financial Analyst Christi Griffard designation, and earned both her Budget and Investment MBA and BBA from the University of Committee Miami. Christi volunteers locally with Hospice of Homer, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, American Cancer Society/Relay For Life, the Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area Board, Homer Animal Friends, the Homer Chamber of Commerce, and the Rotary Club of Homer-Kachemak Bay. Welcome Christi, we are thrilled to have you on board!

Paul Knight is the newest addition to our Land and Easement Committee.

Paul moved to Alaska in 1977 from Southern California and recently retired after 20 years with the Kenai Borough Assessing Dept. He and his wife, Laura Brooks, have kids spread between Vermont, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, and Anchorage. Having Paul Knight lived in Anchorage, Bethel, and Land and Easement Soldotna he says he “appreciates the Committee beauty and relative quiet of Homer.”

Paul says he welcomes the opportunity and looks forward to serving on the Land Trust Committee. Welcome Paul, we are excited to have you on board! 

FAREWELL TO KHLT’S INTERIM

Stewardship Coordinator

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ob Roy McGregor joined the KHLT team as our 2015 summer intern. Realizing we could use a hand through our busy field season this year, Rob Roy was the perfect solution. He moved from intern to Interim Stewardship Coordinator. His position ended at the end of September, and as he moves on to his next chapter, he will be greatly missed. Rob did an exceptional job—it was our privilege to have him as part of the land trust family. Good luck on your new adventure Rob, we hope you will return to Homer again someday soon!

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LANDMARKS • NEWSLETTER FOR KACHEMAK HERITAGE LAND TRUST • 2015

Rob Roy McGregor Stewardship Coordinator

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Making the Connection Harness reflects on the spirit of giving after ten years as board president

by Hannah Heimbuch

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otti Harness first came to love the Kachemak Heritage Land Trust through friends and neighbors. From Little Tutka to Homer, it was through relationships that she witnessed a cause that echoed her own love for wild spaces, and ultimately led to a 10-year stint as board president.

That is vital throughout the nonprofit community.

“Nonprofits carry an incredible load in this town,” Harness said, as do the people who support them.

Strength comes from many giving what they are able, she said, and sharing in the long-term benefit. But the tangible exchange is not the only way to make resources work.

“What I like about it is the connection to the land,” Harness said. “I like walking and I can appreciate it, whether it’s the Calvin and Coyle Trail … or Anchor River, or wetlands. I live and play in all of those places.”

Relationships — with land and people — create land stewards, she said. For Harness, maintaining those connections gives purpose to the governance, legal work and fundraising.

“I don’t mind reaching out to people,” she said. “Every nonprofit needs people to do that kind of thing for them.”

That’s partly because of the organization behind her. “The land trust has a fabulous reputation, which makes it easy to be on the board and be proud to be on the board.”

There were landmark moments during her tenure, including the hard work for accreditation, and conservation of the Victor Holm property.

The community united around this property, she said, putting the pieces together so the Kasilof Regional Historical Society could ultimately take ownership. It was incredible to see the Land Trust help get a historical property to the right people, she said, a testament to collaborating around a shared value.

That effort exemplified a core value of both KHLT and Harness.

“It’s not about any one person,” she said. “It is everybody working together to get it going and keep it going.”

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Dotti Harness Former KHLT Board President

“That mindset needs to be altered, to give for the sake of giving, because giving feels good.”

This generosity of community allows us to enrich our lives collectively, in a way we cannot possibly do alone.

“What if we all gave for the good feeling it gives you?” Harness asked. “It’s more of a giving for the heart.”

That’s how she made time for the land trust, a little here, a little there, something necessary for her community and her own well-being.

“You fit it into your life. It’s no different than when we do exercise or a job or play. We fit it in.”

This spirit of giving is at the core of land stewardship, extending beyond the lives of those doing it, giving that ripples through generations of human and creature communities. This is what Harness helped to nurture during her ten years as board president, and continues to support through her friendship with the Land Trust.  At our annual meeting last December, then Board President Dotti Harness Foster passed the baton to then Vice President, Sam Means. Sam joined our board in 2009 and says “I have to thank Dotti for encouraging me awhile back to be Vice President, knowing it would eventually lead to President.”

With almost a year as President under his belt, Sam has been incredibly steadfast in this important leadership role.

www.KachemakLandTrust.org

HoWL YOUTH

Finish KHLT’s Fence Project

by Maddy Lee, DiRtBaG Service Corps Intern

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by Lisa Beranek, Kenai Watershed Forum

oung HoWL (Homer Wilderness Leaders) DiRtBaGers (Discounted Rates for Boys and Girls) spent many afternoons over the course of two summers finishing Kachemak Heritage Land Trust’s Poopdeck garden area fence project. With the guidance of KHLT’s Stewardship Director Joel Cooper, we divided into teams to conquer the ambitious project. Not only did we tear down the old Poopdeck fence, we built a new one to keep moose and other critters out. The project also included installing a gate for ease of access to the garden area.

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HoWL’s DiRtBaG Service Corp. is a grant funded program that gives trip credits when kids go out to do community services.

WRESTLING

KHLT property on the Kenai River

Spruce Trees for Salmon his summer world class wrestlers met up along the banks of the Kenai River to wrangle spruce trees on behalf of salmon. These athletes came from near and far for a chance to lend their skills, and put a stop to erosion, by cabling spruce trees along the bank of a Kachemak Heritage Land Trust property on the Kenai River.

The wrestlers are trained volunteers from the Stream Watch program — a river protection program jointly managed by the Kenai Watershed Forum and the Chugach National Forest.

Stream Watch is making a difference through peer-to-peer education and hands-on projects on Kenai Peninsula rivers. The program partners with entities like the Land Trust to complete river protection projects that likely would not be completed otherwise.

“Basically what we’re doing is mimicking nature,” said Stream Watch Coordinator Lisa Beranek. “Plants are very important along the river, both standing plants — whose roots hold the soil in place — and downed trees in the water.”

The DiRtBaGers had a blast accomplishing the Poopdeck fence.

Some helped on every trip to KHLT over the last two summers.

Ages of participants ranged from 9 to 18 and every single DiRtBaGer felt a real sense of pride completing the project.

Building the Poopdeck fence was a perfect way for the DiRtBaGers to learn about what KHLT does and the history of the Poopdeck property. Many HoWLers had never visited KHLT before and were eager to walk down the dirt road off Klondike Avenue to see where the DiRtBaG work needed to be done.

Upon arriving to the small log cabin, some students ran straight to the tree swing and then returned for each water and snack break. Other students enjoyed lying on the grass and eating Hershey’s Kisses until their hands were covered in chocolate and their laughter filled the air. The older peer leaders worked relentlessly with Joel until right before we had to leave, to make sure the garden gate fit properly before leaving. 

This project is in partnership with the Land Trust through a cost share program with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with support from the Kenai Peninsula Trout Unlimited chapter. In order to prevent future erosion and provide instant nearshore fish habitat, volunteers were permitted to cable spruce trees to the riverbank to create a soft buffer so that soil is immediately stabilized, giving native plants an opportunity to establish and stabilize the bank for the long term.

“It’s also good for fish to have areas were they can tuck in and have protection from predators,” Beranek said. “Over the long run, the trees will capture silt from the river and build up the bank, and a food source is created there. You’re going to have bugs coming in to break those trees down.” 

HoWL DiRtBaGers on KHLT’s Poopdeck Platt property

LANDMARKS • NEWSLETTER FOR KACHEMAK HERITAGE LAND TRUST • 2015

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“I’m a Fish!”

by Coowe Walker, Kachemak Bay Research Reserve

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n a chilly July evening, two students from the University of Washington and I were hunched over buckets of juvenile salmon that we’d just seined out of the muddy estuary, near the mouth of the Anchor River. I spend a lot of time working on the Anchor River as a researcher, from the headwaters to the mouth, collecting data to understand linkages between the fish, the streams and the surrounding landscapes. On that day, we’d been measuring, weighing, tagging and taking stomach content samples for hours. The Anchor River was full to the brim with juvenile Coho Salmon, but not all of these fingerlength salmon were on their way downstream. We’ve learned that many will remain in the estuary, or move upstream to overwinter and spend another year or two in the freshwater of the Anchor River before migrating to the ocean and becoming adults.

Suddenly, the rhythm of our work was interrupted by a delighted call in the distance. I turned, looking downstream, to see my young daughter and her friend, lying belly-down in a patch of shallow rapids. Not minding the cold water, they were following a couple of late Chinook salmon that were bucking the current. “I’m a fish! I’m a fish!” she yelled joyfully.

Anchor River Celebration at the Coho Campground in Anchor Point photo © Shana Loshbaugh

For the Love of the River

KHLT

was honored to host an Anchor River Celebration “Take Me to the River” on July 9, 2015 at the Coho Campground in Anchor Point. Over 250 people attended the event that celebrated the important conservation work being done on the river and the people who live, work and play there. The free community event featured a barbecue, kid-friendly activities, live music by the local group the Howlin’ Whales, and presentations by special guests, including Anchor Point resident and avid fisherman Lynn Whitmore.  5

Learning and sharing new insights into fish ecology, spending a sunny day fishing on the river, and playing along the shore are ways that we connect with the river. KHLT knows that this connection is important. Over the past few years, KHLT has been reaching out to local scientists who can inform conservation efforts. As a researcher with the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, I share research on the significance of headwater streams, groundwater flows, riparian wetlands, alder patches, and estuaries to the salmon that live in the rivers. KHLT is effectively incorporating this science into their work, and just as importantly, has taken the initiative to celebrate our connection to the river. The Anchor River Celebration brought us together as a community, to acknowledge our commitment to protect what we cherish. With this dedication, hopefully, children will be singing out “I’m a fish! I’m a fish” for generations to come. 

Thank you to our Anchor River Celebration sponsors!

www.KachemakLandTrust.org

KBRR’s Carmen Field and CIK’s Sue Mauger enjoy the Anchor River Celebration

A Reason to Hope

by Sue Mauger, Cook Inlet Keeper

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t couldn’t have been a more perfect evening on the banks of the Anchor River to share with my mom and brother who were visiting from the east coast. For years they have listened to my stories of wading across this river, taking stream temperatures and placing data loggers. They’ve tolerated my nerdy enthusiasm as I’ve described working with the latest technology - thermal imagery – to help me see where cold water is along the stream corridor. I’ve told them about the bark beetles, the floods, and the Memorial Day weekend when some locals decided to take a ride down the river on a screw trap. Of course I had to explain that a screw trap is typically used for assessing the movement of salmon smolt leaving the river and not for Huck Finn-style transport of Peninsula partiers.

And most recently they’ve heard the concern in my voice as I describe our snowless winters and warmer summers and what that might mean for Anchor River salmon.

But on July 9th my mom and brother got to see and experience the Anchor River for themselves. They saw kids playing in the water chasing stoneflies and caddisflies; they saw my friends,

new acquaintances, researchers and local politicians celebrating the river. They had to listen to me talk – yet again, but this time as a scientist and community member - about my connection to this place. Under a canopy of cottonwood trees at the Coho Campground, they could finally understand the value of those thermal images and appreciate more deeply my excitement to be part of the important work of Kachemak Heritage Land Trust to protect places that will help keep the river cool in the years ahead.

It was a thrill for me to share this evening of celebration with my family and not just tell them about it on our weekly phone call. But as they headed back to New England the next day, I remembered they were returning to a place where salmon no longer thrive. We will need to do things differently here if we desire a different outcome. Only with concerted effort, strategic planning and engaged communities will we sustain our salmon runs on the Kenai Peninsula. If the huge turnout to the Anchor River on July 9th is any indication, I believe we have reason to hope. 

LANDMARKS • NEWSLETTER FOR KACHEMAK HERITAGE LAND TRUST • 2015

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www.KachemakLandTrust.org

Mountains to Sea

by Mandy Bernard, KHLT’s Conservation Director

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f you follow the work of the land trust, odds are you’ve heard us mention our enigmatically titled “Mountains to Sea” project. Whether you first heard about it in a passing conversation with our Executive Director, from a year-end appeal in your mailbox, or are hearing about it for the first time, the Mountains to Sea (M2S) work has been ongoing for the past three years.

The origin story of this program involves the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, an annual land trust meeting, and climate change. John Morton, supervisory fish & wildlife biologist for the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, was invited to give a presentation at KHLT’s 2010 annual meeting. John spent the evening describing the effects of climate change that have been measured on the Kenai Peninsula, including wetlands that have been decreasing 6-11% per decade, shrinking of the Harding Icefield—up to 5% in surface area and 21 meters in elevation—, increased wildfires in forests and grasslands, and summer stream temperatures reaching lethal levels for salmon in non-glacial streams. John anticipates that we’ll see a widespread conversion from forest to grassland and alpine to forest on the peninsula through the end of this century, as well as a continuation of fragmented habitat with the ever-growing human population.

We don’t have the ability to stop climate change, but we can work with supporting private landowners to protect some of our most precious resources. Local science—and residents and visitors alike—can all agree on the importance of salmon. We’ve been taught that the headwaters of rivers act as “salmon nurseries” and are just as important as the estuaries where salmon return from the sea. John’s presentation highlighted some staggering numbers about the peninsula’s anadromous waters: while most headwaters—glacial and non-glacial—are found within federally protected lands, nearly 60% of anadromous river mileage must flow through private property before reaching the sea.

This means salmon, and the mammals that travel along

river corridors, must travel almost 1000 miles past neighborhoods and municipal areas, through mowed lawns and under bridges, past boat launches, through culverts and under highways, all while collecting urban runoff.

While this may sound like a dispiriting presentation, KHLT realized a role for the land trust, and felt called to action. With generous financial and organizational support from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, KHLT formed the M2S partnership with the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Audubon Alaska, the Kenai Watershed Forum, Cook Inletkeeper, and two divisions of the Fish and Wildlife Service. For the past two years, we’ve worked with our partners to identify our “priority” corridors that begin in protected land and flow through private parcels. Audubon created a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based Decision Support Tool to help inform the partners about resources within the priority corridors.

We’ve now entered the outreach and implementation phases of this project, where we plan to work with our partners and interested landowners to protect private land within the priority corridors. Protection can take many forms, including acquisition, conservation easements, deed restrictions, and landowner stewardship. KHLT is pleased to have obtained funding to hire a one-year contractor to kick off the initial outreach and implementation phases. Homer resident Scott McEwen will begin work on this project in December 2015. Scott has over 35 years of experience as an environmental consultant and resource manager and we are thrilled he will have his feet on the ground for us, taking our M2S project to the next level.

A project of this magnitude and scale will last many years. We’re all eager for these next phases to begin, and will share more news and updates in the near future.  photo © Wild North Photography

LANDMARKS • NEWSLETTER FOR KACHEMAK HERITAGE LAND TRUST • 2015

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NPS’S RTCA PROGRAM AND PARTNERS

Continue to Assist Poopdeck Platt Site Planning

by Paul Clark, Outdoor Recreation Planner National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program

Folks attending the land trust’s design charette

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orking with the community and a host of partners, the Land Trust moved closer to completing a site plan for the Poopdeck Platt property in 2015. This past April, over twenty people gathered to share their ideas and talents as part of a conceptual site planning charrette for the property coordinated by the Land Trust and the NPS Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program. Participants included representatives of key user groups and neighbors. In addition, Peter Briggs of Corvus Design and Nancy Casey of Casey Planning & Design, both members of the Alaska Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, provided their pro bono expertise to the planning process, as did Caroline Storm, an architect with Bezek Durst Seiser.

The focus of the 4-hour conceptual design charrette was to develop guiding principles that reflect the “feel of the Land Trust” on the property. Participants rotated through stations to provide input and ideas about the new office building, trails

and the giving garden, and potential circulation patterns on site. Results from the charette are informing the conceptual site plan report being finalized by Nancy Casey.

The Land Trust successfully applied for a third year of technical assistance from the NPS-RTCA program, though NPS staff faces will be different in 2016. Paul Clark became program manager for the RTCA program in Alaska in July, following Lisa Holzapfel’s retirement in February, and Heather Rice accepted a new position with NPS in Lakewood, Colorado. Paul plans to hire a new staff member in early 2016. RTCA staff will continue to assist the Land Trust and other partners to finalize the conceptual site plan and develop action plans for the design and construction phases of the project. RTCA is a national program that offers free expertise on locally-led outdoor recreation and conservation projects. (For more information about the program, see http:// go.nps.gov/alaska/rtca). 

Touring KHLT’s Poopdeck property during the design charette

Helping Hands

KHLT

would like to thank long-time supporter Nina Daley, who has been our volunteer website manager since early 2013. Nina was KHLT’s Communications and Development Coordinator for three years from 2008 2011. Based in Seward for 17 years, Nina shifted to Homer in 2004 when she married Phil Cowan, who worked for the Alaska Department of Fish & Game. They moved to the Catskill Mountains outside of Roscoe, NY after he retired. We asked Nina what inspires her to volunteer for KHLT even after she moved across the country. “I am involved in many ways in conservation issues. Volunteering for KHLT is a way to continue participating in the conservation movement on the Kenai Peninsula, where I spent a large chunk of my adult life, which will always be special to me.” Thank you Nina, we truly appreciate your hard work!  9

www.KachemakLandTrust.org

Nina Daley, KHLT volunteer from afar photo © Phil Cowan

TOBY TYLER RECEIVES 2ND ANNUAL

Land at Heart Award

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achemak Heritage Land Trust is honored to award Homer icon Toby Tyler our second annual Land at Heart award.

This award recognizes individuals from our communities for their “distinguished contributions to land conservation on the Kenai Peninsula.”

Toby Tyler has been at the heart of KHLT since its very beginning. As a founding KHLT Board member, donor of a beautiful conservation easement, and as a person with great commitment to our community, we are honored to have him as part of this organization and with great pride present him with this award. 

New addition to KHLT’s Anchor River Salmon Conservation Area

Toby Tyler’s 20-acre property in Homer, a valuable wildlife habitat and an important link between the moose summer and wintering grounds. photo © Wild North Photography

EFFLER TRAIL

Celebrates Official Opening

KHLT’s

Effler trail and viewing platform on W. Skyline Drive in Homer had its official opening during the 2015 Shorebird Festival in May. The ribbon cutting ceremony was a great success with local naturalist and KHLT founding board member Daisy Lee Bitter speaking about the importance of the headwater fen. Two of Gene and Mim Effler’s great-grandchildren were there to cut the ribbon.

The 18-acre property was donated to KHLT in 2007 by the Effler family and is part of a headwater fen in the Bridge Creek Watershed, which provides Homer’s drinking water. 

Effler Trail official opening during the 2015 Shorebird Festival

KHLT Rocks!

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hen KHLT contacted me to see if I was interested in putting the land I own on the Anchor River into the Trust, I was somewhat skeptical and thought it was one of those things that is just too good to be true. It is something that I have always wanted to do – to save the land for future generations.

I contacted KHLT and soon came to realize that they are indeed a group of phenomenal people who have a great mission. Just saying “thanks” could never be enough for all of the hard work and dedication that the employees put into their work. I feel that they consistently go ‘above and beyond’. My main point of contact at KHLT was Conservation Director Mandy Bernard, who was kind and always maintained a wonderful positive attitude.

Sometimes people do things and say “this really changed my life.” But honestly, this really has changed my life. After having the land in my family for over 15 years, this makes me feel great. My family and I have always loved the great outdoors so it was only natural for us to want to preserve this beautiful parcel of land that is now part of KHLT’s Anchor River Salmon Conservation Area.  Thank you, KHLT. Debra S. Kelley

LANDMARKS • NEWSLETTER FOR KACHEMAK HERITAGE LAND TRUST • 2015

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Goodbye for Now, Homer

by Rob Roy McGregor

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ooking back on the last year I feel a pang of sadness as I say goodbye to KHLT. I started work here as the Stewardship Intern last August. It was my second trip to Homer, having spent the previous summer of 2013 working at the Wynn Nature Center before returning to Washington for the winter and Idaho for most of the summer of 2014. As soon as I left Homer for the first time, I began to miss the unique culture of the place, the do-ityourself attitude, the farmers and homesteaders, the fishermen and birders, and the scientists and the arts community. I also immediately missed the jaw dropping beauty of the place. So I was obviously very excited to return to the Cosmic Hamlet By the Sea last August for what I thought would be a three-month internship.

For the first three months I was working part time at KHLT and pretty much every day of work was a trip into the field with Joel Cooper, at that time the Stewardship Coordinator. Because of a late start on the field season due to an injury, we crammed as much field time into each week as possible- about 2 or 3 full days of monitoring a week. I was loving it! In the three months I spent living in Homer in 2013 I did not do nearly enough exploring, and now I was getting paid to hike the Peninsula two or three times a week! During this time I got to know each of the properties that the Land Trust owns or holds a conservation easement on, and I came to realize what an amazing place I was living in and the amazing work that KHLT does. I also learned a ton from Joel, who had spent most of his life working in the field all around Alaska doing important science and conservation work.

Well the three-month internship was extended to the end of the year, and that turned into a temporary full-time position as the Interim Stewardship Coordinator, which lasted from January through September, while Joel moved into the position of Stewardship Director and took on several large projects. As the Stewardship Coordinator I learned a lot. I was responsible for the monitoring and documentation of over 3,000 acres of land and the coordination of volunteers and landowners as well as governmental agencies and other non-profits to accomplish this feat. I learned how to ask for help; there was a lot of work to be done, and I couldn’t do it alone. I had lots of help from my supervisors Joel Cooper and KHLT’s Conservation Director Mandy Bernard, who guided me in making the right decisions, and let me make my own mistakes when it was appropriate. I also had the help of the rest of the KHLT Staff for all the in-office questions and communication advice. Most importantly, I had 11

Rob Roy on horseback while visiting KHLT’s Krishna Venta Conservation Area

amazing volunteers who helped me trek each one of those properties regardless of the terrain or weather!

I can’t thank our volunteers enough! From these amazing men and women, most of whom were working or retired field biologists, foresters, soils scientists, and geologists, I learned a great deal about a life in the field and the amazing state of Alaska. I always enjoyed hearing the adventures these folks have had and I was inspired by their dedication to conservation.

Over the last year I’ve visited some amazing places conserved

by KHLT and I’m proud to say that I worked with this group of dedicated individuals who are really making an effort and successfully protecting the natural heritage of the Kenai Peninsula. Though it may be fun working at the land trust, it’s not easy work and the staff and board of KHLT do it because they believe in their mission. Of course, none of this is possible without all of the help of the donors and landowners with conservation easements on their property! Thank you, too!

As I leave this community I already have visions of returning in the future, either for vacation or to stay, because I know one thing for certain- I love this town and the people in it! Goodbye for now Homer! 

www.KachemakLandTrust.org

OSAKA

Masami Yoshioka, KHLT member from afar photo © Masami Yoshioka

Conservation from Afar

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asami Yoshioka lives in Osaka, Japan and has been a member of KHLT for many years. She has traveled to Alaska thirteen times and has been to Homer three. We decided to ask Masami what motivates her to be a part of our important conservation efforts from so far away.

KHLT: Masami, your first donation was in 2007 supporting our Diamond Creek project as suggested by Steve Johnson of Alaska Flower Essence. Every year since, you have maintained your membership with us and supported our important conservation work. What inspires your continuing support of preserving lands in Alaska and specifically, the Kenai Peninsula?

Masami: I want to be useful for Alaska. I feel that the Kenai Peninsula has a balanced relationship - human/art with nature.

KHLT: Why is it important to you?

Masami: Because Alaska is my spiritual home.

KHLT: Is there something specific that KHLT has done or is doing that touches your heart? If so, what would that be?

Masami: Yes, your target is very clear and you are so sincere as a group.

KHLT: How do you see it different here in Alaska than from where you are from in Japan?

Masami: I see “The planet Earth” in Alaska.

KHLT: Thank you Masami, for being part of our land trust family! 

P

ick.Click.Give. is a fantastic way for Alaskans to support their favorite non-profit organizations by donating part of their permanent fund dividend. Please consider KHLT when applying for your 2016 PFD and remember to Pick.Click.Give.! 

RAISING THE BAR

for Conservation

KHLT

was chosen to be part of a small group from across the country viewed as “ready to dramatically increase our impact” by the national Land Trust Alliance (LTA)! LTA is financially investing in our future as part of their land trust National Excellence Program. LTA is the professional organization for roughly 1,700 land trusts across the U.S. With this honor comes the tandem challenge of raising the financial bar to reach this goal. We thank you for your support in helping us achieve this high level of recognition. With your help we will continue to grow our impact, and turn this goal into a reality, which will benefit our community long into the future.

Help us Raise the Bar for Conservation by maintaining and/or increasing your membership, participating in our special and annual appeal, including KHLT in your estate plans, donating to KHLT through the Pick.Click.Give. program, volunteering, or making general donations. Thank you for your continuing commitment to our important conservation efforts!

As part of the National Excellence Program, KHLT participated in an in-depth needs assessment facilitated by consultant Will Murray in the fall of 2014. Following the recommendation made to us by LTA during the assessment, and for the first time in KHLT’s history, we now have four full time staff members as well as one ¾ time staff member and a Mountains to Sea Project Contractor. It was clear that in order to move forward we must have more feet on the ground. This is just one part of our move to Raise the Bar!

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LANDMARKS • NEWSLETTER FOR KACHEMAK HERITAGE LAND TRUST • 2015

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Poopdeck Platt: 1904–2000

By Catherine Cassidy

C

larence Hiram Platt was born on May 17, 1904 in Missoula, Montana. He married Bonnie Thomas in 1923 and they had two children, Alice and Clarence Vernon. By 1928 Poopdeck was divorced and owned half of a truck farm. He sold their produce door–to-door in Anaconda, Butte, and Philipsburg, Montana.

Poopdeck got his nickname on the farm. There were five men named Clarence working there, including Poopdeck’s son, and the cook decided to give them all nicknames to simplify life. Poopdeck’s son wanted to be a sailor so he got the name ‘Popeye’. In the cartoon of the time, Popeye’s father was called ‘Poopdeck Pappy’, so that nickname was assigned to Poopdeck but he didn’t like the sound of ‘Pappy’, so Poopdeck it became and remained. He said that when he introduced himself as “Clarence,” no one ever remembered him but when he went by “Poopdeck”, no one ever forgot him!

In 1943 he enlisted in the Navy and served in the Pacific. During the war his daughter Alice introduced him to her friend Bernice Morrison in San Francisco. They corresponded and Bernice gave him a subscription to Alaska Magazine. After the war, Poopdeck sold out of the farm and decided to move to Alaska. He wrote to Bernice asking her to marry him and move north. She agreed.

They invited his kids and Alice’s new husband, Fred Huebsch, to go along and they all headed north to start new lives. Poopdeck bought a 2-ton truck and they camped their way up the Alcan, arriving in Anchorage on July 7, 1947.

Housing in Anchorage was in short supply so the families went into construction. Poopdeck and Fred bought a condemned building in Eklutna. They made tools and all worked together to dismantle the building. With the salvaged materials they built three houses in Anchorage, two to live in and one to rent.

The men then turned their hands to setnetting and ended up fishing on Kalifornsky Beach in Kasilof. Poopdeck switched to drift gillnetting in 1955 and fished every season until he was 80 years old.

In 1956 Poopdeck was doing some boat work in Homer when he bought his cabin and almost four acres from Whitey Skank for $8,500 (Whitey carried the paper at no interest). During most of the 1960’s he was the winter watchman at the Libby, McNeil, Libby cannery in Kenai and rented the cabin to Stinky and Mud Jones. By the end of the sixties Poopdeck had lost his wife and both children to illness and part of his right hand to a fishing accident. He settled in to his cabin at what he called “the best bachelor pad in Homer.”

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He hand dug the basement under the cabin and discovered it was a perfect wine cellar. Friends and visitors from all over the world have climbed down the stairs to sample his (mostly) delicious homemade wines, which he dubbed “bug juice” in honor of the yeast bugs that did the work. He kept an enormous vegetable garden and shared his harvest around town. Empathy and generosity were his response to the hardships and loss in his life. He never drove by a hitchhiker without stopping and he frequently opened his home to temporary “roommates” for a week or a winter. In his last 25 years Poopdeck traveled to Antarctica, New Zealand, Australia, Galapagos Islands, Easter Islands, Africa, Latin America, South America, Egypt, China and Russia. He died at home on November 7, 2000. His only regret was that he did not live long enough to dance at his 100th birthday party. At his request his ashes were spread in the middle rip of Cook Inlet so that he could continue traveling.

Catherine Cassidy is married to one of Poopdeck’s grandsons, Erik Huebsch. KHLT purchased the property from Poopdeck’s family estate in 2002. Our office is now located on what was his 3.47-acre property in the heart of Homer.

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www.KachemakLandTrust.org

Poopdeck, Bernice, Alice, and Fred - 1947

The Alcan - 1947

Poopdeck and Seal Pup - 1950’s photos courtesy of the Huebsch family

LANDMARKS • NEWSLETTER FOR KACHEMAK HERITAGE LAND TRUST • 2015

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Non-Profit PRESORT STANDARD U.S. Postage PAID Homer, Alaska Permit #67

315 Klondike Avenue Homer, Alaska 99603

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Conserving the natural heritage of the Kenai Peninsula for future generations.

www.KachemakLandTrust.org Printed on 50% recycled paper.

KHLT and YOU

There are many ways to be a part of Kachemak Heritage Land Trust, to assist us with our important mission protecting irreplaceable land on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. No act of kindness is taken for granted, no volunteer task is too small, and no monetary donation is insignificant. Please join us as we move forward with our vital conservation work.

Thank you – The KHLT Board and Staff

Consider giving ahead to future generations by including the Land Trust in your estate plans.