NorthernLine “Behind is a great forest that goes to the Arctic…and here we must draw our line.”
~ Gary Snyder, Front Lines
A Place
by Elisabeth Dabney, Executive Director
P
lace is important. We all have our favorites and most of us have several—a fishing hole, hiking route, or camping spot. These places offer us something and keep us coming back. Without these spaces in our lives I would venture to guess that we would feel a loss—our lives would not be as full without them. In the middle of the woods, north of Smallwood Creek there is a curve in a trail where the spruce dangle low and the space tightens around you. Growing up I thought of it as an archway, my entryway into a wild place that I was free to explore. I was small, the woods before me were massive, and at the same time mine. This place is my place and I return to it, greeting the archway of black spruce, and grateful it is still here. In this issue of the Northern Line our members, elders, board members, interns, conservation partners, and staff touch softly and eloquently on the idea of place. Frank Soos, our Alaska State Writer Laureate, invites us to reflect and wonder. Our summer interns tell us about their adventures. Our founding executive director urges us to be protectors. Throughout this issue there is a connection, a common thread, an urgency. We are called to remain vigilant while holding on tightly to our wonderment. At the Northern Center we have an enviable job—we are working to protect the places we love. Looking at a map of northern Alaska it is a place mostly devoid of roads and infrastructure. In The Sand County Almanac Aldo Leopold wrote, “To those devoid of imagination a blank place on the map is a useless waste; to others, the most valuable part.” Those blank places on the map are our places. ∆
Northern Alaska Environmental Center
Summer 2015 Vol. XXXVII, No. 2
CONTENTS Letters to the Editor………………… 2 Welcome Interns…………………… 4 Reflections…………………………… 6 My Alaska Experience……………… 8 My First Camping Trip……………… 9 Shell vs Everyone………………… 10 Doing Our Part On Climate……… 13 Wildlife is Wilderness…………… 14 Landscapes of the Western Arctic…………………… 16 2015 Annual Membership Meeting and Picnic……………… 17 and the award goes to…………… 18 Fostering Community…………… 18
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Night for the North
AUCTION
Saturday November 14, 2015 Raven Landing
Congratulations to our 2015 awardees! L to R: Vicky Biondi, Lou Brown (CCA), Rich Seifert (Co-op), Danae Bernunzio, Stan Justice, Jim Kowalsky, Fran Mauer, Jimmy Fox (CCA), Patrice Lee (CCA)
A PLACE TO DISCUSS The Northern Line Environmental News of Arctic and Interior Alaska The Northern Line is published by the Northern Alaska Environmental Center (NAEC, 830 College Rd., Fairbanks, Alaska 99701. EMAIL: info@northern.org WEB: www.northern.org Copyright © 2015 by NAEC. All rights reserved. Subscription rate is $40 annually and includes membership. We encourage submission of letters and articles for publications. We reserve the right to edit all submissions. The Northern Alaska Environmental Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. MISSION: The Northern Alaska Environmental Center promotes conservation of the environment and sustainable resource stewardship in Interior and Arctic Alaska through education and advocacy.
STAFF Elisabeth B. Dabney, Executive Director Anna Sorensen, Director of Administration & Finance Jessica Girard, Arctic Program Director Alexandra Todd, Outreach Intern Amanda Mengotto, Arctic Intern Tristan Glowa, Clean Water & Mining Intern
THE NORTHERN LINE SUMMER 2015
Letters to the Editor
It is through the voices of our members and like-minded partners that issues are brought to the forefront of the public dialogue. Below is a sampling of letters to the editor that address the pressing issues of concern to the Northern Center. Have you written a letter to the editor recently? Please share it with us!
Action Needed On Climate Change Shannyn Bird, Fairbanks
Originally published by the Fairbanks Daily News Miner, March 8, 2015 Visit www.climatechange.alaska.gov and the most recent date on the homepage is 2008. You read that right: 2008. Climate change is no less of an issue than it was in 2008. Yet today, nearly seven years later, it still seems as if our state government hasn’t made much progress in addressing the problem. As it so happens, Gov. Sarah Palin established an Alaska Climate Change Subcabinet in 2007 to “develop and implement a comprehensive Alaska Climate Change Strategy.” This subcabinet was promptly nixed by Gov. Sean Parnell, placing Alaska back at square one. With a newly elected governor, Alaskans now have no excuse to avoid the climate change issue any further. And what better way to get back in the game than to reinstitute the taskforce on climate change? Gov. Bill Walker’s transition team recently stated that “inclusion of Alaskans’ expertise ... is critical to ensuring that good decisions are made about our lands, waters, and communities.” This would be exactly the goal of such a taskforce: implement a diverse group of Alaskans to make educated recommendations about climate change. A taskforce wouldn’t singlehandedly defeat climate change, but it would be a step in the right direction, a step which needed to be taken years ago. On that note, I speak directly to Gov. Walker: it is time to convene a task force that addresses the causes and consequences of climate change. If Alaska is ever going to effectively combat climate change, there is no better time to start than today.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Frank Williams, President Paul Reichardt, Vice President Carol Norton, Treasurer Lou Brown, Secretary Arthur Hussey, Larry Johnson, Dan Ritzman, Don Pendergrast, Lois Barger, Stephan Milkowski, Sven Grage
ADVISORY BOARD Dan Adams, Doug McIntosh, Florence Collins, Frank Keim, Jim Hunter, Jim Kowalsky, Mary Shields, Ray Bane, Susan Grace Edited by Anna Sorensen Layout by 5th Avenue Design & Graphics, Inc.
Halt Arctic Offshore Drilling Elisabeth Dabney, Fairbanks
Originally published by the Fairbanks Daily News Miner, May 16, 2015 On May 11, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved Shell Oil’s exploration plan to drill in the Arctic Ocean this summer, despite the staggering potential to do irreparable harm to the fragile arctic ecosystem and the people and animals who call it home. This decision is a major step backwards in our efforts to address climate change. Climate change is touching every corner of our country, and nowhere are the impacts more profound than in Alaska — particularly in arctic Alaska. The arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, sea ice continues to decline, and arctic waters are quickly becoming more acidic. One powerful way we can slow the effects of climate change is by limiting the amount of fossil fuels we burn, and an effective way to do that is by not opening up new areas to intensive drilling in the first place. The president has the opportunity to take drilling in the Arctic Ocean off the table — and he should do so.
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! Do you have: Comments about articles? Corrections to point out? Accolades to share? We would love to hear from you! Letters to the Editor can be sent to officemanager@northern.org or mailed to The Northern Line Editor, 830 College Road, Fairbanks, AK 99701. A selection of letters to the editor will be published in future issues of The Northern Line. 2 WWW.NORTHERN.ORG
A PLACE TO DISCUSS
THE NORTHERN LINE SUMMER 2015
ANWR: Hunting in wilderness, not an oil field Robert Thompson
Originally published by the Alaska Dispatch News, February 18, 2015 In her Feb. 10 commentary “ANWR [2] worshippers fail to consider Inupiat [2],” North Slope Borough Mayor Charlotte Brower has complaints about the decision President Obama made to ask Congress to consider wilderness for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He is endorsing the recommendation that came out of the Comprehensive Conservation Plan that is required for the refuge. I support the designation of wilderness for the Coastal Plain. I live in Kaktovik and am directly affected by decisions about the refuge. I see the wilderness designation as the best way to support the Inupiat value – respect for the land. Right now I have caribou on my stove that came from up in the mountains south of us -- in the wilderness of the refuge. We do hunt now in wilderness. Every sheep we ever harvest here in Kaktovik is taken in the existing wilderness area. The idea that a wilderness designation is going to stop us from hunting and fishing is without merit because subsistence is guaranteed under ANILCA and is a purpose of the Arctic Refuge. I want wilderness so that I can continue to pursue our traditional activities of hunting and fishing in the refuge. I’ve asked in many meetings, and no one can give me the guarantee that we could pursue these traditional activities like hunting and fishing in an oil field. Often we hear rhetoric that without oil money we won’t be able to pursue subsistence activities. I have no concern that this will happen. I have watched Kaktovik young people take care of our whales; they do it very well and with enthusiasm. I do not believe even one of them will not pursue traditional activities because of no oil money. To infer that without oil money the people will leave and those who remain will be dependent on the government for their existence and subsistence is insulting to the young people. The mayor should have more faith in our people. BP and Chevron have existing contractual agreements to develop ASRC subsurface interests if the Arctic refuge is opened. This happened after a 1983 land exchange separate from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. No revenue sharing with other Native corporations will happen under the land exchange agreement. It appears that Mayor Brower and Rep. Ben Nageak are attempting to further an agenda supportive of their corporation interests. Rep. Nageak has a bill in the Alaska Legislature opposing wilderness designation for the Arctic refuge. If wilderness is designated for the Arctic refuge, no oil exploitation will happen and the agreement with oil companies will be of no value. The draft comprehensive plan went through a process of public review, including here in Kaktovik. I have heard that the majority of Alaskans’ comments and testimony in Fairbanks and Anchorage hearings supported wilderness. Nearly 1 million people across the nation sent in comments of support. A few years ago a petition was circulated that stated, “The following residents of Kaktovik are opposed to oil development in the “1002 area” of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.” Seventy people signed the petition. I’m in favor of wilderness for the refuge because I don’t want to live in an oil field. The Arctic refuge should remain a refuge. It is 5 percent or less of the land that could be exploited for oil on the North Slope. Our future generations should have at least this much to enjoy as our people have enjoyed for thousands of years. Robert Thompson is an Inupiaq hunter who lives with his wife in Kaktovik, and runs trips in the refuge through the business he founded and owns, Kaktovik Arctic Adventures. He is a father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
Fund Education, Not A Dam Karl Monetti, North Pole
Originally published by the Fairbanks Daily News Miner, May 21, 2015 This week marks the third week since the scheduled end of the legislative session. In this extended period, I recognize that all legislators are working hard in a difficult situation. In the time of a budget deficit, budget cuts will be required. That said, the stalling and delay is unacceptable. In Fairbanks, our community is facing cuts to education to the tune of at least $11 million. This issue goes beyond Fairbanks. At a time when all communities of Alaska are facing hard cuts to key services, from public safety to transportation and health care, mega-projects remain on the horizon with money in the bank. One of these mega-projects is the Susitna-Watana dam. After countless reviews detailing the impacts of this project to our fisheries, the boondoggle costs that could reach more than $5 billion, it is absurd that this project remains with a glimmer of hope. Sure, the governor has stopped work on the project. But for now, we know the Alaska Energy Authority maintains a flush bank account with as much as $33.5 million dedicated to the pursuit of the Susitna dam. Not only does the Susitna dam not solve our energy needs, the state cannot afford this project in the short term or long term. Therefore, at a time when the state is facing budget issues like those of today, every opportunity for savings must be evaluated. Our legislators need to end this project for good and claw back those funds into the state budget. At a time like this every penny counts and with money from AEA, the state could address a variety of budget shortfalls, including education in Fairbanks. ∆
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A PLACE FOR LEARNING
THE NORTHERN LINE SUMMER 2015
Welcome Interns This summer the Northern Center was abuzz with activity and new energy, thanks in large part to our three fabulous interns – Alexandra Todd, Amanda Mengotto, and Tristan Glowa. Each brought their own set of unique skills and motivations to help move the Center’s work forward this summer. Their enthusiasm for the work of conserving, educating, and advocating was infectious and the Northern Center is better for it! Summer is a busy time for being outdoors, connecting with the community, and spreading the message of environmental protection. These three rising stars rose to the occasion and tackled our event-full summer schedule with professionalism, positivity, and passion. In this issue we are excited to introduce you to them and in our fall issue you will have a chance to read about their perspectives of the summer. Enjoy!
Tristan hiking in Hatcher Pass, Photo: Abbey Vanden Berg
TRISTAN GLOWA moved from urban Pennsylvania to Alaska early in his life and quickly developed an admiration for the vastness and freedom of the Northern landscape. A lifelong interest in politics tied with a passion for environmental issues has also helped him to see that human interactions with land are intimately tied to countless other social issues. Tristan has been an advocate for sustainability and environmental issues in Fairbanks for several years. In order to preserve the Alaska environment, he has been a local coordinator for recycling, organized youth for air
quality regulations, and worked on Alaska Youth for Environmental Action’s statewide campaign against the Pebble Mine project. Now, Tristan organizes with the fossil fuel divestment student movement at Yale University, where he is a student and plans to major in environmental studies. He is thrilled to bring home new energy and perspective from the national environmental movement to work this summer at the Northern Center for the Clean Water and Mining Program. Tristan’s internship is supported by a grant from the Alaska Conservation Foundation’s Ted Smith Conservation Internship Program. Thank you!
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A PLACE FOR LEARNING
THE NORTHERN LINE SUMMER 2015
AMANDA MENGOTTO hails from New
Jersey and made her first trip across the country to Alaska this summer to work as the Northern Center’s Arctic Intern. She is a junior undergraduate at The New School in New York City, studying Interdisciplinary Science with a focus on biology. Amanda has a strong interest in the intersection of environmental and social justice issues, particularly the unjust health impacts of climate change. In her spare time, Amanda enjoys playing the piano and exploring all that New York City has to offer. She is excited to be spending her summer in Fairbanks, Alaska, where she will work and play in an environment that strongly contrasts the city she calls home. Amanda hopes to learn more about Alaska’s unique and diverse environment by experiencing all it has to offer, firsthand. She plans to embark on many paddling, camping, and hiking trips this summer.
Amanda’s internship is generously supported by the New School in New York City. A special thank you to Northern Center member Alan McGowan for championing this partnership.
ALEXANDRA TODD is the Outreach Intern for the Northern Center this summer. She was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and her love of the environment stems from her childhood spent exploring the National Parks across the lower 48, from Appalachia to Yellowstone. She is currently studying politics at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. Alexandra’s involvement in youth leadership through the Unitarian Universalist church helped her to realize how important it is for activism efforts to be intergenerational, and she hopes to bring this attitude of inclusivity to her work.
HELP
HELP
The EDUCATION COMMITTEE is tasked with facilitating our Northern Voices Speaker Series, workshops, and co-sponsoring events to raise awareness in our communities about the places we fight to protect and the significant environmental issues of our time. If you’re interested in serving on the committee, please contact Lois Barger, the committee chair, at: lois.rundell@gmail.com
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Working in Alaska appeals to her because it is a chance to fight climate change on the frontlines. Alaska is both seeing significant shifts and engaging with emerging threats, which gives environmentalism, conservation, and climate justice efforts a place to converge. Having an opportunity to work on all these issues at once while exploring glaciers or floating down the Chena on the weekend is the ideal for Alexandra, and she intends to enjoy it. Thank you to Earlham College’s Center for Integrated Learning for their support of this unique and new internship opportunity. This internship is made possible through the generous support of David Matthews, Northern Center member and Earlham College alum. ∆
A PLACE OF WONDER
THE NORTHERN LINE SUMMER 2015
Reflections By Frank Soos
A
s I sit writing this short essay, our house is surrounded by the smoke of forest fires burning from all directions. Antsy, and eager to be outside even when the temperature is minus 40, I feel especially stifled on these smoky days. What is there to do but stay inside and catch up on my reading? And how else to read but to read reflectively? If there was a common thread to all the writers I presented in my talk for the Northern Environmental Center in May, it was that all of them entered into the natural world with an attitude of reflection. When we’re out in the world, especially when
we are in this Alaskan world, our experiences often don’t allow for much reflective time. When you’re chilled to the bone, when your canoe flips, or you fall in the river fishing, when you come face to face with a bear, your thoughts are immediate and intense. I’d say they’re not even thoughts that happen in words until later, until that time of reflection. Recently my friend Eva Saulitis wrote me a note about a talk she was to give at the Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference on the essay, specifically, the essay as a reflective form. Editors, she said, were complaining that they were getting too much nonfiction lacking
in reflection. Well, what then, is the essay for except an excellent chance for reflection and consideration? Here’s a bit from Eva’s book Into Great Silence about the damage done by the Exxon Valdez oil spill to a genetically unique pod of orcas in Prince William Sound. In this section, Eva is in a research facility in Vancouver, BC and is showing Hyak, a killer whale captured and kept in captivity for twenty-odd years, a picture of an orca in the wild: Hyak’s blue eye didn’t meet mine. Hyak’s blue eye roved as he scanned the photograph, the way a person’s eye flits searchingly when skimming a
When we’re out in the world, especially when with an attitude of reflection. that all of them entered into the natural world Northern Environmental Center in May, it was to all the writers I presented in my talk for the read reflectively? If there was a common thread up on my reading? And how else to read but to What is there to do but stay inside and catch on these smoky days. temperature is minus 40, I feel especially stifled and eager to be outside even when the fires burning from all directions. Antsy, is surrounded by the smoke of forest s I sit writing this short essay, our house
they were getting too much nonfiction lacking form. Editors, she said, were complaining that essay, specifically, the essay as a reflective Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference on the a note about a talk she was to give at the Recently my friend Eva Saulitis wrote me that time of reflection. thoughts that happen in words until later, until immediate and intense. I’d say they’re not even come face to face with a bear, your thoughts are flips, or you fall in the river fishing, when you you’re chilled to the bone, when your canoe often don’t allow for much reflective time. When we are in this Alaskan world, our experiences
a person’s eye flits searchingly when skimming a eye roved as he scanned the photograph, the way Hyak’s blue eye didn’t meet mine. Hyak’s blue orca in the wild: in captivity for twenty-odd years, a picture of an showing Hyak, a killer whale captured and kept in a research facility in Vancouver, BC and is Prince William Sound. In this section, Eva is oil spill to a genetically unique pod of orcas in about the damage done by the Exxon Valdez Here’s a bit from Eva’s book Into Great Silence consideration? except an excellent chance for reflection and in reflection. Well, what then, is the essay for
A
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Continued on page 7
A PLACE OF WONDER newspaper article. Watching him, I felt the way I had the previous summer, seeing orcas swim through crude oil sheens—culpable, part of the mechanized world reducible to the sum of my destructive, human parts. Did Hyak file those images of wild orcas away for later, for the hours he spent circling the tank? Did they act as an antidote to the images that daily clogged his mind, the faces of humans pressed to the glass? Or was he scanning the photos for something familiar? (p. 119) There it is: One of the most demanding reflections we face, our attempt to bridge our human consciousness to that of another animal. That desire might be part of why we took to the woods or river or sea to begin with, to encounter other animals and seek to know them. And to seek to know how their lives and ours intersect. Last night as I ski pole walked up Ester Dome with friends, the talk turned to the king salmon run on the Yukon, and then on other rivers as well, everybody noting the decline in the size of the fish and the number, all this clearly evident in the thirty short years I’ve lived here. We did this. By “we” I mean all of us, a great collective human “we.” Some of us are on high seas driftnet boats, others running set nets at river mouths, others use rod and reel or fish wheels. However we did it, we did it. I think about this often because the “we” who are reading this would have it otherwise, but we are part of that larger “we,” too, and the world
we leave to our grandkids is going to be the one that big collective “we” wants. The animals our grandkids encounter will be the ones we choose to let live. That, to me, is a scary thought. But I cannot imagine it otherwise. That’s a grim corner I’ve thought myself into. So why read and reflect if that’s where it gets me? When I read a writer whose thoughts are as complex as Eva’s I am both drawn into her reflections, then released into reflections of my own. This is what a good writer expects of her readers, to enter into her thoughts and then to run with them back to our own. The wind is up, the smoke is blowing out as it did yesterday evening when it was clear enough to go walking up Ester Dome, clear enough to eat dinner on the deck. Clear enough to be back out in the world.
I’d suggest after reflection, a person returns to the world more thoughtfully, thinks harder about the choices he makes in small actions, how much to drive, to consume, how better to manage our own small-scale behaviors. That’s a good, thoughtful start. And reading Alaskans’ reflections on our own place will often be wonderstruck by what they’ve seen and done and thought about it. Because this is a wondrous place. And we could easily ruin it. That, readers, might move you to reflect more than a little on what we might do about it. ∆ Frank Soos is the Alaska State Writer Laureate and Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In May, Frank gave a talk about Alaska nature writers as part of the Center’s Northern Voices Speaker Series, a project of the Education Committee.
A WRITER’S READING LIST Below is a sampling of nonfiction books, provided by Alaska State Writer Frank Soos, celebrating Alaska’s wilderness and animals. These contemporary Alaska writers venture off the road into a variety of natural environments to cover everything from the killer whales of Prince William Sound to bears from the North Slope to Southeast. And they offer insights into their personal experiences as they travel along on land and water.
Will Troyer
Nancy Lord
Into Brown Bear Country*
The Dominion of Bears* The Way Winter Comes The Accidental Tourist
Green Alaska: Dreams from the Far North Rock, Water, Wild: An Alaskan Life* Beluga Days Fish Camp Early Warming: Crisis and Response in the Climate Changed North
Bill Sherwonit
Eva Saultis
Living With Wilderness Changing Paths* Animal Stories: Encounters with Alaskan Wildlife
Into Great Silence Leaving Resurrection*
Sherry Simpson
Ned Rozell
Nick Jans The Last Light Breaking A Place Beyond*
Natural Alaska: Life on the Edge* Alaska Tracks Walking My Dog Jane
Gordon Haber & Marybeth Holleman
Dan O’Neill
Kim Heacox
A Land Gone Lonesome* The Last Giant of Beringia,
Rhythm of the Wild, The Only Kayak
Christine Byl
The Island Within Heart and Blood: Deer in America
Dirt Work* Alaska State Writer Frank Soos
THE NORTHERN LINE SUMMER 2015
Among Wolves
Richard K. Nelson
* These books can be purchased at your local book store! Those not denoted with an asterisk may no longer be in print, but can be found secondhand online.
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My Alaska Experience By Alexandra Todd
I
f you are ever lucky enough to be invited on a weekend trip to the Pendergrast cabin that is an opportunity you should not pass up. From hiking up a glacier to enjoying the tiny flowers of the tundra, it was an absolute delight to travel with Don, Tracie and Tess (and to eat the majority of their chocolate chip cookies). Our adventure began on a Swimming in Alaska. Saturday morning, and Alaska Photo, Alexandra Todd road trips have the kind of scenery that you don’t want to sleep through, although I’ll admit I did drift into a post-lunch nap. One moment I was gazing at the mountains and the next we were pulling up an inconspicuous driveway. With no address to mark the cabin’s location, Don found the driveway by keeping an eye on the mile markers, which made me wonder how many forgotten cabins were hidden in these forests. That thought was swept from my mind when we pulled up to a cabin made of huge logs with its windows facing a snow-capped mountain. Who knew clichés could be so beautiful? While discussing where we wanted to spend the afternoon hiking, we unpacked and figured out sleeping arrangements. I was delighted to be sleeping in a room with no windows. After exploring the property and seeing some smaller cabins, we got decked out in our hiking gear, and Tracie gave me the standard bear spray tutorial. Apparently, if there is a strong wind blowing towards you, the bear spray will end up upsetting more than just the bear.
We drove to a nearby glacier, and Don filled us in on how much he has seen it recede in his lifetime. Securing our packs, we set out. Sometimes you’re hiking towards a destination, towards a waterfall or a mountaintop with a view, but no matter where we were when I stopped to look around on this hike, I was awed. We found some pools of glacier melt and considered doing a polar plunge, but decided to save that experience for when we had a towel present. Spotting an ice cave in the distance, Tess, Don and I were eager to explore it. Luckily, Tracie drew the line at that kind of reckless behavior, knowing that she couldn’t afford to lose Don with the car keys in his pocket. The next morning was spent on the tundra where I learned that you can eat apple cores, which I promptly did to decrease the food waste I had to carry. On our drive back, we stopped at a spring, and having never seen one before I was thrilled to drink water straight from a pipe coming out of the ground. That afternoon, the polar plunge became a reality when Don and Tracie returned from seeking out a lake they’d been told was in the area. They assured Tess and I that they’d gone in for a swim and it wasn’t too cold. Tracie took us back out, and we enjoyed swimming with a view of the mountains. After an evening of singing and delicious food, it was easy to fall asleep. Leaving bright and early, the drive back was accentuated by large fluffy snowflakes falling on us. Before we arrived back in Fairbanks I had to ask, “Does anyone mind if I finish these chocolate chip cookies?” ∆
View from the edge of a Glacier. Photo, Alexandra Todd
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THE NORTHERN LINE SUMMER 2015
My First Camping Trip By Amanda Mengotto
On a Wednesday night, I stepped off the plane from NYC and found myself in Fairbanks, Alaska. Just three days later, I embarked on my first outdoor adventure. I was invited on an overnight canoe trip down the Chatanika River with Don and Tracie, who are long-time Northern Center members. My only prior paddling experience had been recreational kayaking on the lake in my hometown. I threw on a pair of jeans and some flip flops. It was a cool 60 degrees, so I brought a cotton sweatshirt and a change of clothes for the following day. Three hours later, I was outfitted in an entirely new outfit and had my own camping gear that my hosts allowed me to borrow! I quickly realized how important it is to prepare for all possible weather conditions when in Alaska. My first surprise came when it began hailing while we loaded up the car. If it were up to me, I would have cancelled the trip. But by the time we reached the river it was sunny and hot.
I didn’t have cell phone service and we were off the grid for nearly the entire trip. This was scary at first, but it ended up being a really nice experience which forced me to focus on the space around me. We started just outside of Fairbanks, and I was surprised when we did not camp at an official campground. We found a flat, dry spot along the bank of the river that seemed like a good space to sleep. We took our time canoeing and saw some awesome wildlife including an owl, a bald eagle, and a beaver building its dam. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and am looking forward to similar experiences throughout my summer in Alaska! ∆
The couple who invited me canoeing are both former park rangers and canoe instructors. Strategy and skill are required in fast flowing rivers, unlike a recreational float on a lake. I learned how to properly paddle forward and backward, how to draw and cross-draw, and how to sweep. There were tons of obstacles, like rocks and fallen trees. It was important to avoid these because all of our camping gear was packed in the canoes, and we did not want to end up in the cold water! Everyone brought tons of food, including Alaska salmon to cook on the fire for dinner. We had rice, vegetables, bread and butter, eggs, bacon, hot coffee, fruit, and cinnamon rolls. The food really exceeded my expectation of sandwiches and granola bars! These campers brought a stove and utensils, among other gadgets that I would have never thought to pack.
My view while canoeing down the Chatanika. Photo, Amanda Mengotto
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Shell vs Everyone By Jessica Girard
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n May 11th 2015, the Department of the Interior conditionally approved Royal Dutch Shell’s (Shell) exploration plan for Lease Sale 193 in the Chukchi Sea. Regulators are now considering specific plans for two exploratory wells. Shell’s fleet will include two drill rigs as well as 25 additional support vessels. If Shell receives all of its permits they will begin in July, drilling up to four exploration wells over the next two years. It is the Burger prospects J and V where Shell will, according to Tim Macalister of The Guardian, “pull the detonator on a carbon bomb which eventually could spray 150 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.” The Northern Center, along with other environmental organizations, has litigated the outer continental shelf lease sales, resulting in the courts declaring Lease Sale 193 illegal both times, once in 2010 and then again in 2014. We are once again in litigation on two fronts: the lease sale itself and Shells’ exploration plan. However, it seems that the inertia of fossil fuel development and the lack of vision for diversification from oil companies and governments alike will allow history to repeat itself. Pro-development advocates argue that the 83 billion barrels of potential oil estimated by the U.S Geological Survey present in the Arctic could limit the U.S. dependency on foreign oil therefore increasing national and economic security. However,
according to Michael Byers, the Canada Research Chair for Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, “83 billion barrels is not actually that much. It would provide enough oil to satisfy world demand for just three years at our current level of consumption.” In fact, the economics are far simpler than national security: Shell needs to increase its stock values. Byers indicates “the stock prices of publicly traded oil companies, such as Shell, are partly based on their reserve ratios — that is to say, the difference between the amounts of oil they are currently exploiting and the amounts they have found but not yet tapped. If Shell can demonstrate that its leases north of Alaska contain vast reserves, this will boost its stock price even if it has no plans to actually extract and sell that oil.” So Shell increases it stocks, and where does that leave Northern Alaska? It leaves us with all the risks, a deepening dependence on industries, ultimately plaguing the places and cultures of the North. This increased climate disruption is not going to leave wildlife and people stranded in inhospitable climates, it already has.
ECONOMICS, JUSTICE, & CLIMATE
Alaskans are once again facing an economic disaster, it is glaring and we are reminded of it every day. School districts Continued on page 11
A hearty group braved rain and wind to gather at Tanana Lakes on July 18th to protest drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Photo, Anna Sorensen
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are cutting teachers at an alarming rate while other basic services face serious reductions. Alaskans are singularly dependent on oil revenue, making the idea of Shell in our Arctic waters quite appealing to some. While the state does not know exactly what the revenue stream would be from offshore drilling, we have been told this will contribute significantly to our flailing economy. However if you strip away the rhetoric, the net gain of extreme oil extraction is quite minimal. While studies vary, the average assessment of Alaska income from offshore oil hovers around a low 3%, not at all significant to our economic plight. By the end of this year Shell would have spent nearly $7 billion on its Arctic
drilling plans. Additionally, oil prices have dropped by half, leaving other investors to back out of their outer continental shelf (OCS) drilling leases. While the 83 billion barrel estimate is technically recoverable, that does not indicate what is economically recoverable. Recovering and transferring this oil is astronomically expensive given the infrastructure, ice, weather, and other needed capabilities. Moving these fossil fuels will be a challenge as the equipment needed to transport it throughout the Arctic are considerable. So again, Shell is placing risk in the hands of others, the hands of Alaskans and company stakeholders, for if this oil makes it to market, what will the net economic gain really be? To that question no one is sure, but many are 11 WWW.NORTHERN.ORG
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quite certain about the environmental cost and who will bear it. Early this year President Obama designated the Hanna Shoal off-limits to drilling. Months later the Department of the Interior went forward with the approval of Lease Sale 193, allowing Shell to explore in the “region around Hanna Shoal, the extraordinarily biologically rich feeding area favored by walrus, whales, several types of icedependent seals, waterfowl, seabirds, and shorebirds…directly in harm’s way by oil and gas drilling in the Chukchi Sea.” Additionally, Earthjustice, an environmental firm working on litigation against Shell, asserts, “Shell’s planned drilling operations are directly Continued on page 12
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Arctic Program Director Jessica Girard and her fiance Eric hoist a #shellno banner during a recent kayaking trip near Whittier.
in the whales’ summer and fall migration path to rich feeding grounds the whales need to survive. The government admits that it does not know all the areas important to bowheads but evidence suggests several are near potential drilling sites.”
Beurden, the chief executive of Shell, who told The Guardian he dismissed “emotional” suggestions that Shell should stay away just because the region was showing advanced signs of climate change.
There is a clear line, easily drawn, showing the direct impacts to the wildlife that thrive in these pristine oceans. Alaskans in this remote area of the world continue that line with their cultural and economic dependence on these species. Rosemary Ahtuangaruak stated in an interview with The Guardian that whaling “is not just a cultural event. It is about survival in a town where supermarket food costs are astonishingly high, as everything used or sold in Barrow has to be airlifted in.” For decades, the State of Alaska has created a dependence on the production of oil. This has indeed facilitated the growth of necessary modern amenities in Arctic villages, but the argument continues as to the worth of growth while simultaneously culture is lost, health deteriorates, and conflict between communities increases over economic issues, such as Shell in the Chukchi Sea.
Many big developers, and the government they have bankrolled, continue to pit environmentalists against development. This portrayal of the movement is too simplistic and intentionally leaves out those voices that are most vital - individuals. It is for all of us that want to change the development dependent rhetoric to strive towards an open discussion that showcases economic diversity, cultural integrity and environmental stability. It may be too late to stop the exploration Shell plans in our Arctic this summer but we can prevent permanent drilling by speaking up. Call President Obama 1-888-4071644, tweet him @POTUS, share your opinions and fears with your friends and neighbors, learn the facts. Come in a have a chat with us at the Northern Center any time and we will be happy to show you how to help and be heard! ∆
The scientific community has resoundingly and urgently stated that in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, extreme extraction in the Arctic, as well as other places throughout the world, must not be risked. Erik Grafe, attorney with Earthjustice, surmises, “America’s Arctic Ocean is ground zero for climate change. Drilling in the Arctic will not only promote continued reliance on fossil fuels, but it will also release black carbon pollution directly onto Arctic ice, accelerating the melting of ice so many animals depend on for giving birth, raising their young, feeding, hunting, and avoiding predators.” Countering this argument is Ben van
Bryers, Micheal. Is Arctic oil a losing gamble?
REFERENCES
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/robcommentary/is-arctic-oil-a-losing-gamble/article25150809/ Earthjustice. Frozen Treasure: Defending the Arctic http://earthjustice.org/features/photo-essay-arctic# Macalister, Terry. Carbon Bomb Alaska: The New Cold War http://www.theguardian.com/environment/nginteractive/2015/jun/16/drilling-oil-gas-arctic-alaska
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Doing Our Part on Climate By Stefan Milkowski
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his week, as I smell the smoke around Fairbanks and read of homes destroyed and villages evacuated, I think back to the stories I wrote for the News-Miner in 2008 about climate change. The length of Alaska’s fire season had already increased, and big fire years were more common. The year before, a rare tundra fire had burned across 220,000 acres north of the Brooks Range. Scientists projected the trend would continue as temperatures warmed and evaporation increased.
It’s impossible to say if the fires burning now are caused by global warming, but they are part of a new — and fastchanging — climate for Interior Alaska. A new normal. The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman popularized the term global weirding, and maybe that’s the best way to think of it. It’s hard not to notice the weirdness of our weather lately, with temperature and precipitation records seemingly smashed on a daily basis. The latest Tanana River breakup in nearly a hundred years in 2013 was followed by one of the hottest summers on record. That fall, freezing rain closed Fairbanks schools for days and storms battered villages along the Bering Sea, unprotected now by sea ice. On a global scale, 2014 was the warmest year on record. Climate change is so big — both in its impact and in the resources needed to address it — that it’s hard to know where to begin. What are the best policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? What hurdles stand in the way? And how can a regional organization like ours help solve a global problem? After significant focus in 2008 and 2009, Alaska leaders have made little mention of climate change. Even conservation groups have largely kept quiet, aware of a political climate so resistant to action. But climate change is impossible to ignore. It’s clearly an environmental issue, with grave consequences to plants,
animals, and whole ecosystems here and around the world. It’s a consideration in much of the work we do at the Northern Center, whether the protection of habitat, the preservation of subsistence opportunities, or the risks involved in offshore drilling. And, increasingly, it’s becoming clear that climate change is also an economic and public health issue. As Sarah Palin put it in 2007, “Climate change is not just an environmental issue. It is also a social, cultural, and economic issue important to all Alaskans.” At the Northern Center, we recognize it’s not a problem we can solve alone, but it’s also one we can’t ignore. And that’s why we’re looking again at what we can do to help. Last month, we added our voice to the call made this year by the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action for Gov. Walker to re-instate Palin’s climate change sub-cabinet. AYEA, a dedicated group of teenagers from around the state, presented Walker with over a thousand signatures in March and is continuing to pressure the governor. We’ll help where we can. Our Issues Committee, comprised of board and public members, developed a new policy on energy use to help guide future campaigns and articulate our vision for a path away from fossil fuels. The policy stresses energy efficiency above all else, and encourages the responsible development of alternative forms of energy. It also reaffirms the Center’s support for putting a price on carbon pollution, both as a way to discourage the use of fossil energy and to account for the external costs incurred by its use. To that end, the Northern Center gave its official support to a revenue-neutral fee and dividend on greenhouse gases. It’s a proposal advocated by the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a national group with chapters around the country, including four in Alaska. A fee — starting at $15 per ton of carbon emissions, or about 13 WWW.NORTHERN.ORG
Doing our part on climate. Selfie photo, Stefan Milowski
15 cents per gallon of gasoline — would be imposed on all fossil fuels and other greenhouse gas contributors, providing a strong incentive for businesses and individuals to reduce emissions. All revenues would be returned directly to citizens to help make the transition. The Northern Center is also working with a growing coalition of other organizations and individuals in Alaska to look for promising local and national solutions. The risks of climate change are huge, but there are also things to be excited about. Right here in Alaska, there are many opportunities to reduce emissions while saving money and strengthening local economies. On a global scale, there are opportunities to clean up the air while building a more just, healthy, and economically sound future. With our economy and our lifestyles so dependent on inexpensive fossil fuels, sometimes it’s hard to imagine the scale of changes we’ll need to protect the earth from dramatic changes. It will require changes in how we live, and adapting to the way the world changes around us. It’s something we’re trying to model here at the Center, building on the energy efficiency retrofit of our facility in 2008. We’re trying to live and play a little closer to home, carpool to work, invest in our own back yard. With help from members and volunteers, we expanded our backyard garden this spring, planting rhubarb and raspberries, spinach, peas, and squash. It’s a start. ∆ Stefan Milkowski is a member of the Northern Center board and a co-founder of the Fairbanks chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
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Wildlife is Wilderness By Jim Kowalsky
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here is a great deal of advocacy going around in Alaska and nationally to protect Alaska’s precious wildlands, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge most prominently among the campaigns. But where is the advocacy for that other half of the wilderness realm, Alaskan wildlife? Author Bob Hayes for example— retired Yukon wolf biologist—argues in his “Wolves of the Yukon,” that wolves are the embodiment, the very essence of wilderness. Complete wilderness is replete with predators and prey, without which we have only a lot of scenery he writes. What brings this to a sharp point in Alaska for wilderness campaigns is a lack of real aggressive highly visible organized wildlife advocacy. The result in Alaska is what one observer calls a “predator holocaust,” all set into motion by decades of wildlife management decisions made by an
Caribou herd on the coastal plain. Photo, Ken Whitten
exclusive, entrenched, squalid wildlife apparatus headed by the Alaska Board of Game (BOG) carried out with way too much enthusiasm by an entrenched Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). This all mostly ignored by organized wilderness advocacy.
The BOG make up continues entirely of consumptive users. Attempts to place persons who can appropriately represent the Alaska population who do not hunt or trap have failed thus far. The tragedy for wilderness, virtually ignored by most wilderness Continued on page 15
Ground Squirrel in Denali National Park. Photo: Amanda Mengotto
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A PLACE FOR ACTION advocates over the years, has been a heavy slaughter of bears and wolves, chasing to exhaustion and shooting from fixed wing and helicopter. This is predator control pitched as “intensive management” or more appropriately, intensive manipulation. Hayes would call it farming, not managing. The ongoing BOG-mandated slaughter of predators regardless of how labeled is a wilderness abomination. If wilderness advocacy continues to ignore the cardinal principle that complete wilderness is only replete with predator and prey, thus allowing what may be a greater public interest to remain unexamined and excluded, what can happen is extremist BOG policy unchallenged already underway.
farming rather than to manage wildlife could leave vast landscapes, not true wilderness. Fundamental Alaska wilderness questions remain: What are the real interests of wildlife itself and who speaks for these? Absolutely not the BOG nor the ADF&G nor private pilots pursuing and shooting predators from aircraft, not the hunter nor trapper, not management professor nor wildlife graduate student, not most Alaska environmental organizations, not the
The BOG has a new standard for killing predators initiated for Kenai moose. There the objective for killing predators is to “reallocate” moose to hunters that otherwise might be taken by predators, that is, bears and wolves. In other words the rationale to kill predators is not to increase moose numbers. It is to “reallocate.” Wilderness advocates who ignore what’s going on may find without fundamental change in Alaska’s game management every prey population anywhere in Alaska—moose and caribou—could be “reallocated.” Predator control could be continuous, never ending. No place for bears and wolves except in national parks. Given the BOG history of extreme decisions, the potential for broad application of reallocation is very real. Now wilderness advocates are capable of fierce fights seeking status for landscapes. But to ignore this as an example already underway, they will be blamed for non-action. Predators, the embodiment of true wilderness keeping wild populations in check, holding the natural ecosystems in dynamic balance, could be a thing of the past under BOG reallocation. The present realm which tends to game
Gray Wolf. Photo: Gary Kramer, USFWS
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agency biologist, nor legislator. Most being must-haves speak to their own self-fulfilling needs and extremist BOG policy, to self interests, wants, politics, unending human mandates and fantasies, but seldom or never to what could be actual wildlife needs. Who indeed will step up to the plate to speak to and advocate for actual wildlife and thus for real wilderness? ∆ Jim Kowalsky is founding executive director of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, 45 year Fairbanksan, musician, and wildlife advocate.
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Landscapes of the Western Arctic By Lindsey Hajduk
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s Alaskans, we know our state has some amazing areas, but with the largest state in the nation some of our landscapes can be a surprise even to us. The western Arctic is one of those places. The peaks of the Brooks Range give way north to stretches of foothills, and then endless rivers and lakes along the plain to the Arctic Ocean. We call this place the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska (Reserve), but it is so much more. Right now the Reserve is one of the most isolated places in the state, but home to four vibrant communities with miles stretching between them. But the Reserve is changing and changing fast, and not just because of climate change. To the east of the Reserve is Prudhoe Bay, and its roads, pipelines, and drill platforms are marching westward into the Reserve. ConocoPhillips is leading the charge with a bridge across the Colville River, and earlier this year the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) approved the first oil development project on our public lands. But with this first project, there is an opportunity to shape the future of the Reserve by thinking comprehensively about future development in the region. The Reserve coalition has been hard at work to determine the best ways to protect the people and places of the Reserve while they continue to be engulfed by fast moving development. We do not want to see Prudhoe Bay march westward onto our public lands. We want to see industry using their best practices to protect the important wildlife and values of the Reserve. In early April the BLM kicked off a two-day Regional Mitigation Strategy Workshop in Fairbanks and brought together nearly 100 stakeholders in the Reserve: from tribal governments, to Alaska Native corporations, to industry, to conservation groups. The workshop kicked off an 18-month process to develop a landscape-level planning
A scenic view in the Western Arctic Reserve. Photo, Richard Kahn
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effort to shape how development will take place in the Reserve. The vast area of the Reserve is the size of Indiana, to put it in lower 48 terms. The eastern portion of the Reserve is a long-recognized critical area for caribou, like the Teshekpuk Lake Caribou Herd, as well as migratory waterfowl and fish. The millions of birds that flock to Teshekpuk Lake, the largest lake on the North Slope, can’t be wrong—this place is important. The effort to craft the future of the Reserve will need the input from Alaskans across the state who care about the Arctic. At the Northern Center we will continue to take part in this effort, and let you know when to engage. If you have questions or want to get involved now, email arctic@ northern.org. ∆ Lindsey Hajduk is the Alaska Program Director for the Conservation Lands Foundation and a member of the Northern Center’s Western Arctic Coalition.
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MEET, GREET, CELEBRATE!
2015 Annual Membership Meeting and Picnic By Anna Sorensen
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t was a warm, sunny evening on May 29th when Northern Center members, volunteers, board members, staff, interns, and friends gathered to visit, share a meal, and celebrate the accomplishments of the last year. The evening was highlighted by a fabulous turnout – nearly 100 local members – providing a wonderful hum of conversation and laughter in our back yard. Our intrepid director, Elisabeth, provided a thorough report of the past year’s triumphs and challenges. Board member, Don Pendergrast, presented awards (see list on page 18) and provided comic relief, which instigated a good deal of laughter and only a few groans. Of course, none of it would have been possible without the incredible turnout and support of our volunteers. They erected tents, mowed the lawn, collected and setup tables and chairs, shopped for supplies, prepared food, brought food to share (salad, ships, pie – oh my!), provided musical entertainment, managed the grill, welcomed members, washed dishes (so many dishes!), returned tables and chairs, took down tents, and much more. In addition two of our interns, Alexandra and Tristan, made over 250 calls to local members, spreading the word about the meeting. Thank you for your hard work to help make this annual event a success! ∆
Wally, Frank, and Kama shared their musical talents; nearly 100 members gathered in our back yard; board member Lois, interns Alexandra and Tristan, and Youth of the Year Danae enjoy the sun and good food; grill masters Joe and Dave pose with Executive Director Elisabeth.
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and the award goes to… Volunteer of the Year: VICKY BIONDI
For her dedication to the Northern Center and the generous number of hours served on the Finance Committee. Her expertise and commitment to ensuring financial best practices have made a significant impact on keeping our financial systems running smoothly.
Activist of the Year Award: CITIZENS FOR CLEAN AIR
CCA’s members were selected as the Activists of the Year for their tireless work advocating for clean air in the Fairbanks community and surrounding areas. We commend their dedication and congratulate them on the defeat of Proposition 2.
Conservationist of the Year: FRAN MAUER
For his dedication to the Northern Center and countless hours fighting for a Wilderness designation for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. His service on the Issues Committee has set the Northern Center on a course for success through our conservation positions and his mentorship of staff has been generous and invaluable.
Youth of the Year: DANAE BERNUNZIO
For her dedication to the conservation of northern Alaska through her creativity, activism, and heart to protect the places we love. Her original artwork has been used to garner attention and rally support across the country to protect the Arctic Ocean – congratulations!
Business of the Year: CO-OP MARKET GROCERY AND DELI
The Co-Op Market was selected as the Business of the Year for their commitment to offering organic and sustainably produced food and local products to the Fairbanks community. Their impact on the local non-profit community through their Lend-a-Hand Program is admirable – our sincere thanks to Co-Op members and shoppers for their support!
Florence Collins Award: JIM KOWALSKY
For his tireless activism to protect the wildlife of Alaska – we are forever indebted! We commend him for his years of service to protect the creatures and habitats of Alaska. Wildlife is Wilderness is Wildlife forever.
Fostering Community by Anna Sorensen
It was a gorgeous sunny day in April when Northern Center staff and board members gathered with friends, neighbors, and intrigued passersby for an evening of conversation. The pizza was hot and fresh – straight out of our wood fired oven – and the beer was cold – propped up in a snow berm on the edge of the yard. We laughed and joked. Stories were told. Plans for summer adventures were shared. As the sun turned in for the night, the real conversations began – climate change, community engagement and activism, land management policies, and protection of recreational spaces. There was a real sense of community in the crowd gathered around our little bonfire pit. For the evening were truly were a Center, a place to meet, share, and learn. The next time you gather with friends and conversations turn to the real issues of our time, take a moment to reflect and take comfort in knowing there is a little place in Interior Alaska where like-minded folks are turning these conversations in to action. ∆
Broken Rake Award: STAN JUSTICE
In recognition for his above and beyond service and attention to the Northern Center building and grounds. This spring he donated fill dirt for two old building foundation depressions in our back yard. He then spread the dirt by hand, hauled two trailer loads of compost, spread that by hand, spread grass seed, and stopped by nearly every day to water. A longtime supporter and member of the Facilities Committee, his efforts, big and small, are sincerely appreciated. ∆ 18 WWW.NORTHERN.ORG