every stop along their migration route to Mexico, but instead of getting the proverbial “worm”, Mike surmised that these geese were becoming the “worm” for sport and subsistence hunters. Greater whitefronted geese are a popular and important sport and subsistence hunting species along their migration route, which stretches across the United States, Canada and northern Mexico. Even with the satellite data and bird surveys, Mike still felt like something was missing. Quantitative data about greater white-fronted geese populations reached back to the 1980s, but Mike wanted to know what was going on before 1980. He decided to gather more data, the qualitative kind, from the people who had grown up depending on the greater white-fronted geese as a source of sustenance — the elder Koyukon Athabascans. Mike said that gathering this information was not an easy task since elders did not readily share hunting information with people outside the community. But Mike now had a family living in the bush - a wife and two children. They stayed more than a decade in the small community of Galena along the Yukon River because “there was a real sense of community. We supported one another. It was a really nice time in our lives.” Over the years, the elders began to trust Mike and one by one, they started telling him their story – and even let him record it. Mike worked with the UAF Rasmuson Library, and with the local public radio station, KIYU, to record his interviews with over 40 elders and produce a radio program series called “Raven’s Story.” It aired on UAF’s public radio station, KUAC FM, and other public stations in Alaska. Mike heard in many interviews how geese populations seemed larger when the elders were younger. With information from bird surveys, satellite
transmitters and interviews, Mike presented his case to higher officials in USFWS, who Mike said believed him. “I combined the oral history and traditional ecological knowledge with Western science to show a picture that the white-fronted geese have been declining since the 1980s and qualitative data shows they were even more abundant decades earlier,” said Mike. Changes were made to hunting regulations within the United States and Canada that relieved some of the hunting pressure off the interior Alaska greater white-fronted geese. Mike said within three years, their populations on the refuge rebounded.
Mike poses with the airplane that he flew to the USFWS refuge that he now manages, Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge. Photo courtesy of Mike Spindler.
Unique in the north
Some things come full circle. A master’s student for the Department of Biology & Wildlife, Lila Tauzer, recreated Mike’s study of Creamer’s Field 35 years later to see how changes in vegetation were related to changes in birds over time. Mike’s kids grew up and are now students at UAF. Mike moved back to Fairbanks , the place where he started, and became the manager of Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge. He could have retired years ago, but Mike said when you have a great team and a great job, there’s always more to do. Who knows? In 20 more years there may be another chapter of Mike’s life to write about in a CNSM newsletter. As Mike said, “I think you will find that most alumni who have stayed in Alaska have a really interesting story to tell, and the longer you stay here in the Great Land, the more there is to tell. We are unique in the north!” To access the “Raven’s Story” recordings, go to http://jukebox.uaf.edu/RavenStory/START.htm
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