2021 February Advocacy Report

By David Raskin, Friends Board President
 

The last month has witnessed many developments and actions by the outgoing Trump Administration and the incoming Biden Administration, many good and some bad! The good news includes many replacements at the upper levels of the Department of the Interior(DOI) with the nomination of Representative Deborah Haaland to be Secretary of the Interior and the return of Cynthia Martinez as the Chief of Refuges for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).


 

Kenai Regulations
The Kenai Refuge survived the possible adoption of the revised regulations pushed by the outgoing DOI. The strategic submission by the Refuge of a “skinny version” of the proposed regulations that omitted the baiting of brown bears and the removal of the Refuge trapping regulations delayed the process long enough to prevent their adoption before the inauguration. Friends and other conservation organizations played a major role in helping to slow down and ultimately stop those destructive regulations. The remaining issue is the proposed restriction of firearms on the Kenai River corridor that the Court sent back for FWS to provide a basis for this aspect of the 2016 regulations that were unsuccessfully challenged by the State and Safari Clubs. That is being prepared for submission to the Court. This leaves the most important provisions of the 2016 Kenai regulations in place.

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The great news was the executive order by the Biden administration on his first day in office that declared a moratorium on all oil and gas activities in the Arctic Refuge along with other areas. It was wonderful to see this as a headline event on Day 1. Kudos to the Arctic Refuge Defense Campaign! The next step is for the Administration to explore avenues to nullify or buy back the leases that were bought by the Alaska AIDEA and two small companies. Meanwhile, U.S. Representatives Huffman and Senator Markey on February 4 introduced the Arctic Refuge Protection Act  that would provide Wilderness designation to the Coastal Plain, prevent oil, gas, or other development, and safeguard the subsistence rights of the Indigenous people.
 
The latest threat to the Arctic Refuge is the recent claim by people in Kaktovik that they can use off-highway vehicles (OHV) for subsistence hunting in the Refuge. They based their assertion on unsupported statements that there is an established traditional use of OHVs in the Refuge. Without any evidence to support their claim, the Trump era DOI Solicitor in Washington issued an opinion that Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) allows the Refuge to be open for such use in the absence of a contrary regulation or law to prevent it. This appears to be a forced and incorrect interpretation of the law and is being re-evaluated by the new administration. We are monitoring this situation as it develops. 

Izembek National Wildlife Refuge
In the final days of the Trump administration, Interior Secretary Bernhardt overturned the FWS determination that the State of Alaska application to construct a road through the biological heart of the Izembek Refuge Wilderness was incomplete in major respects and could not be considered until they provide considerable information and correct serious deficiencies. Bernhardt arbitrarily overrode the requirements and ordered the FWS to proceed “expeditiously” with the approval process. However, the Biden Administration instituted a 60-day pause in all FWS permitting processes, which  allows a complete re-evaluation of the legal basis for the State’s theory that they are entitled to access to inholdings under ANILCA 1110(b). If the permit process does proceed, it will likely take at least a year for the required NEPA process. The State also needs a Clean Water Act 404 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers and will seek other ANILCA temporary permits for site investigation. There are also National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements and other ANILCA permitting requirements that apply to this process. We expect that the new administration will ultimately halt this latest assault by the State and King Cove on the Izembek Wilderness.

Central Yukon Management Plan
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has developed a Central Yukon Management plan that includes a vast amount of public land that borders seven Alaska National Wildlife Refuges in the northern and central areas of the state. BLM has released a Central Yukon Draft Resource Management Plan and Draft EIS that affects 56 million acres of public lands, which include 13.1 million acres of BLM-managed lands along the Dalton Highway and Central Yukon areas. Their proposed plan could open up many areas to mining and other developments that would negatively impact wildlife, habitat, and fisheries of many tributaries that flow into the Yukon River and several refuges. Comments are due by March 11, 2021.

Mulchatna Caribou
The latest development is the postponement of the Alaska Board of Game meeting that would consider the State's desire to extend its current, unsuccessful predator control activities to federal lands within the refuges. We will be watching for any developments.

Friends, Kids and Environmental Education for All

Our organization has furnished volunteer instructors for Science and Culture Camps, the urban Watershed Program and numerous refuge youth activities; paid for school buses for field trips; financed urban youth to attend the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival and rural youth to come to Anchorage to present at the Alaska Forum on the Environment;  handled the finances for Kodiak’s famous Salmon Camp,  and won a grant to purchase fishing and bow and arrow equipment for the Tetlin Refuge.  Although volunteer projects are on hold until the pandemic eases, here are some Friends’ stories from past projects.

Bringing Science to Life for Anchorage's 4th Graders
By Dave Schroyer

In the spring of 2018 and 2019 I participated in the Watershed Education Project, a fun activity that brings science to life for fourth-grade students as they determine if the watershed near their school can support the salmon lifecycle. The project is sponsored by Alaska Geographic, the non-profit partner of the federal land agencies in Alaska. FWS recruited me and several other Friends to help as this is a labor-intensive project.  It includes classroom instruction, a walk to investigate the creek near their school, and a final half-day field trip to Westchester Lagoon in Anchorage where they use water sampling, a search for invertebrate food sources, and observation of juvenile salmon live trapped in the lagoon to continue their investigation. They also get to play games and have snacks!
 

As a volunteer for Friends, I have had many positive and varied experiences traveling as far west as Adak in the Aleutian Islands, flying north to the Arctic Ocean to Kaktovik, boating the Koyukuk River from Allakaket and the Chandalar River from Arctic Village.   I have been blessed to volunteer for four of the 16 Alaska Refuges.  Although my total number of refuges is small, my experiences are vast, as is our beloved Alaska and her Wildlife Refuges.  As a retired educator, I put my skills to use at four science and culture camps that were a partnership of Native tribes and corporations, villages and the Fish & Wildlife Service.  
 
In 2009 and 2011, I flew above the Arctic Circle to the Kanuti Refuge to work with the youth of Allakaket village on the Koyukuk River at Henshaw Creek Science Camp.  It took more than two days to fly to the village of Allakaket and many more hours of waiting for boats to take us on the two-hour boat ride to the Fish Weir for science camp. Life in the bush has a different rhythm than the road system; nature is in charge.   One year, low water prevented all boats but the one jet boat from accessing camp, meaning we had only that boat to transport all people and supplies.  We were able to adapt to the elements even though the teaching team had only a few minutes before the campers arrived to set up camp.  The group was much younger than anticipated due to a stimulus program that provided summer jobs for the older kids and a summer church camp that happened the same week.  We needed to adjust our high school level curriculum for the middle school aged kids.    
 

Brenda Dolma with campers at Kaktovik

One of my personal highlights was working and learning from the Athabascan elders participating in the camp.   Kitty and David, in their mid-seventies, were amazing to watch and very hard workers. Pollack had a great sense of humor, while Elsie quietly demonstrated beading allowing individuals to come and learn during down time. From the elders, the campers learned to make a fishing net of twisted grass Athabaskan style and to clean and smoke fish.  Each student was able to either set the net in the river or bring the net in.  
 
I loved being on the sandbar! We could see wolf and bear tracks in the morning leading right up to the bear fence protecting camp.  My bug hat, jacket and pants were critical personal equipment because the mosquitos are legendary!  One of the key benefits for the campers was the opportunity to work with fish biologists and learn about a career they could do and still live in their village.  Campers participated in all the activities of the fish weir including counting and measuring fish and pulling scales.
 
Patience, tolerance, flexibility and a secret supply of chocolate are what every volunteer needs to be successful at a bush science and culture camp.  My responsibilities varied by camp from designing a complete day camp to teaching science lessons, assisting in set up and clean up and always kid supervision. Preparation is key as you need to bring all teaching supplies and personal equipment with you into a situation that might not be what you expected, and be prepared to sleep anywhere. Volunteering for Friends at Kanuti Refuge provided me with unique, firsthand experiences that supported the Refuge, Refuge communities and their youth.

Brenda Dolma, from Homer, has been a Friends member for more than a decade and has volunteered on seven major projects.

Rare black phase Arctic Ground Squirrel found on Yukon Flats Refuge

By Bryce Lake, Wildlife Biologist, Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge

A trail-camera project on the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge captured images of the black phase Arctic ground squirrel during 2017-2019. This color phase of squirrel has an interesting story. Most Arctic ground squirrels are tan in color with a white spotted back. Black phase squirrels occur in just a few regions, such as the Yukon Territory, but are most prevalent on the Yukon Flats. 

Such elevated incidence was described in a study as fire melanism. That is, in landscapes regularly burned by wildfire, such as the Yukon Flats Refuge, black phase squirrels are better able to evade predation. This phenomenon has been observed in other mammals as well, such as mice. Dale Guthrie, in his 1967 publication in the American Midland Naturalist, summed this up as, “It is suggested that the melanism found in the Arctic ground squirrel is due to the darker individuals being favored when burnt-over areas are invaded.” 

One of 34 cameras deployed on the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge

Capturing images of the black phase Arctic ground squirrel was just a happy byproduct of the Yukon Flats Refuge trail-camera project which is part of a broader effort to monitor trends in lynx populations. The study began in 2016, starting with 16 cameras deployed in the fall and kept active all winter. Since then, we have expanded the number of cameras to 34. Through 2019, 467,739 photos were recorded. Of those, 12,211 contained a lynx and 49,049 contained a photo of a terrestrial mammal or bird. 

This effort has revealed that the Yukon Flats Refuge, at times, contains a tremendous biomass of lynx as they respond to snowshoe hare population cycling. Results indicate lynx were the most common terrestrial species, occurring more frequently in our photos than other furbearers. Wolf, wolverine and red fox were the next most abundant furbearers, with coyote being rare. Mink and American marten were probably underrepresented because their small body size does not always trigger the camera. 

The cameras used in this study trigger through a combination of motion and heat. The camera senses the temperature of the ambient environment it faces. When an object of different temperature moves through the infrared sensors, the camera activates. This combination of heat and motion minimizes false triggers, for example, from moving leaves or grass. The cameras operate on 12 lithium AA batteries that last a year, and down to temperatures as low as minus 45 Fahrenheit. 
  

Bryce Lake, Yukon Flats Refuge wildlife biologist, captured by one of the cameras he deployed during this study.

Data collected in this study can be used to inform harvest proposals to federal and state regulatory boards.  Our future goals are to investigate spatial variation in the occupancy of furbearers across Yukon Flats Refuge.