A more open and welcoming strategy for new ideas has given the US Department of Agriculture plenty of chances to make improvements to Southeast Alaska outdoors-related projects. (MARY CATHARINE MARTIN)
NEW IDEAS, NEW APPROACH FOR SOUTHEAST ALASKA PROJECTS BY MARY CATHARINE MARTIN
T
he US Department of Agriculture has a new approach in Southeast Alaska: First listening to locals about what their community needs, then working to support those ideas. So when the department asked what investments the USDA should make as part of its sustainability strategy, announced in 2020, it heard lots. • From Kootznoowoo, the Native corporation of the village of Angoon, on Admiralty Island: The development of a new bear-viewing area nearer to Angoon, and additional opportunities for Angoon-led storytelling and economic development. • From the Southeast Alaska Watershed Council: Restoring, in collaboration
with Tribes and communities, streams and watersheds damaged by historic logging practices. • From the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska: Cultural interpretive training for the US Forest Service; youth stewardship; food security and sovereignty. And increased support for the Indigenous Guardians Network. The USDA’s initial investment of up to $25 million – almost $9 million of which has been awarded so far – is just a piece of the overall picture, said Forest Service sustainability strategy program coordinator Barbara Miranda. Miranda, herself once a city council member and mayor of Gustavus, said
working with Tribes and local communities is key. “It is refreshing to have been on that side of the table and now to be on this side and say, ‘What can we do for you today?’ and have some money behind it,” she said. “This was a completely different way of doing business. People came to us with their ideas. I’m hoping it will make it easier in the future to keep on supporting our Southeast Alaska communities, so we can realize the promise of the sustainability strategy.”
TLINGIT & HAIDA PROJECTS Leaders at the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
aksportingjournal.com | JUNE 2022
ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL
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