Alaska Sporting Journal - July 2023

PUBLISHER

James R. Baker

GENERAL MANAGER

John Rusnak

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Andy Walgamott

EDITOR

Chris Cocoles

WRITERS

Jason Brooks, Scott Haugen, Tiffany Haugen, Randy King, Mary Catharine Martin, Tom Walker

SALES MANAGER

Paul Yarnold

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Lucas Hoene, Mike Smith, Zachary Wheeler

DESIGNER

Lesley-Anne Slisko-Cooper

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Kelly Baker

WEB DEVELOPMENT/INBOUND MARKETING

Jon Hines

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Katie Aumann

INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER

Lois Sanborn

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES media@media-inc.com

ON

One of Scott Haugen’s go-to destinations in Alaska is Bristol Bay’s Egegik River, home of one of the most productive coho salmon runs in the state. “The first time I went I thought it was going to be a oncein-a-lifetime deal,” he writes. “It wasn’t.” (SCOTT HAUGEN)

58 APP IT, THEN MAP IT

Alaska is so vast that inquisitive sportsmen and -women are constantly finding streams and creeks that hold anadromous fish (such as this smolting Southeast coho) but aren’t listed in the state’s Anadromous Waters Catalog. Now there’s a new app to download called the Fish Map App, which provides a convenient way to nominate a waterway for inclusion in the AWC. Our Salmon State columnist Mary Catharine Martin details how you can make a few bucks for a successful nomination.

FEATURES

22 A WOLF’S REMARKABLE LIFE

Longtime Alaska resident and writer/ photographer Tom Walker has always been a kindred spirit for the wildlife of the Last Frontier. And there was a particular wolf that inspired Walker to write an entire book on its life, Wolf 258, known by biologists as the Wanderer. The GPS-tagged male, which made a nomadic journey around Alaska and the Yukon Territory, is the title subject of Walker’s latest book. Check out an excerpt from it, as well as our lupine-centered interview with the author.

35 GET

A KICK OUT OF THE EGEGIK

Some of the best fishing in the Alaska Peninsula/Bristol Bay region is on the Egegik River. Our From Field to Fire team of Scott and Tiffany Haugen can vouch for the productive silver salmon fishery there, specifically at one of their favorite destinations, the Becharof Lodge. Scott provides the skinny on how to get there and what to expect while on the water. And Chef Tiffany combines multiple ingredients in a recipe that will flavor up just about any fish you catch this summer!

50 THE ZOMBIE FISH-POCALYPSE

Pacific Northwest chef/angler Randy King headed north with friends to fish for Alaska coho last fall. And while the silvers bit very well for them, handling all those fish gave Randy a nasty infection that serves as a warning to fellow anglers. He also shares a delicious mustard sauce-infused salmon recipe for everyone to enjoy.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

11 The Editor’s Note: Shared admiration for a polarizing species

17 The Alaska Beat: Controversial predator extermination to help Mulchatna Caribou Herd

21 Outdoor calendar

64 A firearms company’s charitable endeavors

(ERIC CASTRO/US FOREST SERVICE)

As I grew up in California, I always found it humorous that our state flag was adorned by a majestic grizzly bear. The joke was on us because the grizzly has been extinct in California since the Roaring 20s. (Famed Yosemite National Park is named for the southern Miwoks tribe’s word for bear, particularly the grizzly.)

As for wolves? They were also a non-

EDITOR’S NOTE

starter on the list of resident wildlife in my home state for most of my life. Wolves had been extirpated there until a gray wolf came down from Oregon and then a breeding pack emerged in the last decade.

Say what you want about the polarizing debate about wolves, but also acknowledge what a fascinating species they are. Need proof? Check out the excerpt from Tom Walker’s book and our interview with the longtime Alaskan author (page 22).

Walker’s latest work is the story of an Alaska wolf known by the number 258 but aptly nicknamed the Wanderer for its remarkable journey around Interior Alaska and well into Canada’s Yukon Territory, recorded thanks to pings from

its GPS collar. After reading through Walker’s book and my conversation with him, he helped me understand that this animal was extraordinary but not necessarily acting out of character.

”It’s all part of what the normal behavior of what young wolves is,” Walker told me. “Leaving their established packs and going exploring for their own territories.”

As I also edit ASJ’s sister magazine, California Sportsman, I’ve followed the reports chronicling the state’s emerging wolf population. But in 2021 there was one special lupine character that gave us wolf-deprived residents a thrill.

A collared Oregon wolf known as OR-93 went on a similar nomadic trip throughout California. The dispersing animal first traversed the rugged Sierra Nevada, then found itself crossing the state’s farmlands of the San Joaquin Valley before approaching Southern California coastal areas. Walker, himself also a California native, could appreciate what OR-93’s motives were for covering so much ground.

“It was looking for a mate – obviously looking for other wolves,” says Walker, who also discovered in his book research that the Wanderer too was on the search for a female after its former mate died. “And it probably came through lots of territory and was saying to himself, ‘Boy, I wish there was a nice sweetie here for me. There aren’t any, so I’ve got to keep looking.’”

One of my good friends Steve and I were constantly texting each other whenever we’d see an update on OR-93’s whereabouts. The wolf was even reported to have crossed Interstate 5 not far from Steve’s family farm, where they grow various crops.

Sadly, OR-93’s adventure ended when it was struck by a vehicle on that same freeway in November 2021.

Dispersing wolves’ nomadic behavior is featured in author Tom Walker’s book about a well-traveled Alaska animal. The editor and a friend were captivated when a wolf traversed a great deal of ground in their home state of California two years ago. (TOM WALKER)

“The little dude covered some ground,” Steve recently texted me as we talked about OR-93, Walker’s book and the Alaska wolf that inspired the author. He could have been describing both OR-93’s and Wolf 258’s odysseys in California and Alaska, respectively. “I wish he would have made it back home.”

Or at least, I wished they found what they were looking for. -Chris Cocoles

DESTINATION CANADA HUNT • FISH • TRAVEL

Events Calendar

JULY 9-16

Perfect fishing for the “Grand Slam of the Rockies” (lake trout, pike, walleye, rainbow trout, bull trout & Arctic grayling). For details visit nradventures.com

JULY 10

Grand opening for Finn Bay Lodge at Rivers Inlet B.C. For details visit finnbaylodge.com

AUGUST 6-13

Prime fly fishing (rainbow trout, bull trout & Arctic grayling). Excellent pike fishing. For details visit nradventures.com

AUGUST 22-26

6th Annual Charity Fishing Derby For details visit joessalmonlodge.com

Northern B.C. the frontier of freshwater fishing

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TO HELP RECOVER CARIBOU HERD, STATE ELIMINATES 100-PLUS PREDATORS

AL ASKA BEAT

TWEET OF THE MONTH

Right or wrong, the Alaska Department of Game eliminated wildlife with the intention of protecting another species.

In early June, Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported that a predator control measure to protect the dwindling Mulchatna Caribou Herd –hunting for these animals was closed in 2021 – resulted in the removal of roughly 100 bears and wolves on the herd’s calving grounds around Dillingham.

“Staff spent 17 days between May 10 and June 4 following caribou and searching for evidence of predation (caribou fleeing or predators actively chasing or eating caribou),” ADFG’s press release stated.

“All bears and wolves located in this search were killed and hides and skulls were salvaged when safe to do so. Meat from all black bears and some brown bears was transported to local villages and provided for subsistence,” it added.

In total, ADFG eliminated 94 brown bears, five black bears and five wolves. While that drew plenty of criticism – in a tweet, the Wolf Conservation Center called the action “an historic national and global disgrace” – the state agency cited the shrinking numbers of Mulchatna caribou in justifying its course of action.

ADFG says the herd peaked at 200,000 animals in 1997 but was down to roughly 12,000 by 2017, about a 96-percent decline. That number has mostly stayed consistent since then. When the herd was at its largest, some 4,800 caribou were harvested by subsistence, Alaska and nonresident hunters.

“Recognizing that there are 48 communities within the traditional range of this once expansive herd, the public requested that the department and board work to rebuild the herd and restore this source of food,” stated ADFG, which also referenced the region’s healthy bear and wolf populations to justify the removals.

The Division of Wildlife Conservation will continue to monitor calf survival in summer and research “whether the associated groups show signs of increased abundance during the post-calving aggregations compared to recent years and compared to the untreated eastern calving groups,” according to ADFG.

A moose that was acting erratically and frothing at the mouth around the town of Teller in Northwest Alaska was euthanized and was infected with rabies, the first-ever such detected case in a moose in North America.

NOTABLE NUMBER

$5,000

Reward money offered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for information that helps solve a case of seven federally protected Steller sea lions that were shot near Cordova in May.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game removed just over 100 predators in and around the Mulchatna Caribou Herd’s calving grounds in Western Alaska in an attempt to increase the ungulate population that has declined by roughly 96 percent since its 1997 peak. (U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE)

An Alaskan day on the water fishing (or boating) with your four-legged best friend seems like heaven.

SHAREHOLDER SETTLEMENT LATEST SETBACK FOR PEBBLE MINE PARENT COMPANY

Northern Dynasty Minerals, the much maligned company that has seen its Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay halted by the Environmental Protection Agency, also faced the ire of shareholders in a 2020 class-action lawsuit.

And last month, Northern Dynasty settled it out of court with a $6.4 million payout to investors who felt duped by the size and scope of the project.  Bristol Bay Defense Fund called out Northern Dynasty, concluding that the settlement “strongly indicates that

Northern Dynasty Minerals was not telling the truth about the size and duration of the proposed project in their permitting mine plan, which resulted in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducting an environmental review of a mine one-tenth the size of the project the company actually intended to build and operate.”

Northern Dynasty also suffered a PR disaster in fall 2020 when Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier resigned after a series of damning audio conversations – known as the “Pebble

Tapes” – were leaked.

“Northern Dynasty acted without any regard for the Tribes, commercial and sport fishers, or members of the Bristol Bay community who would be the most gravely impacted by their reckless and devious mining proposal,” the Bristol Bay Defense Fund said in a statement. “Our elected officials must recognize the duplicity of Northern Dynasty and the recklessness of their project, and pass watershed-wide protections to protect all of Bristol Bay, our salmon and our way of life, forever.”

““(In early June), the 2023 fishing season in Bristol Bay officially (began), marking the first fishing season in over 20 years without the threat of the Pebble Mine in the region. I am thankful to President Biden and the Environmental Protection Agency for finishing the job and allowing us to go into this fishing season with the Clean Water Act protections in place. But there’s more that needs to be done to protect the entire watershed, communities, and the salmon fisheries. Thousands of acres of critical wetlands and habitat in Bristol Bay remain under threat to mineral development. We need our leaders to enact watershed-wide protections for Bristol Bay through an act of Congress, so that we can continue to enjoy this special place forever.” –Tim

”Bristol, executive director of SalmonState

FROM THE ASJ ARCHIVES – JULY 2021

UAF RIFLE ALUM TOOK HER BEST SHOT AT OLYMPICS

In her four years competing, Sagen Maddalena became an eight-time AllAmerican in both air and smallbore rifle and earned her degree in natural resources management with a minor in forestry. She also immersed herself in the Alaskan lifestyle. Despite being a shooter, fishing was always Maddalena’s first love. Though she vows to come back someday and catch a massive Alaska salmon, she caught plenty of grayling and trout during trips to the Delta Clearwater River and other local fisheries.

“I remember going out to the Clearwater and I was out there fly fishing. I was walking back to the truck and thought, ‘Wow. My feet are cold,’” she says. “I had the waders on and the thick socks. I was appropriately dressed. And I got back to the truck and was eventually able to unfreeze my shoelaces so I could

get my shoes off. But I had a half-inch of ice underneath my socks built up.”

It’s a feeling only an Alaskan – even a transplant from California – can truly appreciate. Maddalena savored her solo hikes when she packed her snowshoes and shotgun and headed out for some bird hunting.

“I had a 12-gauge and I’d hunt for grouse for dinner. And my poor roommates; I’d sit on the back porch of our apartment and take the feathers out of the grouse,” she says. “We had feathers all over the place. But that was

my thing: just go out and start walking.”

As for her time in Alaska’s outdoors, Maddalena used the word clarity to describe the overall experience.

“You’re so close to just, I want to say nature, but that’s not the right word for it. You get into the truck and drive somewhere and then get out and start walking,” she says. “And you’re just 30 minutes from town. You can look up in the sky and the color is a little more blue or a little more crisp. And I always really enjoyed that part of it. It’s just a different place.” -Chris Cocoles

University of Alaska Fairbanks rifle team alum Sagen Maddalena did her country proud by competing in the air rifle event at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, coming in fifth in the Women’s 50-metre three-position event. (MICHELLE LUNATO/U.S. ARMY)

TIME

Docking and maneuvering your boat in high winds has never been so easy. Let the Joy Stick do it for you.

GPS position hold and heading hold is included.

8 and 99 Kicker Motors in stock. Call

The Valdez Kids’ Pink Salmon Derby is set for July 22. Go to valdezfishderbies .com/kids-derby for more information.

(VALDEZ FISH DERBIES)

OUTDOOR CALENDAR

July 1

2023-24 hunting regulations go into effect

July 4

Mount Marathon Race, Seward (mountmarathon.com)

July 22

Valdez Kids’ Pink Salmon Derby (valdezfishderbies.com/kids-derby)

July 22-Sept. 3

Valdez Silver Salmon Derby (valdezfishderbies.com/silver-derby)

July 28

Valdez Big Prize Friday (valdezfishderbies.com/silver-derby/big-prize-friday)

Aug. 11-Sept. 3

Valdez Tagged Fish Contest (valdezfishderbies.com/tagged-fish-contest)

Aug. 12

Valdez Women’s Silver Salmon Derby (valdezfishderbies.com/womens-derby)

Aug. 12-20

Seward Silver Salmon Derby (seward.com/salmon-derby)

Aug. 23-25

Ted Stevens Kenai River Classic (krsa.com/events/ted-stevens-kenai-river-classic)

Sept. 1

Valdez Big Prize Friday (valdezfishderbies.com/silver-derby/big-prize-friday)

Sept. 12-17

Kenai Silver Salmon Derby (kenaisilversalmonderby.com)

For more information and season dates for Alaska hunts, go to adfg.alaska.gov/ index.cfm?adfg=hunting.main.

I AM THE WANDERER

NEW BOOK FOLLOWS AN ALASKA WOLF’S NOMADIC AND REMARKABLE TRAVELS

The death of its mate sent Wolf 258, dubbed the Wanderer, on a remarkable and arduous journey throughout Alaska and Canada’s Yukon Territory, a trek chronicled in author Tom Walker’s new book. (TOM

WALKER)

Tom Walker is a Californian by birth, but in six decades of living in remote Alaska – he now resides in a Denali National Park-area log cabin – he’s been humbled knowing what Last Frontier wildlife endure to survive.

“Living in 40- and 50-below-zero (weather conditions) and then in the summertime being assaulted by mosquitoes and every other kind of thing, it’s just a very difficult life out there,” Walker says of what wolves and other critters face in the unforgiving harshness of Alaska. “And predators especially have a really difficult time, as easy as some people think it might be.”

Consider this from Walker: “Eighty percent of all red fox pups born in spring are starved to death by September.”

One wolf in particular piqued Walker’s curiousity enough to want to chronicle its life. Technically known by its assigned number, 258, the animal has been forever labeled the Wanderer for the nomadic journey it went on through the remote wilderness of the Alaskan Interior. Thanks to a GPS collar, its travels were tracked as the remarkable animal defied the odds on a course that took it from near Eagle, Alaska, north to the Arctic Ocean, west to the Dalton Highway, and then south of the Brooks Range.

“One of the most astounding parts of his journey was how successfully he avoided violent or fatal interactions with other wolves,” says Walker, whose book Wild Shots: A Photographer’s Life in Alaska was featured in our October 2019 issue. “Because he was definitely on the move in a lot of country looking for a mate, and yet he was able to persevere as long as he did.”

Walker recently caught up with a trapper friend who’d caught a wolf and was asked if he thought about the possibility that the animal could have possibly covered hundreds of miles to reach that point where it was trapped.

“I would hope (the Wanderer’s journey) would give new appreciation to people regardless of their viewpoint of wolves. How difficult it is for an animal to make a living,” Walker says.

And it all started when this wolf lost its significant other, prompting the walkabout of a lifetime.

The following is excerpted from The Wanderer: An Alaska Wolf’s Final Journey, written by Tom Walker and published by Mountaineer Books.

BY TOM WALKER

Heavy snow fell in early December, the silt banks, cliffs and forests turning white, the slack waters skimming over. A cold snap descended, prolonged minus-40-degree Fahrenheit temperatures freezing the rivers and lakes. On the Yukon, ice fog drifted above open leads and tortured ice. Near the winter solstice, with daylight less than four hours long, the wolves trotted upstream on the iced-over Yukon River. The cold made travel easier for the wolves and foraging difficult for moose and caribou. The wolves hadn’t fed in days and needed to make a kill.

On Christmas Eve, the wolves killed a moose three-quarters of a mile upstream from the mouth of the Nation River, a prominent tributary of the Yukon, 46 river miles downstream from Eagle. A half-inch of snow fell that day, adding to a 2-foot base. The thermometer read minus-18 degrees Fahrenheit, a slight

break from the prolonged cold snap of persistent 40-below temps. The kill site was just outside the two wolves’ territory and on the edge of the Nation River Pack’s territory. Because wolves vigorously defend home ground, even this short incursion into a neighboring territory was perilous, but hunger is a powerful motivator.

Moose are dangerous prey for one or two wolves to attack. A big bull weighs 10 times more than a wolf. A single kick can kill, or break a wolf’s jaw, shoulder or back, resulting in a lingering death. Due to the rigors of the rut, which ends in early October, bull moose enter the winter in relatively poor condition and may be further weakened by deep snow and prolonged cold. The radio collars gave no insight into the wolves’ successful hunt, only that they’d made a kill, confirmed by an aerial fly-over. Wolves more often than not fail to bring

down moose they attack. Perhaps this moose had been injured or debilitated.

The two wolves spent the next two weeks near their kill, gorging as much as 22 pounds at a time. The downed moose would last them for days, unless run off by another pack. When prey is scarce, adult wolves can endure for days and even weeks without eating. A wolf can survive on about 2½ pounds of meat per day, but require about 5 to 7 pounds per day to reproduce successfully. Ravens and gray jays pilfered meat from the moose carcass, their comings and goings betraying the kill to other scavengers.

IN MID-JANUARY, THE wolves left the Nation and trotted back downstream on the Yukon River to the mouth of Washington Creek. Whether they were driven off their kill or had exhausted the meat is unknown. In tall timber near the creek mouth, the wolves made another kill, perhaps

Large moose can be a difficult and dangerous prey target for wolves not hunting in packs. But at one point in the Yukon Territory’s  Ivvavik National Park, the Wanderer found abundant moose calves to dine on. “And yet he didn’t stay,” author Tom Walker says in an interview. “He left behind the best hunting he probably could have had in the whole time he was on the move.” (TOM WALKER)

a caribou or moose calf, or scavenged carrion, spending three days between a small frozen lake and the Yukon. This was well within Wolf 227’s core territory and she knew just where to find moose browsing in the willows, or caribou cratering for lichens on the higher ridges.

The two wolves’ GPS/collars revealed their day-to-day movements and how they crisscrossed their territory in search of food. The bitter cold and darkness daily tested their hunting skills, strength and resiliency. In withering wind and cold, the two wolves again returned to the moose carcass on the Nation.

On February 6, Wolf 227 weakened and died in an alder thicket on a steep hillside above the old kill. Breeding season for wolves was just days away, but now Wolf 258 was alone.

Wolf 227 could have died from any number of reasons – accident, disease, injury, or conflict with another pack. By the time biologist John Burch visited the site to retrieve her satellite collar, a wolverine had scavenged her remains, obliterating any chance to determine cause of death. Judging by her recent movements, coupled with lack of recent hunting success, Burch believed that she’d grown desperate and starved.

One of Burch’s colleagues takes an alternate view and doesn’t believe Wolf 227 starved because she was in “excellent” condition just three months earlier when recollared, and had been making kills in her territory prior to killing the moose on the Nation River. Because the moose kill site was inside the Nation Pack’s territory, he believes other wolves killed her or she was mortally injured during an attack on another moose. Whatever the cause, immediately after her death, Wolf 258 abandoned the site and cut back to familiar ground in the highlands above Washington Creek. Twice in late February, he returned to the Nation River, spending the better part of three days apparently searching for his companion and risking possible contact with the Nation Pack.

Wolf 258 had spent the next two months coursing the very heart of YukonCharley Rivers National Preserve, from the river’s edge to the highest summits.

Death of its female partner put Wolf 258 on its own. “Wolf 227 weakened and died in an alder thicket on a steep hillside,” Walker writes. “Breeding season for wolves was just days away, but now Wolf 258 was alone.” (TOM WALKER)

TALKING WOLVES WITH AUTHOR TOM WALKER

Alaska Sporting Journal editor Chris Cocoles caught up with Tom Walker, author of The Wanderer: An Alaska Wolf’s Final Journey, who discussed all things Canis lupus – plus a few other topics – with us. (This interview has been edited for clarity.)

Chris Cocoles You’ve had a lot of wolf experiences in your life. Did this particular story fascinate you enough to pursue this project for a book?

Tom Walker A couple of things. I’ve lived in Alaska for over 60 years and worked a short while for the [U.S.] Fish and Wildlife Service and a short while for [Alaska Department of] Fish and Game, and I had a lot of opportunities to have observations and some close contact with wolves. And people over the years have asked me, “When are you going to tell the

stories and write a wolf book?” And I never wanted to write one for the simple reason that there are these polar opposite views of wolves that turn to advocacy one way or another. But they’re fascinating animals. By no means am I a wolf hugger; by no means am I a wolf biologist or anything like that. In fact, they’re not even my most favorite animal. But I like all wildlife and I wanted to tell a story. If I was going to talk about any animal, it was because of fascinating behavior. And when I first heard about this animal 10 years ago and the distance it traveled, now there’s a story. If that can be done right, there’s the story of how animals live. How they deal with this life that is so hard and so harsh. When I saw that story, I said that’s the story I’ve got to tell.

CC Was this wolf “the Wanderer” a unique example of the way it traveled?

TW Yes; it was a very unique situation. The fact that was elucidated by David Mech, the famous wolf biologist, is that wolves die one of two ways: They starve to death or they’re killed by other wolves. The fact that this animal could go all of those miles and through maybe hundreds of other wolves’ territories and avoid being killed by other wolves and last as long as he did and survive, is just a remarkable story.

CC And while wolves do travel a lot as their behavior dictates, did the Wanderer literally wander for longer and more of a distance than maybe any other wolf ever has?

Living in Alaska for more than 60 years has given author Tom Walker an appreciation for the state’s fish and wildlife. And he was inspired by Wolf 258’s widespread travels throughout its life. “If I was going to talk about any animal, it was because of fascinating behavior,” he says. “And when I first heard about this animal 10 years ago and the distance it traveled, now there’s a story.” (TOM WALKER)

TW Well, you can say that if you put in the caveat of “that we know of.” The only reason why we were able to parse out this story and others of traveling great distances is because of radio and GPS collars. He’s likely not the only wolf that’s ever gone that far and not the only wolf that has survived like that and ended up like that. But that’s the only one we know of for sure.

CC Are wolves kind of complicated in terms of figuring out their behavior patterns?

TW Not necessarily; I wouldn’t say that. All of us involved in this are being confounded all the time by new discoveries because of the science involved in all of that. But a lot has been known about them and it’s being refined. And some of the things that we are discovering are the interrelations between populations that are more widely scattered than we ever thought before. Recently, we found that the Denali National Park wolf population is more closely connected to the population in Yukon-Charley [Rivers National Preserve], which is many hundreds of miles away, than any other group in Alaska. So there are discoveries genetically, behaviorally that we’re finding out that we didn’t know before.

CC When the Wanderer’s mate Wolf 227 passed away,  did that death have a big effect on how his journey unfolded?

TW I would say definitely. Again, I’m not a scientist, but he did abandon an established territory that had been his and hers, and that she had controlled and had been all of her life. And then

after she was gone he hung around there for a couple of months and then took off. And if she would have lived they would have bred. She died just a month or so before the breeding season. They would have likely started their own pack there in that central part of the Yukon-Charley. But after her death, off he went.

CC Was he a heartbroken wolf looking for a new mate/life?

TW Personally, I would never use the word heartbroken, but when that animal took off he was only like 2½ years old, and that’s the time when a large number of wolves leave their natal territory and their natal pack and go off in search of their own territories and own mates. So logically, he’s lost a partner; he’s going to be under the biological imperatives to find another mate.

CC Based on the analysis after his journey, did he reproduce with a new mate?

TW No. He would have had to be paired up and claim territory. He did not have relations with a female wolf enroute

or while wandering around. There was speculation that in mid- to late summer of the following year, when he was on the North Slope, that he may have paired up because he localized to a specific area. But that’s not the breeding season.

CC Do you have lots of admiration for this wolf?

TW Oh, you’d have to. I’ll just give you one example. He crossed both the Yukon River and the Porcupine River at breakup. A couple weeks ago I was up on the Yukon to watch the breakup, and when you see the power of that river at breakup – and there was a lot of flooding damage to some communities – of these huge ice blocks the size of cars being thrown up on the bank and slamming together, to think that a wolf swam or somehow crossed both of those rivers at breakup, you’d have to be respectful. When caribou cross sometimes at breakup, the Native villagers on the Porcupine have seen them in the water being beaten by the ice flows. You have to have a certain respect for animals that can do something like that.

GPS collar data has helped flesh out the long-distance dispersals of wolves, some of which are known to have travelled thousands of miles. “The fact that this animal could go all of those miles and through maybe hundreds of other wolves’ territories and avoid being killed by other wolves and last as long as he did and survive, is just a remarkable story,” Walker says. (TOM WALKER)

CC What were some of your personal interactions with wolves?

TW Just as an observer and a few years ago, I spent a few summers in a row with maritime wolves out on the coast to see how they make a living there. They’re a little different from Interior wolves. The coastal wolves feed on salmon and marine mammals and marine life. And it’s fascinating to watch and see how they make a living when they’re not hunting large animals. One researcher said that 80 percent of their diet for a significant part of the year is all marine life.

CC Something that resonated with me was after the Wanderer’s death he was examined and his body was so beaten up. Did it for you too?

TW Oh god, yes. He went from 100-something pounds to 60 pounds. There was another wolf in that same general area, a female that died a few years earlier, and it only weighed 40 pounds. So it’s hungry country.

CC I was also intrigued by when you mentioned how a wolf can sometimes die attempting to kill a larger moose.

TW They’re huge; 10 times as big as a wolf. It’s like that old quote from [author Rudyard] Kipling: “The power of the wolf is the pack.” The reality is a pack of wolves can attack something big and be successful. But a lone wolf? Not so much.

… The other thing that was interesting was oftentimes the Wanderer would find himself in wolf paradise. When he was in Ivvavik National Park in [Canada’s Yukon Territory], he was right there at the peak of [moose] calving. And those young calves are just smorgasbords for wolves. They can’t outrun them and they can’t avoid them. The cows don’t defend them from wolves. And yet he didn’t stay. And I guess what you can surmise is he left there because of competition from other wolves … He left behind the best hunting he probably could have had in the whole time he was on the move.

CC I know it’s impossible for us to think like a wolf. But doesn’t it have to be hard to walk away from that abundant food source despite the competition?

TW What I tried to do is not get into his brain and try to think like a wolf. That’s

impossible. I looked at the circumstances and tried to come up with a likely scenario.

CC Wolves are such a polarizing animal. Can you put into words just how complicated the species has become?

TW There’s a trapper in our area who’s very outspoken about trapping and going after wolves. And I’ve heard him say more than once countering the opposition that he doesn’t hate wolves. He loves them. He thinks they’re amazing animals that are a challenge for him to trap and hunt and whatnot. And he has an appreciation coming from a consumer’s point of view – or a harvester’s point of view. Whereas people who can’t see his point of view don’t come from that angle. And I tried really hard to stay out of that debate. I only gave the background of why a wolf might be at risk and needing to move to a new area.

CC Are wolves misunderstood?

TW By a certain set of people, yeah. And by another set of people they’re lionized beyond what they actually are. The extremes will never meet in the middle.

CC You mentioned that wolves aren’t your favorite species. What animal gets that honor?

TW People laugh at me when I say this, but it’s snowshoe hares. And the reason for that is you can not name another animal that impacts its habitat and all its neighbors as much as snowshoe hares. They go from almost nonexistent to unbelievably abundant and they can completely destroy their habitat and the habitat of moose when they’re at peak numbers. And when they’re at peak numbers, there are more wolves, more lynx, more foxes, more great horned owls; everything flourishes because of hares. Even grizzly bears catch them and eat them. But when they're not around, everything crashes. Right now we have a very low number of hares here after a peak about 10 or 11 years ago. There aren’t any lynx and there aren’t many wolves. Everything responds to them and they have the power to change their habitat.  And the other thing that’s pretty astonishing is a female can have almost 30 young a year and five different litters. They can conceive the same day that they

give birth. They can have their young in the morning and later in the day can conceive again. It’s a pretty amazing animal. I can sit right in my living room in late winter and watch their spring breeding activities. And they’re fascinating to watch.

CC What’s one of your favorite memories of living in the Last Frontier?

TW I’d been in Alaska three years, and when I grew up, out of college I worked as a packer taking hunters and fishermen out in the high eastern Sierra [Nevada Mountains] of California. My dad was a very avid fisherman and he had only really caught really tiny rainbow trout. So I had him come up one year salmon fishing and we went out and caught salmon. I’ll never forget how excited he was, and he was nearing the end of his life, to be catching fish like that. The first one he got on his line and pulled it in, his eyes were as big as Noah’s must have been when he built the ark and had all the animals on there. But he was so thrilled; so thrilled. That is the best highlight of my time in Alaska.

CC Has Alaska been everything you hoped it would be after all of these years?

TW Yes. But what’s been hard to appreciate are changes – the modern era of all the industrial tourism; that’s been a hard thing to watch. It’s changed so much in Alaska – not for the better. But all in all, I’ve been extremely fortunate and very lucky to have come here.

CC How much has climate change made it even harder on Alaska’s wildlife?

TW For everything – moose, sheep, caribou, wolves. It’s like the mosquito season is longer and more intense. The vegetation is changing dramatically. So there are going to be winners and losers in all of this. Some species like caribou and sheep are going to suffer more than, say, moose, which are expanding their range. So it’s affecting everything in very subtle ways and in some not so subtle.

CC To that point, long after we’re both going to be gone, are you concerned about the future of Alaska ecosystems?

TW For the whole world. It’s changing and the climate change thing, you’d have to be blind and stupid to not see it everywhere. ASJ

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“Wolf 258 plunged into the ice-choked river and fought for the far bluff, dodging nearly a half mile of grinding ice and bergs the size of small cars,” the author writes. “It would be the last time he would see the (Yukon).” (TOM WALKER)

He endured extreme cold, slicing winds, and long bouts without food. He’d lost his partner, but alone, had survived. His next move would ultimately determine the course of his life.

EARLY ON THE LAST day of April, Wolf 258 plunged into the ice-choked river and fought for the far bluff, dodging nearly a half mile of grinding ice and bergs the size of small cars. Fighting the powerful spring flow and slamming ice, he used the eddy at the end of a small island for respite before forging on. Somehow uninjured, he reached the far shore and dragged himself up the shelf ice to the base of the rocky bluff towering over the river. Later that morning, in sharp sunlight, Wolf 258 stood atop Biederman Bluff looking down at the broad bend of the Yukon. It would be the last time he would see the river. ASJ

Editor’s note: Order The Wanderer: An Alaska Wolf’s Final Journey at mountaineers.org/ books/wanderer. It’s also available on Amazon and other online retail outlets. For more on the author, go to tomwalkerphotography.com.

Remote, Comfortable & Affordable

Our remote Alaskan fishing lodge is situated on the upper stretches of the beautiful Egegik River. You’ll watch some of Alaska’s most stunning sunrises, complete with a distant, active volcano. We are a fishing camp specializing in coho fishing, brown bear viewing, and flyout fishing adventures to even more remote destinations in the Last Frontier.

Coho Fishing The Egegik River

The Egegik River is touted by many experienced anglers as the best silver salmon stream in all of Alaska. Becharof Lodge On The Egegik River was the first fishing lodge to become established on the breathtaking Egegik River, and is less than a 5 minute boat ride from some of the best fishing holes on the entire river.

Now Booking for 2023 Coho Fishing

Included in your fishing trip:

• 5 days fishing/5 nights stay in camp

• Experienced, fully guided fishing.

• Comfortable cabins furnished with beds, cozy comforters & bedding.

• Home cooked meals, snacks, and nonalcoholic beverages.

Trips

• Transportation from the lodge to prime fishing holes on the Egegik River.

• Freezing and vacuum sealing of your fish, up to 50 lbs., per angler.

$4,850per person

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THE EPIC EGEGIK

EXPERIENCE SOME OF ALASKA’S BEST COHO FISHING ON THE PENINSULA RIVER

BY SCOTT HAUGEN

When we lived on the North Slope for seven years, Tiffany and I really missed Alaska’s salmon fishing. But when we moved to Hyder, in Southeast Alaska, the fishing was better than the Arctic – way better. However, it wasn’t near what I’ve experienced in other parts of the Last Frontier, especially the upper Alaska Peninsula.

The coho run on the Egegik River, south of King Salmon, could be the best in all of Southwest Alaska. I know several friends who work at lodges in the region, and many of them were struggling to catch coho last year; a number of them even chartered flights for their clients to

fish the Egegik instead.

PLANNING AN EGEGIK TRIP

Getting to Becharof Lodge on the Egegik River is easy; it just takes a bit more time than it used to due to some airlines still recovering from the pandemic. Anglers have the choice of flying into Anchorage or King Salmon, spending a night and then heading to camp the next day on a bush plane flight to camp.

If overnighting in Anchorage, you’ll catch the commercial flight on Alaska Airlines into King Salmon the following morning. You have to take the morning flight in order to have time to hop on the

bush plane flight to camp. When arriving in King Salmon, Trygg Air, the lodge’s bushplane service, will meet you. If going into King Salmon the afternoon before your departure to Becharof Lodge, wherever you’re staying can get you to the Trygg Air facility for your flight.

The bush plane flight from King Salmon to Becharof Lodge on the banks of the wide-open Egegik takes 30 minutes. It could be in a wheel plane or a float plane, depending on several factors. Before you hop on the bushplane, have your rain jacket handy, as there is a five-minute boat ride to the lodge when you arrive on the river. If it’s raining, you might want to

The popper fishing for coho on the Egegik River in Southwest Alaska is considered world-class by many seasoned anglers who’ve experienced it. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

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Then came the time to prepare salmon with it, and again it was a big hit with everyone who tried it. It’s one of those quick and simple recipes you’ll find yourself going back to.

1 pound trout, salmon, steelhead or bottomfish, skin removed

¼ cup rice or wheat flour

1 egg

¼ cup pesto

¼ cup hummus

½ cup breadcrumbs

1 cup crushed potato chips

Oil for pan-frying (optional)

Cut fish to desired serving sizes and remove any bones. Cutting it into fish sticks makes it easy to remove the bones (folks can also just eat it as finger food, if so desired). Dust fish pieces with a thin layer of flour. In a shallow dish, whisk egg, pesto and hummus. Mix breadcrumbs and crushed potato chips together and place on a plate. After coating with flour, dip each piece of fish in the egg mix and press into breadcrumb/potato chip mixture.

MORE LAYERS, MORE DELICIOUS FLAVORS

BY TIFFANY HAUGEN

If you’re looking for a fun, tasty trout recipe, this is it. It even works great with salmon or steelhead – as well as bottomfish – whether fresh or frozen.

Coated and fried fish with a tasty sauce is great, but try adding more flavor under the coating to enhance it even more. The hummus and pesto layer in this recipe locks in moisture, which helps when frying fish like halibut that can easily dry out.

This recipe can be altered in many ways, depending on the flavor of the pesto, hummus, even the type of potato chips used. The first time I tried this recipe was with halibut that had been frozen, and everyone loved it. Next, I cooked fresh-caught lingcod with it, which was a huge hit, as expected.

People commented on the great flavor, which didn’t compromise the taste and texture of the ling either.

Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes or pan fry in ⅓-inch coconut, olive or canola oil on mediumhigh heat, three to four minutes per side or until golden brown. Serve with green sauce (see recipe below) or a favorite tartar-style sauce.

GREEN SAUCE

½ cup hummus

¼ cup pesto

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt to taste

In a small bowl, whisk until thoroughly combined. Add water if needed to reach desired consistency.

Editor’s note:

For signed copies of Tiffany’s popular book, Cooking Seafood and other bestselling titles, visit tiffanyhaugen.com.

Salmon and other kinds of fish just caught out of your favorite river or pulled from your freezer work with Tiffany Haugen’s multilayer recipe that goes well with a green sauce. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)

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slip into your waders for the flight from King Salmon to the lodge so that you’re ready to face the elements.

NO FRILLS, JUST FISH

This is not a fancy ordeal – it’s fishing in remote Alaska; there’s no need for formal attire – so practical planning is key. This isn’t your elite $15,000 lodge, but the fishing will make you think otherwise. Keep in mind that when traveling in remote Alaska on bush planes, the pilot is never late, plus they have the final call.

As for fishing gear, you don’t need to bring anything unless you want to. Becharof Lodge is equipped with quality G.Loomis and Stryker salmon fishing rods, and they have all the terminal gear you’ll need. That said, some folks do like bringing their own tackle.

LURE CHECK

I often take a mix of spinners, twitching jigs, beads and float fishing tackle to accommodate eggs and jigs. For lures, Flash Glo UV Casting Squid Spinners

Becharof Lodge, situated on the banks of the Alaska Peninsula river, is remote, but the coho fishing, scenery, wildlife and wonderful staff will keep you coming back for more. (MAT HAYWARD)

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by Yakima Bait are my favorite, and any color combination of pink and silver is deadly. The ½-ounce versions are a great all-around choice. If it’s windy and you need to cast further, upsizing to a larger ⅝- or ⅞-ounce UV Casting Spinner –minus the skirt – is wise. I’ve also had good success with Kodiak Custom lures and Blue Fox spinners.

BnR Tackle Soft Beads have been the talk of Becharof Lodge the past three seasons, with the 32mm and 25mm models catching coho by storm. Cerise and pink colors are the rule. If you want to learn to twitch jigs, the Egegik is made for it. A ⅜-ounce Twitcher Jig in any color combination of pink, purple and black is hard to beat. And if fishing jigs beneath a float, an ⅛-ounce jig is perfect.

EGGS ON THE EGEGIK

Eggs can be fished on the Egegik River too, and those will be cured at the lodge and ready to fish. Leaders will be provided, but if you want to bring your own, tie up some 2/0 hooks on 12- to 15-pound leader (coho are not leader-shy).

The Egegik is about the best I’ve seen when it comes to catching coho on surface poppers and plugs. Pink poppers – whether fished on a spinning or fly rod – are the ticket. I also like casting 3.0 and 3.5 Mag Lips from shore, with cerise colors dominating the lineup.

Toss a braided-line cutter into your bag, along with long-nosed pliers, and you’re set. What you’ll likely find is, even though the lodge has guides to help you on the river, you’ll be walking the banks in search of fish on your own. When this happens, you want to be able to rerig your own rods and unhook your own fish so that you’re not waiting around for help.

AN EPIC FISHING EXPERIENCE

The Egegik River is easy to wade and fish. You’ll get dropped off at daylight by a lodge boat and fish the prime holes, which can change from year to year, even day to day, based on water flow. The Egegik is a shallow river, so even high winds can move fish around.

This marks my 33rd year of fishing in Alaska. The first time I went I thought it was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime deal.

For 33 years author Scott Haugen has been fishing in Alaska, and he ranks the coho action on the Egegik out of Becharof Lodge as the best he’s experienced. He caught limits of coho on BnR Tackle Soft Beads. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

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It wasn’t. Alaska grips you and keeps bringing you back, and the people at Becharof Lodge are simply wonderful to be with. Plus, you’ll never go hungry. I’ll be back again next month, and maybe I’ll see you there. ASJ

Editor’s note: There are still some openings this August to fish with Becharof Lodge on the Egegik River. To book your adventure or learn more, email Scott Haugen at sthaugen@yahoo.com.

A typical morning catch of coho on the Egegik. Whether traveling to Becharof Lodge with a group of friends, or going alone, you’ll be assured of having a good time – and catching lots of Alaska salmon! (MAT HAYWARD)

BEST OF CHARTERS

BEST OF CHARTERS

Call 435-764-1310

FISHING

SELF-GUIDED & BOAT RENTALS

LODGING

We offer excellent accommodations for your weekly stay as well as amazing home cooked meals. Only a few minutes from town, it provides easy access to Petersburg’s many quaint Norwegian shops. With a washer and dryer, excellent cuisine and a comfortable quiet night’s sleep this will round out what will prove to be an exceptional Alaska vacation.

Ketchikan Fishing Charters

Capt. Colby Slanaker has expert knowledge and years of experience when it comes to navigating the waters of Ketchikan and catching all five species of Alaska Salmon, halibut, lingcod, pacific cod, rockfish, and crab.

Based out of Ketchikan, Alaska only an hour and 40 minute direct flight from Seattle, a prime location for anglers looking to catch their fill of Halibut and Salmon. Our charter service offers a thrilling Guided Fishing Trip for anglers that are looking for heart pumping Salmon & Halibut Fishing.

PLEASE CALL

FISH FINDER CHARTERS at 907-254-4868 to book your next Ketchikan fishing charter!

ketchikanfishfinder.com

Please take some time to view our website where you can find more info about us and fishing packages. Our brand new lodge and the boat are booked 100% private to your group only.

BEST OF CHARTERS

A coho angling trip to Alaska served up a lot of fish for author Randy King and friends, but also a cautionary tale about a nasty little infection you can get from handling and cutting up lots of salmon. (RANDY KING)

TALES FROM THE ZOMBIE FISH-POCALYPSE

WHEN CATCHING LOTS OF SOUTHEAST ALASKA COHO GOES VERY WRONG

BY RANDY KING

The zombies in the water were unnerving. Some floated, having spawned but just hadn’t died yet. Others still swam in place, waiting for an eagle, a bear or, more likely, the Grim Reaper and certain death. Sure, it was all sorts of circle of life stuff, but I was haunted by the sights nonetheless. The small river we were fishing had had several salmon runs so far that season, so walking anywhere near or on the bank meant we were often stepping on fish carcasses. It smelled about as good as you can imagine.

But according to recent reports, a new run of coho was on hand. We just needed to locate them. We became nomads of the streams. We’d catch a fish or two here, a fish or two there until we found “the spot.” A small stream intersected the main river and created a small eddy that the fish stacked up in. Soon we were catching limits each morning.

THIS MEANT PROCESSING A lot of fish, which I felt was my responsibility. I was the “tag along” for the journey. The other two guys knew each other from work and I was the plus-one for my buddy, the safety-net friend who just might save a fishing trip. So, to provide some sort of value to the group and because I am a chef, I cooked dinners most nights. And since I was the only “pro” with a knife, I took on the salmoncutting duties as well.

Sadly, I can be a little cavalier about

Hooking up with a salmon on a small Alaska river is always a thrill. (RANDY KING)

PREPARING SOME SAUCY SALMON

Sob story about my infected thumb aside, I did bring home a metric crapload of fish from that Alaska fishing trip. I’ve eaten most of it at this point, but spring 2023 weather inspired me to create a nice light dish with yogurt, mustard and greens.

THE SAUCE

⅓ cup Greek yogurt (I use/buy the honey-flavored kind)

1 tablespoon brown mustard

⅛ cup diced red onion (about a quarter of a medium-sized onion)

¼ cup diced strawberries

½ tablespoon dill

Salt and pepper

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix to combine. Let stand, refrigerated, until ready to serve the fish. You can make this up to a day ahead of time before the strawberries start to get funky.

THE FISH

Four 8-ounce filets of salmon (preferably about 1½ inches thick)

¼ cup unsalted butter

Salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Dry the salmon filets with a paper towel. Extra moisture will cause oil to pop and splat around and possibly burn you and others nearby. Heat a 12-inch sauté pan on medium heat for two minutes. Add the butter to the pan. When the butter is melted but not quite brown, add the salmon filets to the pan, skin side up. Let the salmon cook for five to seven minutes, or until the fish is GBD – golden brown and delicious-looking. See photo for reference. When salmon is browned on the flesh side, carefully flip the filets and then place the pan in the preheated oven. Cook for five minutes, or until the fish is done.

Reserve the hot salmon on a plate.

THE GREENS

1 tablespoon butter

6 cups salad greens or spinach

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Carefully remove the salmon from the sauté pan. When removed, add the butter to the pan. The heat from the oven will melt the butter. Add the greens and season with salt and pepper. Wilt the greens in the hot pan.

Bringing it all together, place an equal amount of wilted greens on each plate. Place a cooked filet of fish on the greens. Top each salmon portion with a quarter of the yogurt sauce.

Garnish by drizzling olive oil on the plate and with a few splashes of balsamic vinegar. Enjoy! –RK

Chef Randy King’s salmon with mustard sauce and wilted greens. Spring weather in his Pacific Northwest home “inspired me to create a nice light dish with yogurt, mustard and greens,” he writes. (RANDY KING)

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LEELOCK CRAB CRACKER

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The Crab Cracker is a unique tool made from solid aluminum, and comes in handy for cleaning Dungeness crabs.

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the cutting up of animals. I advocate using gloves, and often do so myself. But with fish I usually forgo gloves and barehand process them. Each day on this trip I would process our fish into filets we would then freeze at the lodge we were staying at.

As the days passed, more and more little scratches and war wounds accumulated on my hands. The fish have teeth, the hooks have barbs, and my knife was sharp. My hands were getting a little beat up. Our lodge owner advised us to cover all our cuts and scrapes with Neosporin and bandages each night to prevent infection. I did as directed.

ONE DAY, AFTER LIMITING out in the morning, we decided to change streams. We grabbed our fly rods and headed to the inlet of a small lake. The fish liked to congregate there, or so we were told. After hiking in and enjoying ourselves –no fish were around – we began the drive back to the lodge. On the way, for some reason my forearm was aching. I had not noticed it before – maybe the hike or the fishing had distracted me.

King’s case of fish handler’s disease was a severe one and treatment required multiple courses of antibiotics over more than half a year. (RANDY KING)

2.8L

The

Nearly

I was massaging my arm when I bumped my thumb on something in the cab of the truck. The mind-numbing pain was unexpected. I removed my bandagecovered thumb and gazed down at a purple infected thumb. Panic set in. This was my left hand. This was my second favorite thumb! Had it spread all the way up my arm? Was that why my arm hurt so much?!? I tried not to panic as we came back into cell service and quickly began googling my symptoms.

It seemed, according to the pictures on the internet, that I had managed to catch a fun little infection called fish handler’s disease while processing all my group’s fish in the zombie water. Fish handler’s disease is a bacterial infection that shows up when – guess what? –cuts and scrapes are exposed to zombie fish and corpse-filled water.

The wound was small, but I could remember the fish that cut the top of my thumb. With a quick toothy grin, a hookjawed male had given me a little cut. At the time I didn’t care. It was just one of many cuts on my hand at that point.

Famous last thoughts.

Regrettably, the island we were on only had one clinic and no hospital, so we called the Alaska “ask a nurse” hotline for help. The hotline put us in touch with the one local MD. He informed me that what I had was “fairly common” and that if left untreated it could cause parts of me to fall off or need to be removed. He advised I take some pain medicine, go to sleep and see him as soon as I could in the morning.

I did just that. After a few horse pills, a shot and a lot of pain killers, my life and happiness began returning.

Sort of.

The doc banned me from fishing for a few days, an absolute heartbreaker when you are on a salmon fishing vacation! Still, a few days later I was back in the river, left hand hermetically sealed away from the water. But I didn’t cut up anyone’s fish after that.

Unfortunately, I have struggled to get rid of the infection. It went deep into my knuckle and decided to stay – for more than six months. As I write this, my left thumb is still a little sore. I have done three courses of antibiotics and hopefully it is gone for good at this point. Just in case, my hospital group has put me in contact with a specialist, but I hope to never have to call.

Moral of the story: Mind your hands and watch your sanitation while out and about if you value all your digits! ASJ

“The doc banned me from fishing for a few days, an absolute heartbreaker when you are on a salmon fishing vacation!” the author writes. “Still, a few days later I was back in the river, left hand hermetically sealed away from the water. But I didn’t cut up anyone’s fish after that.” (RANDY KING)

CATCH FISH, MAP IT WITH NEW APP, MAKE MONEY

BY MARY CATHARINE MARTIN

Up until last year, Southeast Alaska’s Mitkof Island was home to a creek with some unique salmon; they only turned left. Officially, anyway.

Ohmer Creek, on Mitkof Island, forks. On the west side, the state’s Anadromous Waters Catalog, or AWC, had noted the presence of all five species of wild Alaska salmon, as well as Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout. On the east side of the fork, according to the AWC, there were only steelhead.

One afternoon last summer, Petersburg Ranger District fish biologist Eric Castro pointed out juvenile coho salmon holding steady in the current

about his feet on the undocumented fork of Ohmer Creek. He, hydrologist Heath Whitacre and Taran Snyder, a natural resource specialist working with the US Forest Service through VetsWork by AmeriCorps, set out some minnow traps, caught coho, cutthroat and Dolly Varden, took some photos, and set about correcting the record via a new app downloadable to your phone: the Fish Map App.

“It’s really fun,” Castro said. “We use our tablets, and we’re able to capture this information for posterity. It’s a game-changer.”

This year, people behind the app

Matt Macasaet of Klawock, working with the original streams and forestry crew hosted by the Klawock Cooperative Association in 2021, makes an entry in the Fish Map App, which provides a way for everyday Alaskans to document rivers home to wild salmon, whitefish, eulachon and other ocean-going fish – and earn money doing it. (LEE HOUSE)

hope that in addition to the Tribes, forest partnerships and experts who used the app last year, everyday Alaskans will download and use the app – and earn $100 for each successful nomination.

ANADROMOUS WATERS

“In Alaska, there are a ridiculous number of lakes and streams that probably, at least if they’re connected to the ocean, support some sort of anadromous fish,” said Aaron Poe, network program officer at the Alaska Conservation Foundation, who works on the app through the Northern Latitudes Partnership. (Partners on the app include the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Northern Latitudes Partnership and the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government, which made the app possible through their Indigenous Sentinels Network.)

Eric Castro, Petersburg Ranger District fish biologist, shows Heath Whitacre, a US Forest Service hydrologist, how to make an entry in the Fish Map App. (MARY CATHARINE MARTIN/SALMON STATE)

Cutthroat trout weren’t known to be in Petersburg’s East Ohmer Creek, but they’ve since been added via the app. (MARY CATHARINE MARTIN/SALMON STATE)

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, “The Catalog of Waters Important for the Spawning, Rearing or Migration of Anadromous Fishes and its associated Atlas currently lists almost 20,000 streams, rivers or lakes around the state, which have been specified as being important for the spawning, rearing or migration of anadromous fish. However, based upon thorough surveys of a few drainages, it is believed that this number represents a fraction of the streams, rivers and lakes actually used by anadromous species. Until these habitats are inventoried, they will not be protected under State of Alaska law.”

The usual estimate is that those 20,000 streams, lakes and rivers are about one-third of Alaska’s anadromous waters – leaving two-thirds of salmon, eulachon, trout, whitefish and other anadromous fish-bearing streams

HOW TO DOCUMENT

ANADROMOUS WATERS

Here are some instructions for documenting new Alaska waters that hold anadromous fish species.

• Download the ISN AWC app on your phone.

• Sign up.

• Follow the instructions to start documenting and submitting nominations. Photos of sport-caught anadromous fish, wild salmon, trout or other species in the streams, juvenile fish, and even spawned-out carcasses work. Species must, however, be clearly identifiable.

• Go to alaskafishmapping.org for more information and guidelines.

• Text “fish” to 1-855-736-4949 and you’ll get an automated response asking you what area you’re interested in mapping. Reply with a community name  (“Bethel,” “Anchorage,” “Cordova,” etc.) and you’ll get a text with the current AWC map of the area.

• Those who want training – community groups, volunteer activities, schools or sports teams seeking fundraising opportunities, as a few examples – should reach out to Aaron Poe for more information (apoe@alaskaconservation.org). MCM

From left to right, Whitacre, Castro and Taran Snyder photograph an anadromous fish for the Fish Map App and Anadromous Waters Catalog inclusion. (MARY CATHARINE MARTIN/SALMON STATE)

without a basic level of protection.

“Even in urban or town-based settings, there are opportunities to get things mapped,” Poe said.

CITIZEN SCIENCE IN ACTION

Last year, the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, the Prince of Wales Tribal Conservation District and the USFS’s Petersburg Ranger District documented and nominated about 10 miles of habitat between Wrangell, Petersburg and Kake, as well as a previously unmapped anadromous tributary on East Ohmer

“Even just by launching this app, we got 13 more. But we’d love it to be 1,300 more,” Poe said.

Each of those nominations, if successful, will earn the nominator $100.

Sitka Conservation Society and SalmonState Fisheries community engagement specialist Heather Bauscher, who conducted much of the field testing and much of the training in 2022, will continue training this summer.

She said she hopes“to connect more with Tribal community forest partnerships and youth crews who are out in the field and know these places best.”

Poe noted that climate change adds a new element to the catalog. “With the rapid and accelerating climate change that Alaska is facing, fish are moving to different habitats, and they’re leaving other habitats. So not only do we have this huge system, we have a huge and dynamic system. Streams in the Northwest Arctic – we need to be able to document those kinds of changes that are becoming a refuge-type habitat for anadromous species,” he said.

Citizen science, Castro said, is “something that’s underutilized in our land management practices. There are plenty of people who walk up these streams and know that there are anadromous fish there. And now they have the ability to help be a part of this process of increasing the knowledge of our state’s anadromous waters.” ASJ

Editor’s note: Mary Catharine Martin is the communications director of SalmonState, an Alaska-based organization that works to ensure Alaska remains a place wild salmon and the people whose lives are interconnected with them continue to thrive. Go to salmonstate.org for more information.

Quinn Aboudara, now Shaan Seet stewardship coordinator with the Klawock Indigenous Stewards Forest Partnership, documents a perched culvert (a culvert raised above the stream) that was impeding fish passage. At right is Matt Macasaet of Klawock with the original streams and forestry crew hosted by the Klawock Cooperative Association in 2021. (LEE HOUSE)

Castro proudly holds up an entry for a section of newly documented anadromous stream. “There are plenty of people who walk up these streams and know that there are anadromous fish there,” he says. “And now they have the ability to help be a part of this process of increasing the knowledge of our state’s anadromous waters.”

(HEATHER BAUSCHER)

This juvenile steelhead was documented as part of a new addition to the Anadromous Waters Catalog. (ERIC CASTRO/US FOREST SERVICE)

Creek. The AWC, Poe said, averages between two and three citizen science nominations each year.

Since forming Henry Repeating Arms in 1996, cofounder Anthony Imperato and his company have manufactured and sold millions of lever-action rifles in a wide variety of calibers and styles. As recently as 2021, Henry produced the eighth most firearms in the U.S. –the fourth most in terms of just rifles.

HENRY, MORE THAN JUST GUNS

LONG KNOWN FOR ITS LEVER-ACTION RIFLES, FIREARMS COMPANY ALSO MANUFACTURES SHOTGUNS AND REVOLVERS, WHILE MAKING CHARITABLE GIVING A PRIORITY.

BY JASON BROOKS

Henry Repeating Arms is a company known for more than just quality lever-action rifles, shotguns and – new – revolvers. From its inception more than 25 years ago, Henry has had a strong commitment to giving back to the community. In the years since, it has established itself as a leader in the firearms industry via charitable contributions. From supporting children’s cancer research to assisting veteran organizations and youth shooting programs, Henry is always looking for ways to make a positive impact.

The company takes its name from Benjamin Tyler Henry, the inventor who patented the first successful repeating rifle in 1860. To be clear, there is no affiliation or lineage to Benjamin Tyler Henry or the New Haven Arms Company, which manufactured the original Henry rifle from 1862 to 1864. Anthony Imperato secured the trademark to the Henry name in 1996, which is when the current company was formed. Henry (henryusa .com) is a company that prides itself on craftsmanship and innovation, with a commitment to American-made products, as reflected in its motto – “Made in America, Or Not Made At All.”

In recent years, the company has

made charity work a priority and has made significant donations to various organizations. In fact, Henry’s Guns for Great Causes program – a charity branch of the company – benefits a variety of organizations, with a primary focus on pediatric cancer. Henry provides financial relief to families of sick children and makes donations to children’s cancer hospitals.

In addition, Guns for Great Causes benefits military veterans, law enforcement and first responder organizations, particularly those assisting the wounded, injured and the families of those who lost their lives in the line of duty. Wildlife conservation, preserving and promoting America’s shooting sports traditions, firearm safety education and Second Amendment advocacy are all additional beneficiaries of the Henry program. One hundred percent of all Guns for Great Causes firearms sales are donated. Since its inception, the firearms company has donated nearly $5 million through Guns for Great Causes.

“This past year was the 25th anniversary of the Henry Repeating Arms Company and we set out this silver anniversary with a goal to donate $1 million in one year,” states Dan Clayton-Luce, Henry’s vice president of

(HENRY REPEATING ARMS)

communications. “We accomplished this and more, making the ‘million dollar pledge’ a top priority.”

The future of the company is very bright and Clayton-Luce was excited to talk about the new line of revolvers Henry is coming out with. These wheel guns will complement the Henry lever-actions as a way to “tame the West,” with the Henry Big Boy Revolver and Big Boy Lever Action both being chambered in .357 so a shooter only has to carry one caliber of ammunition. It will also open up the options for companies and programs that use Henry firearms as their choice when it comes to fundraisers, retirement gifts or commemorative items. Henry can help any company or person come up with a logo-specific firearm; Clayton-Luce mentioned how he was just in Missoula at Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation headquarters to drop off yet another check for the organization’s fundraising programs to help elk and elk hunters.

HENRY REPEATING ARMS WAS founded in Brooklyn, New York, by Louis Imperato and his son, Anthony Imperato. They

aimed to fulfill a demand for high-quality, American-made firearms. Henry’s first rifle, the Henry H001, was an instant success, and the company quickly grew in popularity.

Today, Henry has manufacturing facilities in Wisconsin and New Jersey and produces a wide range of firearms – around 200 different models of rifles, shotguns, lever-action pistols and more. The company produces a broad range of lever-action rifles in both rimfire and centerfire calibers in a variety of finishes, including blued steel, hardened brass, color case-hardened, and “All-Weather.”

The company’s flagship model is the Henry Golden Boy, a rimfire lever-action with the tagline “the gun that brings out the West in you.” Henry has sold over 1 million of its model H001 Classic Lever Action .22 rifle, which has become a staple of the firearms industry.

Some of Henry’s other popular models include rifles, shotguns and lever-action handguns, each with unique designs and features. Some of their most popular models include the Big Boy, Mare’s Leg and Golden Boy rifles, as well as the

Lever Action Axe. The company also offers a variety of accessories, including scopes, slings and magazines. Resurrecting the original Henry rifle, today it is offered in .44-40 and .45 Colt in various finishes. The Henry Lever Action .410 bore is the only lever-action shotgun on the market.

The Henry Single Shot Shotgun is available in hardened brass or steel in 12-, 20and .410 gauges. The Henry Single Shot Rifle is also available in hardened brass or steel in over 10 centerfire calibers.

Then there’s the Henry US Survival AR-7, an updated version of the US Air Force AR-7, a takedown .22 ideal for all outdoorsmen. All of the rifle’s components fit into the buttstock. The Henry Mini Bolt is the ideal beginner’s rifle, a stainless steel single-shot .22 that is also the official youth rifle of the USA Shooting Team. Henry Repeating Arms is the official firearms licensee of the Boy Scouts of America, and several Henry Boy Scout editions are available.

In addition, the company has a line of tribute rifles honoring many deserving constituencies, including those serv-

Through the charitable arm Guns for Great Causes, Henry is making“significant” donations to organizations providing relief to families with children afflicted by cancer, among other giving. (HENRY REPEATING ARMS)

ing in the military, first responders and American farmers. The Henry Corporate Editions program allows companies to place their logo on a Henry rifle for employee retirements, dealer rewards and corporate milestones.

“The future is all about building on the foundation laid so far,” Anthony Imperato said early last year in an interview commemorating his company’s 25th anniversary. “We have a strong message, a strong desire to be the best gun maker in the country, and a strong group of people to keep the wheels moving. It is exciting to think about the direction that we are heading.”

IN ITS MISSION STATEMENT emphasizing commitment to quality, innovation and responsibility, Henry also includes dedication to charity work. The company’s website states, “We believe that our success gives us a unique opportunity to give back to our community, our veterans, and our country.”

Henry has a long history of supporting charitable causes, with a focus on organizations that support veterans and their families. In recent years, the company has made significant donations to organizations such as the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, the National Rifle

The gun it all began with, the Henry Classic Lever Action .22, of which more than 1 million have been sold. It can be loaded with up to 15 .22 Long Rifle cartridges or 21 .22 Shorts, making it great for plinking. (HENRY REPEATING ARMS)

Association, and the USA Shooting team.

Guns for Great Causes raises money for various charities with a mission to make a positive impact on society through firearms-related fundraising events. It hosts auctions and other fundraising events to support various charitable organizations and has partnered to support organizations such as the NRA Foundation and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Henry has donated unique firearms for auction, with proceeds going to these organizations. These donations have helped raise significant funds for these causes, making a positive impact in the community.

Henry has also donated to several veterans’ organizations, including the aforementioned Special Operations Warrior Foundation, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation and the American Legion. These organizations help support veterans and their families by

providing financial assistance, education and support services. Henry’s contributions allow these organizations to continue to make a difference in the lives of those who have served our country.

And Henry actively supports youth shooting programs across the United States – as of February 2022, it had donated “somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 guns” towards that end, according to Imperato. The company’s aim is to provide young people with the education and skills needed to safely handle firearms, while instilling a love and respect for the shooting sports. The company supports the Youth Shooting Sports Alliance, the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation, and the Boy Scouts of America Shooting Sports Program. These programs offer training and competitive opportunities to young people interested in learning about firearms and shooting sports.

Henry’s new wheel guns, like the Big Boy Revolver (pictured), are meant in part to complement rifles such as the Big Boy Lever Action. Both are chambered in .357, so you only have to carry one caliber of ammunition. (HENRY REPEATING ARMS)

By supporting these youth shooting programs, Henry Firearms has helped to introduce young people to the world of shooting sports, potentially sparking a lifelong passion. They have also helped to promote safety and responsible handling of firearms, ensuring that future generations of shooters are educated and knowledgeable.

Indeed, over the years, Henry Firearms has donated millions of dollars to various charitable organizations. In 2019 alone, they donated over $1.1 million to organizations such as the National Wild Turkey Federation and RMEF.

The impact of Henry’s giving can be seen in the many organizations and individuals they have supported. From youth shooting programs and Second Amendment causes to conservation organizations and veterans support services, Henry’s charity work continues to make a positive impact on the broader shooting community and beyond. Henry is always looking for new ways to give back and is open to exploring potential partnerships with organizations that align with its mission and values. ASJ

Along with supporting venerable conservation groups such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, some of Henry’s Guns for Great Causes giving goes to organizations teaching gun safety, such as the NRA’s Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program. (HENRY REPEATING ARMS)