Although there are great books on identifying plants and seaweeds and recipes for preparing, sometimes the best information (and most locally pertinent), comes from spending time with elders and listening to what they have learned over their lifetimes.

In this video, SCS staff Scott Harris, Tracy Gagnon, and Adam Andis spent a morning with long-time SCS board member Bob Ellis and absorbed some of his wisdom about seaweeds in the intertidal zones of the Sitka Sound.

Gary and Nancy Short were the first participants of the Energy Star Rebate Program sponsored by the City and Borough of Sitka and the Sitka Conservation Society. They replaced their old (1972), inefficient freezer with a new Energy Star rated freezer. Just look at the difference!

The Energy Star Rebate Program kicked off in late February and provided electric users with the opportunity to upgrade to an Energy Star appliance and receive a rebate ranging from $165-$1,500. The program was well received by residents in the first few months and is already showing great potential to make a dent in Sitka’s electric consumption.

The program grants rebates for five Energy Star appliances, which were chosen to maximize energy savings. Residents can choose between Energy Star refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, heat pump hot water heaters, and air or ground source heat pumps. After dropping off the old appliance at Scrap Yard and receiving a receipt of disposal, you are ready to complete the application. The application consists of a one page form that can be downloaded on the Electric Department page of the City website or can be picked up at the Electric Department at 105 Jarvis Street. One participant even described the application process as “surprisingly painless and very easy to follow”. After the information provided on the application has been verified, the City will write a check made payable to the applicant and mail it to the address provided – it’s as simple as that!

After only three months since the program start date, 47 participants have taken advantage of this opportunity and upgraded to an Energy Star appliance. The result: almost 50,000 kWh have been removed from the electric grid annually! The energy savings are expected to continue increasing as the remaining 75% of the allotted funds are used by homeowners seeking energy efficiency upgrades. To maximize the energy savings of the $100,000 in the initial fund, $70,000 is allocated for air or ground source heat pump rebates and the remaining $30,000 will go towards all other appliance rebates. Therefore, although a majority of the funds remain in the program, only $22,475 is available for appliances other than air or ground source heat pumps. Rebates will remain available until funds are used in each category or until June 30, 2012.

Are you on the fence about purchasing an Energy Star appliance? Now is the time to act! Make sure you get a rebate for an Energy Star refrigerator, freezer, washing machine, or heat pump hot water heater before funds run out! To learn more about the program, including frequently asked questions, visit www.cityofsitka.com.

In just one year we have seen local fish lunch consumption rates almost double at Blatchley Middle School (BMS), at an average of about 39%. I remember a lunch at BMS where a student tempted her friend to try the fish fillet. She was very skeptical but after trying it couldn’t get enough and began to feed her other friends! Check out this video on Fish to Schools at BMS by local filmmaker Hannah Guggenheim.

At Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary (KGH), where fish was introduced this fall, we are seeing rates of about 30% participation, with a few lunches peaking above 40%. Students consistently rave about the local fish lunches. One elementary school student at a recent lunch said, “I don’t like the fish lunches, I love them!” Other students tell me that they always get fish when it’s on the menu even though they generally pack lunches from home.

This spring we were delighted to collaborate with two new schools, Pacific High School (PHS) and Mount Edgecumbe High School (MEHS). PHS has a unique school lunch program with students serving as cooks for their classmates while learning commercial kitchen skills that lead to a job-ready Food Handlers Certification.  In this program, they prepare unique dishes, including Caribbean rockfish with sweet potato fries, rockfish marinara, and crispy-baked rockfish.

MEHS finished off the school year with their first fish lunch after a year-long, grassroots student campaign to get local fish into their school. Student organizers from the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) Club led the charge by raising awareness about the environmental benefits of eating locally-harvested fish and polled students to see if they wanted to see fish at their school. 90% of students said, “Absolutely, yes!” Their efforts culminated in mouthwatering fish tacos this April.

Education programs were integrated into the third and seventh grade classes along with fish lunches. Students followed the cycles of fish from their native habitat to their lunch tray by interviewing local fishermen, hearing stories from Alaska Natives, dissecting and filleting salmon, and preparing tasty dishes with a local chef. Cultural knowledge, nutrition, and food systems were woven throughout the program. Local fish lunches paired with the Stream to Plate Curriculum brings students closer to their culture and the backbone of Sitka. Serving students local fish and exposing them to the fishing culture, connects them to their home and develops a sense of pride for being a part of a community that supports itself on the best (tasting and managed) seafood in the world.

The Sitka Fish to Schools program was awarded the Best Farm to School Project in Alaska for the 2011-2012 school year. It is a community-wide honor, recognizing all of the stakeholders involved in the program: food service, local seafood processors, fishermen, school district, principals, teachers, and community volunteers. Alaska’s First Lady, Sandy Parnell, came to a local fish lunch to recognize our local efforts in Sitka. We are thrilled that she personally came to show her support for our creative use of local foods in the school lunch program. We hope her interest will continue to increase the profile of this program and that we will see continued support for these efforts statewide.

The Sitka Conservation Society hopes that this program will create closer connections between our community and the natural resources from the environment around us.  Through its implementation, youth and stakeholders will gain an increased understanding of how we use and depend on the land and waters of the Tongass.  With the fish on our plates at home and at school, we will, as a community, make better decisions on the management and future of those resources that we intimately depend on.  Further, we hope that this program will influence the USDA, and the policy makers who direct it, to focus on a more sustainable school lunch food system by using local sources for food.  And, importantly, our school districts will teach children about local natural resources and the jobs and livelihoods in our community by using hands-on, real-world learning experiences.

DESCRIPTION: Calvin Cave was discovered on June 19, 2011 by Kevin Allred, and the Sitka Conservation Society Wilderness crew: Adam Andis, Tomas Ward, and Ben Hamilton, while searching for caves as part of the Sitka Community Wilderness Stewardship Project. The cave is located at the lower edge of a large muskeg which provides acidic waters where it flows onto the band of Whitestripe Marble of Triassic age. After a meandering stream slot, the small stream enters the cave, which is a winding narrow crack downcut into the marble. Down the slope are a series of sinkholes which indicate the downstream course of the underground stream. After about 60 feet the cave ends in too tight constrictions at the bottom of the first of these sinkholes, and daylight is seen in several places. There is an excellent example of the underside of a “sealed” sinkhole with its characteristic humus plug here. The cave was surveyed by Kevin Allred and Tom Ward. Its vertical surveyed depth is 10 feet and it has 63.8 feet of surveyed passage. The resurgence of this cave stream is not known, but is probably somewhere adjacent or under the nearby gorge of Marble Creek.

BIOLOGY: Fungus gnat webs were noted throughout the cave, but no insects were seen. No bones were seen.

MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: Due to its remoteness, Calvin Cave is not likely to be negatively impacted by visitation. It is protected from logging under Wilderness Area regulation.

ACA instructors Adam Andis and Darrin Kelly will teach all of the skills you need to be a safe and confident paddler, so that you can get out and enjoy our coastal wilderness areas and volunteer with the Sitka Community Wilderness Stewardship Project to collect needed baseline data. The class will include kayak skills for beginning to advanced paddlers, self and assisted rescue training, and Wilderness monitoring training, including an invasive plant ID lesson from Kitty LaBounty.

This two day course is open only to current SCS members so be sure to join or renew your membership when you sign up. Space is very limited, so sign up early!

To sign up or for more information, contact SCS at 747-7509.

Cost is $75 for the 2-day course (drysuits included). Kayak rental is $35 per day through Latitude Adventures. A 10% will be offered to participants who provide their own drysuit.

The State of Alaska has set a goal of achieving a 15% increase in energy efficiency per capita by 2020.  This effort is especially important in Sitka because the demand for electricity exceeds supply.  This effort is also important because the community has set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  In an effort to help Sitkans take steps to reducing their energy use and save money on energy costs, SCS has teamed up with local partners to create a series of “how-to” videos.  The partners in the project include the City of Sitka Electric Department, Sitka Girl Scout Troop 4140, and local contractor Marcel LaPerriere.

Weatherization 101:  Programming your Heater

You can save up to 10% of your space heating bill by turning your heater 3 degrees lower for only 8 hours a day.  This video demonstrate how to use a programmable thermostat on a Toyo Heater.

Weatherization 101: Lightbulbs

Weatherization 101: Hot Water Heater

Weatherization 101: Choosing the Right Type of Caulking for SE Alaska

Weatherization 101: Caulking with Troop 4140

Weatherization 101: Home Breaker Panels

Heading out into the Wilds on your own? If you are planning to get out hunting, hiking, fishing, paddling, etc. in a designated Tongass Wilderness Area (like West Chichagof-Yakobi or South Baranof) please consider downloading, printing, and filling out our 2012 Encounter Monitoring Form (PDF).  Recording how, when and where folks are using our Wilderness Areas can give us a base-line to chart increases or decreases in human impact.  Just follow the instructions on the form and record the boats, planes, people, and human impacts you find.  Then, return the forms to us and we will enter your name in a drawing to win a free REI Backpack and 20% off all REI gear!

Want to join the SCS Wilderness Crew on a trip?  Occasionally, we have extra room for volunteers to join the Wilderness Crew on research expeditions.  If you would like to add your name to the list of volunteers we contact when such opportunities arise, fill out the Volunteer Form and Medical History Form below and return it to adam@sitkawild.org.  Also, be sure to take the short (10-15 min) course which allows volunteers to ride in Forest Service aircraft (most of our trips involve small plane flights) and watch the Boat Safety Video.  Please keep in mind that only current SCS members can join a Wilderness trip, so make sure you join or renew your membership!

Volunteer Form (MS Word)

Volunteer Form (PDF)

SCS Volunteer Waiver and Medical History Form (PDF)

USFS Flight Protocols: A-102: USFS Alaska Region Fixed Wing Safety Course

Volunteer Gear Checklist (MS Word)  If you will be attending a trip, be sure to check out this gear checklist.

This is the Final Report for the 2011 Community Wilderness Stewardship Project.  Components of the Data Report for the 2011 project can be found below.

Can’t see the report?  Down load the pdf here: Wilderness Project 2011 Final Report

2011 Data Report

Cover sheet

Solitude Data Instructions

2011 Solitude Monitoring Data

2011 Plant List

2011 Plant Survey Map – West Chichagof-Yakobi

2011 Plant Survey Map – South Baranof

2011 Bird List

* Data is primarily for Sitka Ranger District.  Data for other ranger districts can be found in the in reports specific to each Wilderness Area in thefull project file below.

Wilderness Stewardship Project 2011 – Full Project File- The full project file contains all photos, reports, data, radio interviews, videos, and products from the 2011 project.  (This is a large file–3.5 Gb)