Sitka 4H: Skills for an Alaskan Way of Life
The richness of the Tongass National Forest and the waters of the Outer Coast make Sitka unlike any place. The dense forests, towering mountains, and waterways make this environment a unique classroom for youth to learn skills and respect for the land. It is our hope that students connect to this incredible environment through hands-on learning and leadership opportunities in the community.
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SCS & JVC Northwest: Rooted in the Same Values
The Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) Northwest has placed volunteers in various organizations all over Sitka for nearly two decades, focusing on issues of social and ecological justice. This year, I joined the Sitka Conservation Society team as their first Jesuit Volunteer (JV). Many of the core values of the JVC Northwest program align closely with [...]
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Celebrating an Amazing Year of 4-H!
Over the last year, the Sitka Conservation Society has offered lots of exciting Alaska Way of Life 4-H programs! In 2012 4-H kids learned how to track deer, make devils club salve, identify wild mushrooms, harvest berries, and much more! 4-H kids were able to walk, touch, eat, and experience everything the Tongass has to [...]
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4H Alaska way-of-life Club Summer Registration
We have a series of great clubs this summer. They begin the first week of June and run through the third week of August. To register, contact Tracy at 747.7509 or tracy@sitkawild.org. Dates are listed on the SCS Calendar here. Cloverbuds, Alaska way-of-life Ages 5-7. Every Monday through summer from 3:30-4:30. Cloverbuds will explore the [...]
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Devils Club Harvest with Alaska way-of-life 4H Club
When I first moved here seeing devils club would make me cringe. I would lament at its pervasive cover. Inevitably when hiking, I would grab onto a stalk for support or bushwhack through a thicket of them. I noticed on a recent hike that my feelings for devils club had changed significantly. I was excited [...]
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Living with the Land: Seaweed Harvest
“Living with the land” means having knowledge and familiarity with the natural environment that surrounds you. Part of that knowledge is knowing what are the edible plants in the environment and when they are ready for harvest. On the outer coast of Alaska in the Tongass National Forest, that also means knowing what seaweeds are [...]
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Sharing Nature with Keet Gooshi Heen
While teaching a Discovery Southeast introduction to eco-systems at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School a student blurts out…”Aren’t you supposed to be teaching us this stuff”? I stop writing on the board, thrilled to hear this. I think she just gave me away. Our educational system tends toward rote memorization by having the student [...]
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4H Alaska way-of-life: Following wild game from forest to stew.
The much anticipated deer stew has been put up, 37 pints worth! After months of patience, 4H members got to see their skinned and butchered deer turn into a shelf-stable food. And a delicious one at that! 4H members gathered around a large table full of ingredients that needed prepping. We rotated through different stations [...]
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4H Cloverbuds — Pies and Illumination
The Tongass provides an abundance of wild salmon berries, blueberries, and huckleberries—what better way to enjoy their wild summer flavors than in a pie shared with friends and family? The Cloverbuds 4H Club learned how to bake pies this week, mastering a home-baked good that many shy away from. Each Cloverbud went home with a [...]
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Tanning Deer Hides with the Alaska way-of-life 4H Group
Earlier this month 4H members went to Ed Gray’s local tannery at the Sawmill Industrial Park. We were instantly immersed in his world of preserving hides, the process between skinning an animal and the hide that sits nicely on your couch or lines your mittens. Ed Gray took us through this process step by step. [...]
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Sitka Black Tailed Deer: Traditional Subsistence Meat in Southeast Alaska
Nov 2011. On an autumn Saturday afternoon, a group of kids gathered around a deer hanging in the Sitka Sound Science Center barn. At first they stood a few feet back, taking the deer in slowly with curious gazes. They got more comfortable as Jack Lorrigan, the father of one of the children, began to [...]
