Dear Alliance members,
You are the community of individuals, families, and business owners who have given life to this organization for the past 42 years. These are the most uncertain of times, and our need to be connected and supported has never been more challenging or more important. We care deeply about you and your family, and hope you are staying safe and healthy during this difficult time.
Please follow the latest CDC guidelines and state mandates wherever you go. Make sure you get outside in your local area and prioritize mental health by doing activities that connect you to our natural world. Better days are coming, but it will take patience to get there. For now, we can look to bright moments in the day-to-day: seeing a moose on the walking trail, watching the long sunset, syncing a webcam and a microphone into one functioning video call...
During this time, we will continue to work from our homes and inform you of actions you can take to help Alaska's wildlife. Today, we submitted a joint letter with our Alaskan neighbors to the Department of Interior requesting the immediate suspension of all public comment periods, policy decisions, and oil and gas lease sales during the COVID-19 National Health Emergency. We also compiled a list of wildlife education and citizen science activities you can do from home or outside while practicing responsible social distancing.
As we all hunker down, please remember to be kind to yourself and to others. Breathe clean air, appreciate your neighbors (both human and wildlife), and call to check in on someone every day. We're all in this together.
With warmth from our homes to yours,
AWA staff and Board
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THE LATEST
MARCH IN REVIEW
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Alaska Wildlife Alliance fully supports the CDC’s and our State’s “social distancing” recommendations to try and flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also know that as Alaskans we feel a strong pull to nature, and being outdoors is conducive to our well-being. So, we wanted to share some ideas of how you can still be engaged with wildlife conservation while practicing good social distancing. Click here for some citizen science opportunities and family friendly wildlife fun activities to keep you engaged in Alaska’s wildlife. Do you have other ideas? Send them to us either via email (info@akwildlife.org) or the AWA Facebook page and we’ll share them with others.
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Alaska Board of Game Meeting Takeaways
Read our blog on the March 2020 Board of Game takeaways, which include reflections on bear baiting, climate change, Denali wolves, and representation in Alaska's wildlife management processes.
Read our five key takeaways here.
Photo of Board of Game handbook | Alaska Dept. Fish and Game
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AIDEA evades Legislature, uses health crisis to pump $35 million of small and medium sized business aid into Ambler Road
On Friday, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) transferred $35 million from a state revolving fund to a separate, isolated fund, with the express purpose of funding the remaining permitting and pre-construction costs for the proposed Ambler road. AIDEA is a state agency with a Governor-appointed board. Less than a week ago, the Alaska Economic Stabilization Team recommended AIDEA as one of the key state agencies to manage short-term financing for small- and medium-sized Alaska businesses.
These funds could have provided vital support for organizations across the state, such as the Blood Bank of Alaska, which was denied a much-needed $2.5 million loan at the same emergency meeting. Instead, $35 million was allocated, against -- dozens of testimonies -- to create only "100-200 jobs" on Ambler permitting for the benefit of Trilogy Metals Inc., a Canadian metals exploration and development company.
Thank you to all who acted on Thursday and Friday to testify on behalf of Alaska's wildlife! You built the overwhelming public record that will help our coalition keep this Board accountable. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for Action Alerts on ways to help us challenge and/or audit this decision.
Alaska Public Media | Anchorage Daily News
Western Arctic Caribou Herd | National Parks Service
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Record number of wolves taken on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast
In only two months, trappers reported taking almost as many wolves as had estimated to live on and around Prince of Wales Island. It’s a new record number of wolves — 165 hunted or trapped in Unit 2 — which includes Prince of Wales and surrounding islands in Southeast Alaska.
A controversial rule change lifted the quota and residents seized this winter’s opportunity to target an unlimited number of the predators. The previous trapping record was set in 1996 when 131 animals were reported killed. But nobody’s seen anything close to this kind of harvest –165 wolves from November 15 to January 15.
Read Alaska Wildlife Alliance blog on the issue here.
Alexander Archipelago Wolf | AK Dept. of Fish and Game
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Safari Club International lawyer receives Fish & Wildlife Service Appointment
The White House just appointed Anna Seidman, a lawyer from Safari Club International (SCI), to be the Assistant Director for International Affairs for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). After a career of promoting the interests of trophy hunters, Seidman will now be in charge of regulating the import of hunting trophies from listed species such as elephants and lions.
Seidman is known for her many lawsuits against FWS, including in 2017 when SCI filed suit against the FWS and the National Park Service to challenge rules adopted by the Obama Administration that prohibit and/or restrict certain means and methods of hunting on Alaska's National Preserves, National Wildlife Refuges and specifically the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Alaska Wildlife Alliance is a Defendant in that suit, working with Trustees for Alaska to maintain rules against brown bear baiting, hound-hunting large game, and discharging firearms along the Kenai and Russian Rivers in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
Read Anna's full bio on Safari Club International website.
Safari Club International Convention| SCI website
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April 30, 2020: Comment on proposed Red Devil Mine Cleanup. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has developed a Proposed Plan for the cleanup of the Red Devil Mine, an abandoned mercury mine on the middle Kuskokwim River. The Proposed Plan includes a Preferred Alternative that prevents humans, fish, and wildlife from being exposed to contaminated tailings and other waste materials at the site. The Preferred Alternative would also protect groundwater by isolating waste materials in a containment structure. Continuous monitoring of the structure would ensure that groundwater is protected over time. |
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May 4, 2020: Comment on Supplemental EIS for Willow Project. Despite the pandemic and closure of public meetings, the BLM has released the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement reflecting changes in ConocoPhillips' plans for extensive infrastructure expansion. The Willow oil and gas prospect is located within the Bear Tooth Unit of the National Petroleum Reserve in northern Alaska. The BLM had previously identified impacts to subsistence use and access; biological resources, including caribou, polar bears, spectacled and Stellar eiders, yellow billed loons, and fisheries; social and cultural resources; air quality and climate; and aquatic resources associated with this project. Ensure that the supplement addresses these environmental concerns by commenting. |
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Alaskans, don't forget!
Even if you've already filed for your PFD, it's not too late to add a donation through Pick.Click.Give.
Though it may not seem like much, small donations really do add up, and allow us greater flexibility in planning for the months ahead.
Thank you for thinking of us when you Pick.Click.Give!
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