Daily Sitka Sentinel

December 21, 2021, Letters to the Editor

BOF Proposals

Dear Editor: I would like to acknowledge the work of the Sitka Fish and Game Advisory Committee and thank them for their service. Every three years the Board of Fisheries takes up proposals specific to Southeast finfish and shellfish. In Alaska, anyone can propose a change in Fish and Game management simply by submitting a proposal to the board. Anyone can comment on these proposals through the advisory committee or written or oral comments directly to the BOF.

The Sitka AC has 17 elected seats representing a wide range of stakeholders, bringing decades of experience to the table. This year the committee met more than 20 times for more than 50 hours (four of them on this Monday) to take public comments on proposals to BOF and make recommendations to the BOF regarding these proposals. This year, the advisory committee meetings were held on Zoom making things particularly challenging for committee members and the public.

I did not agree with all of the decisions made by the AC and the process is not perfect as not all members are present at every meeting. It works best when there is a broad range of public input, and the BOF process is very western-centric, but the amount of effort and time these volunteers put into this work is impressive and helps elevate important fish and game issues in our area.

Thank you Heather Bauscher, John Murray, Andrew Thoms, Jeff Feldspach, Karen Johnson, Eric Jordan, Spencer Chute, Luke Bastian, Aaron Prussian, Woody Cyr, Dick Curran, Kent Barkau, Moses Johnson, Tad Fujioka, Stacey Wayne, Steve Ramp and Joel Markis. Thanks, also, to the public who participated and the ADFG staff who provided information, and Annie Bartholomew from BOF.

If you are interested in any of the proposals impacting salmon, herring, groundfish, or shellfish being decided by the BOF in January you have one day left to submit your comments. Comments must be submitted by midnight Wednesday, December 22, at  http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=process.comments.

Tory O’Connell Curran, Sitka

Pie-Making Thanks

Dear Editor: We would like to celebrate the third pie-making collaboration between Sitka Spruce Tips 4-H and the Sitka School District STEPS grant. This time we created 50 sweet potato pie kits containing all the ingredients for the pie and included the book “Sweet Potato Pie, Oh My!” by author Connie Carlisle Polley. Providing kits, especially during COVID, helps one of the goals of the Early Childhood Coalition, to provide free and fun family activities.

A huge thanks goes to the Sitka Rotary Club who purchased 50 books for the project. The Sitka Rotarians are champions of literacy. Every duck race ticket we purchase benefits a local Sitkan. Even with their donation, the project was only greenlighted when the author arranged a sweet discount with her publisher. Thank you, Connie Carlisle Polley.

Thanks to the families who participated in the cooking Zoom session the next day. Everyone might complain about online meetings, but we all really are becoming skilled media producers. Thanks to 4-H leader Jasmine Shaw for running the show and seamlessly inserting the sweet potato song into a lull in the instructions. Americorps volunteer Mary Argubright read the book aloud to the families. The highlight, however, was participation by the author and her daughter. A wonderful Alaska/Kentucky collaboration. 

Much gratitude to the Hames Corporation for providing many of the ingredients via gift card and the rest at cost. We wonder if they have moved 80 pounds of sweet potatoes in one go before! Thanks again for a being a tireless supporter of this community.

A heartfelt shout out to Americorps volunteer KJ Hunt who worked with Mary Argubright to package 50 sweet potato pie kits. A final thanks to the pies themselves. Who knew there was a contender to challenge the pumpkin pie as holiday favorite?

Please contact me if you would like to sponsor the next pie kit giveaway. We are thinking of pizza pie! Thank you.

Kari Sagel,

STEPS Grant