ANNUAL REPORT for 2006 This is the fifth annual report of the Nushagak/Mulchatna Wood/Tikchik Land Trust. Land Trust Takes Stand Against Pebble Gold / Copper Mine The Board of Directors at its September 2006 meeting decided to go on record as opposing the development of the Pebble gold and copper prospect at the headwaters of the Koktuli River. Proponents of the mine argue it is premature to judge the environmental impact of the mine before the permitting process begins. The Board, however, considered the inherent risks of mining and decided that any risk to salmon and salmon habitat was unacceptable. Further, the Board decided the potential of hundreds if not thousands of more people coming into the region to hunt, fish and buy land would undermine the habitat values the Land Trust was organized to protect. A copy of the resolution can be found at the Land Trust website www.nmwtlandtrust.org. Tom Tilden Retires from Board, Rick Tennyson Joins Board, Two New Board Seats Available Tom Tilden, Dillingham resident, commercial fisherman and one of the founding members of the Land Trust, retired from service after six years. Tom was the President of Choggiung Limited Village Corporation in 2000 when Choggiung spearheaded the formation of the Land Trust. Tom continues to serve on the Choggiung Ltd. Board of Directors. Tom was one of the incorporators of the Land Trust along with Bud Hodson, Luki Akelkok, Herman Nelson, Dan Dunaway, Sue Flensburg and Ward Jones. The Board of Directors selected Rick Tennyson from the Council of Advisors to fill cial fisherman from Dillingham and a former member of the Choggiung Ltd. Board of Directors. He currently serves as Land Manager for Choggiung. In that capacity Rick oversees the Nushagak River Land Management program in which all of the Native corporations with land along the river participate. The program is perhaps the most innovative private land management program in the State, protecting the subsistence value of the lands, but also providing income for all participating corporations while accommodating the growing sport fishery on the Nushagak. boats, a common site during the summer sport fishing season. The program is managed by new boardmember Rick Tennyson At the September meeting,board members voted to expand the number of seats available on the Board from nine to eleven. The Board is now looking for candidates to fill those two seats. Board terms are for three years. Anyone wishing to be considered should contact Marjorie Dunaway at the Land Trust office in Dillingham at P.O. Box 1388, or by phone at (907) 842-2832 or by email to nmwtland@nushtel.com.
Land Trust Sponsors Symposium at Anchorage Museum for Opening of Robert Glenn Ketchum Exhibit radio program of local history that airs on KDLG public radio in Dillingham. The Land Trust hosted a symposium on Southwest Alaska at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art in May of 2006. The symposium helped open the exhibit of Southwest Alaska photographs by Robert Glenn Ketchum, a world renown nature photographer in the mold of Elliot Porter. The exhibit is entitled: Southwest Alaska: A Land of National Parks and Wildlife Refuges.It features a selection of work from his books Rivers of Life: Southwest Alaska The Last Great Salmon Fishery (with an essay by Bruce Hampton) and Wood- Largest State Park (with an essay by Bill Sherwonit). Both books were underwritten in part with funding obtained by the Land Trust. The symposium was well attended and featured speakers on several topics including local conservation efforts, remote travel in the region, commercial fishing and mining history, salmon habitat issues and unsolved local murder mysteries. A presentation of both sides of the Pebble mine issue made for an interesting and lively lunch discussion. The symposium was underwritten by grants from Bristol Bay Native Corporation, the Alaska Conservation Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy. The exhibit moved to Fairbanks after closing in September in Anchorage. The next venue is Homer where it will remain until May when it resumes its tour in the Lower 48. It is expected to tour throughout the United States for the next several years. New Book About Southwest, Alaska John Branson, historian for the Lake Clark National Park, recently released a revised and expanded version of his popular historical anthology of Southwest, Alaska. The new book is entitled Our Story: Readings from Southwest, Alaska and is published by the Alaska Natural History Association. Many of the new additions were provided by his coeditor Tim Troll who selected them from, Front Cover of Our Story: Readings From Southwest, Alaska The additional readings emphasize first person accounts. Material published for the first time includes a narrative by Dave Carlson about trapping at Nuyakuk Lake in 1936, an account of local health conditions in 1912 from Dr. Linus Hiram French, the founder of Kanakanak Hospital in Dillingham, and a list of children surviving the 1919 Spanish Flu and living at the Kanakanak orphanage in 1926. Our Story will be available at the National Park Service Visitor Centers in King Salmon, Port Alsworth, and Anchorage. Books will also be available for purchase at several bookstores in Anchorage, at various outlets in Dillingham including the Land Trust office, and several lodges in the region. The Land Trust and the National Park Service collaborated on the book, but many other organizations contributed funding to make the book possible, including: BristolBayNative Corporation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Lake and Peninsula Borough and School District, City of Dillingham, Sam Fox Museum, Alaska Humanities Forum, National Endowment for the Humanities, Alaska Conservation Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Lake Clark Air, Pen Air, Iliamna Air Taxi, and Lake and Peninsula Air.
The book also would not have been possible without the generous contribution of photographs from people and institutions in Bristol Bay and from around the state and country. A second parcel of 80 acres on the Mulchatna River was purchased by the Land Trust from Nels Wahl Jr. The property is located at the mouth of Keefer Creek. The purchase protects an important river crossing for the Mulchatna Caribou Herd as well as nearby spawning habitat for salmon. The purchase was made with funds from a grant by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through The Nature Conservancy, and a donation from Mr. Bob Gillam, President of McKinley Capital Management. Co-editors John Branson, Historian for Lake Clark National Park and Preserve and Tim Troll, Land Trust Executive Director. Photo courtesy Clark Mishler. Land Trust Secures Two Properties for Conservation The Land Trust recently closed conservation deals on two important properties. One parcel of 38 acres near the mouth of the Agulowak River originally belonged to Raymond Conquest who wanted to see his land remain undeveloped. The property is inside the Wood-Tikchik State Park and was secured as part of the Agulowak River Initiative of the Land Trust and The Conservation Fund. The Conservation Fund, a national conservation organization, purchased the property and recently transferred ownership to the Land Trust. The Land Trust contributed a $50,000 North America Wetlands Conservation grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help with the initial purchase. Boardmember Luki Alelkok on newly acquired Land Trust property on Mulchatna River. Luki was the major proponent for the purchase. Partnership With The Nature Conservancy in Alaska The acquisition of the parcel on the Mulchatna River is the first conservation purchase in the Nushagak watershed outside of a protected area. The property is surrounded by State land, but that land is not part of a park, refuge or other kind of conservation unit. The status of surrounding land is a significant issue for the acquisition of isolated small parcels. To address this situation the Land Trust in partnership with The Nature Conservancy is enlisting the support of local Native corporations to leverage the protection of small parcels with a larger conservation goal to protect the entire Nushagak-Mulchatna watershed. The larger conservation effort will be built upon a foundation of traditional knowledge about places within the watershed that are important for preserving salmon and other species needed for maintaining local subsistence activities. The following two page update from The Nature Conservancy in Alaska describes this unique project.
Financial Status - 2006 During 2006 the Land Trust raised $11,890 in general donations, $949 for the Stewardship fund, $54,686 in grant support, $20,652 in sales income (books, t-shirts, canned salmon), and $5,802 in interest. Total income for the year was $86,440; expenses came to $61,729. For 2006 the Land Trust had net income of $30, 514 and retained earnings of $208,818. Total equity increased 15% from 2005. The decline last year of $20,000 in total equity was regained and increased in 2006. Total equity for the Land Trust at the end of 2006 was $240,472. Corporate assets at year-end were distributed as follows: General Savings $209,384 General Checking $2,754 Stewardship Fund $28,824 Accounts Receivable $520 Visit the Land Trust website to learn more about our work, our partners, and our Board of Directors. Also available on the website are copies of organizational documents, IRS non-profit certifications, financial reports to the IRS, copies of important actions of the Board, and previous Annual Reports. www.nmwtlandtrust.org P.O. Box 1388 Dillingham, AK 99576