USDA Forest Service, Alaska Region 2017 Accomplishments and 2018 Overview

FY 2018 Operating Budget

Regional Office $703,644 Chugach NF $280,000 Tongass NF $1,510,000 Other $6,356 Total $2,500,000

2017 Subsistence Program Accomplishments in Brief

The Management of National Forest Lands for Subsistence Uses Program plays a vital role in sustaining the health of rural Alaskan communities by ensuring healthy fish and wildlife populations are available to provide a reliable food supply for residents, and maintaining vital employment in remote reaches where opportunities are limited.

To ensure the program is supporting rural communities, the Forest Service (FS) has implemented a number of critical monitoring and management actions. Activities associated with this work were accomplished using Management of National Forest Lands for Subsistence Uses funds (SMSM). In FY 2017, the FS completed 14 regular-cycle wildlife regulatory management analyses to determine current population and appropriate harvest levels, and to determine appropriate management actions to provide for subsistence uses on the national forests in Alaska. FS staff provided input on another 43 wildlife regulatory proposals from around Alaska. The Forest Service also analyzed 11 and implemented 1 special actions to address immediate conservation and subsistence use issues.

In FY 2017, the Tongass National Forest (TNF) oversaw ten salmon stock assessment projects through our Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program (FRMP). Through the FRMP, the TNF partnered with six Tribal groups and with the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game (ADFG). The FRMP supported about 30 local jobs in rural communities with tribal organizations. The Chugach National Forest (CNF) completed year two of a black bear monitoring project with assistance from ADFG. The CNF also funded a fish wheel reconstruction project with the Native Village of Eyak and the US Fish &Wildlife Service, and a Gull Nest Success Study with the Prince William Sound Science Center. In combination, both National Forests completed 27 deer surveys, and four population surveys for moose and mountain goats. Most monitoring was implemented through contracts and agreements. All of these FS subsistence projects continue to be vital to effective management of subsistence uses, while providing for conservation of harvested species.

In FY 2017, Forest Service law enforcement issued 10 violations and one warning specific to subsistence uses. Again these numbers are significantly down from previous years due to Law Enforcement Officer and Forest Service subsistence program manager efforts in user education.

Together with the Department of the Interior, the Forest Service also continued to actively contribute to and to work cooperatively in the Statewide Federal Subsistence Management Program. These activities include annual rulemaking, fish and wildlife monitoring, law enforcement and education, and employment and capacity building. The Forest Service regularly consulted with Alaska Tribes and Native Corporations in order to comply with presidential and secretarial policy direction and to be respectful of the current and historical role of native Alaskans in managing for their customary and traditional subsistence uses.

Highlighted 2017 Subsistence Program Work

Neva Lake Weir – Tongass National Forest The Neva Lake Weir is a cooperative project between the US Forest Service and the Hoonah Indian Association, monitoring the escapement of Sockeye Salmon into Neva Lake to spawn. The lake’s Sockeye are an important subsistence resource for the people of Hoonah and nearby areas. At the weir, cameras capture live streams of salmon swimming into the lake and transmit the video to the nearby community of Excursion Inlet. There, technicians use motion-triggered computer recordings of the video to count fish entering the lake. A wireless internet connection allows project biologists to view live video and monitor the weir’s operation from anywhere in the world. The project provides real-time information crucial to management of Neva Lake Sockeye Salmon.

Hoonah, Alaska resident Gerard White Jr. works on a solar panel array at Neva Lake, as part of a cooperative project between the US Forest Service and the Hoonah Indian Association. Neva Lake Sockeye Salmon are an important subsistence resource to residents of Hoonah, and the project uses remote video monitoring to count salmon returning to the lake to spawn.

Prince William Sound Black Bear Monitoring Project – Chugach National Forest In response to dramatic declines in black bear harvest in Prince William Sound, the Chugach National Forest Subsistence program partnered with Alaska Department of Fish and Game in 2016 to begin a black bear study. The primary goal of the project is to evaluate habitat use, particularly the use of shoreline habitats where bears are most vulnerable to hunting pressure. Fifty-eight bears have been captured in the first two field seasons, with 33 satellite/GPS collars deployed thus far. Over 13,000 radio locations were collected in 2017. Trapping and collaring of additional bears will continue through 2018.

Milo Burcham, Chugach National Forest subsistence biologist, and Charlotte Westing, Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist, with tranquilized black bear that has been fitted with a satellite/GPS radio collar.

2018 Subsistence Program of Work

The FY 2018 President’s Budget proposes $2,500,000 for Management of National Forest Lands for Subsistence which is the same as the FY 2017 Enacted Budget. With this proposed funding, the Forest Service will continue to meet its responsibilities under the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and provide vital employment in isolated rural communities where opportunities are severely limited. The proposed funding level will also enable the Forest Service to continue to fund approximately 40 seasonal employees that collect fish and wildlife population data. The data is used to inform the establishment of annual harvest levels and is essential for keeping fish and wildlife populations strong.

The Forest Service will continue to use funds from the Congressional line-item for Subsistence (SMSM) to manage the overall Alaska Region Subsistence Management Program. SMSM funds will be used for projects and activities under the Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program (FRMP). Approximately $700,000 of 2018 funds is provided to the Tongass National Forest for FRMP project funding from SMSM. This funding will support three to five FRMP projects on the TNF in 2018. $70,000 is allocated to the Chugach National Forest for black bear monitoring and to develop cooperative projects with the Native Village of Eyak. The CNF is also developing an FRMP program. $100,000 is included in the RO allocation to fund an Interagency Agreement with the Office of Subsistence Management (OSM) for Regional Advisory Council, anthropology and fishery support. $50,000 of SMSM funds is allocated to supplement Law Enforcement (LEI). No funds are specifically available for the Wildlife Resource Monitoring Program, though funds can be spent for wildlife monitoring within each unit’s allocation. For example, SMSM funds are to be used for the CNF’s black bear monitoring project in cooperation with the ADF&G and we will continue to monitor deer, moose and mountain goat populations across the Forests.

Cumulative Forest Service Subsistence Program Work

To date on lands managed by the USDA Forest Service (Southeast and South-central Alaska), over $27 million has been invested to complete 88 projects in the Subsistence Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program. Nearly $15 million of that total has been direct contracts with Tribal governments to perform this work. At its peak, the Forest Service work supported over 65 jobs in rural Alaska. In 2017, this program supported 30 jobs in rural Alaskan communities with chronically high un-employment rates.

The Forest Service subsistence resource monitoring projects provide valuable information and build collaborative relationships with other Federal, State and Tribal partners. Our Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program has also helped to build capacity in local Tribal governments to conduct increasingly complicated and labor intensive projects. These projects have helped Tribal organizations to actively participate in regulatory decision-making by the State and Federal governments regarding wildlife and fisheries issues.