Community Observations on Climate Change Arctic Village, Fort Yukon and Venetie, Alaska 1 Table of Contents Introduction 4 Background 8 Region 10 The New Climate 12 Communities 16 • Fort Yukon 18 • Arctic Village 24 Above: Climate change was the topic at a community meeting in Venetie. Right: Sunset over • Venetie 40 the Yukon. Environment Impacts 56 Primary funding provided by the U.S. Geological Survey. Supplemental funding by the U.S. Health Impacts 57 Environmental Protection Agency. In-kind provided by our partners. Thank you all for your support. Findings 59 Recommendations 61 Conclusion 62 Note: All photos by Mike Brubaker unless otherwise indicated. 2 “We have lived here all our lives. We know the changes that are occurring.” Jerry Frank, First Chief, Venetie Field Survey Participants Brian Berube – Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Mike Brubaker – Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Brandon Garnett – Arctic Village Traditional Council Albert Gilbert Jr. - Arctic Village Traditional Council Rocky James – Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich’in Tribal Council James Kelly – Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments Racheal Lee – Tanana Chiefs Conference Antonio Sisto - Venetie Village Council Danielle Stickman – Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council Ryan Toohey – United State Geologic Survey Lance Whitewell – Venetie Tribal Council We appreciate the participation and support of all of our localCover: and Yukon regional River. tribal Above: partners! Chandlar River 3 Spruce bark beetle infestation near White Mountain. Introduction “I haul wood for a living. The low snow years are For the Upper Yukon area, climate change tough on snow machines. People sometimes hit has become a daily fact of life, causing a tree stumps. I did that once and ripped a whole wide range of impacts to the environment, ski off.” Jerrald John, Arctic Village and in some cases to community health. In 2015 the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) organized a climate change impacts assessment in Arctic Village, Fort Yukon, and Venetie. Funding was provided by the USGS and in- kind support was provided by local tribal partners including Arctic Village Traditional Council, Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich’in Tribal Council, and the Venetie Village Council. The assessment was also performed in partnership with three regional tribal Above: The primary source for heating is wood. Dry organizations: the Council of Athabascan conditions can result in a surplus of dead trees, good for Tribal Governments, (CATG) the Tanana firewood. However, low snow conditions in recent years Chiefs Conference (TCC), and the Yukon have impacted travel conditions and access to firewood. River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council (YRITWC). 4 “Our kids are going to ask us what we left them, hunting, fishing … we have to protect this for our kids.” Gideon James, Arctic Village 5 The information from community surveys also include findings from a 2012 Fort Yukon survey performed by ANTHC and funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Fort Yukon site visits were performed August 10-12, 2012 and July 15–16, 2015 Arctic Village visits were January 4–5, 2016 and August 8-9, 2016. Venetie site visits were January 6-8, 2016 and August 8- 12, 2016. A project presentation was made in Fort Yukon at the CATG 30th Anniversary meeting on August 20, 2015. Above: Staying cool. Fort Yukon has the state high temperature record. With increasing summer heat, residents are early Each assessment included at least one adopters of cooling technology like air conditioning, a rarity in community tour, interviews with key Alaska. An air conditioning window insert can be seen in the environmental and health staff, health back wall of the tribal council office in Fort Yukon. clinic, water plant and solid waste site Right: These solar panels at the tribal council office in Fort Yukon tours, school and classroom visits, river generate enough energy in summer to power the interior air survey, meeting with tribal staff and conditioning units. leadership, public meeting. Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network As climate change is reducing the cost of heating, it is also training for tribal environmental staff, and increasing the need for cooling. Air conditioning systems were, the installation of time lapse cameras to until recently, virtually unheard of in the Arctic. Fort Yukon is one of the first rural communities in Alaska to implement air help monitor environmental change. 6 conditioning in homes and public buildings. “We had 86 degrees fahrenheit on the 26th of June 2015. When have we ever seen temperatures like that!” Charlie Swaney, Arctic Village 7 Background The purpose of this assessment is to begin to document effects both positive and negative Along the upper Yukon, and the Chandalar on community health. River, residents describe change in the timing of seasons, frequency of unusual weather events, decrease in ice and snow, increasing temperatures, wildfire, lake and creek drying, river change, erosion, and vegetation growth. Climate change is also associated with plants, fish, insects and animals emerging at times and in places where and when they were not seen before, raising questions about the implications for salmon, caribou, waterfowl, wild berries and other subsistence resources. The tribal health system recognizes the importance of understanding the Above: Rocky James and Albert Thomas catch dinner from connections between climate change, the Yukon River during a 2012 survey. environmental impacts and health effects. Right: A fish wheel on the shore in Fort Yukon, out of Including the potential for disease, injury, commission because of a fishing closure. food and water insecurity and the impacts on critical health infrastructure. 8 “If the temperature continues to rise on the Yukon, we may never see any fish again.” Jerry Frank, Venetie 9 The Region “For some reason, last September was raining all the time. There was water running all over The communities are located within the Yukon the place.” Eddie Frank, Venetie River watershed which starts at the Llewellyn Glacier headwaters in British Columbia, and extends all the way to the Bering Sea. The watershed covers an area of 321,500 square miles. The word Yukon, is derived from the Gwich’in language and refers to the color of the river, rich with glacial silt. Fort Yukon is located on the river and only two other communities (Eagle, Circle) lie between it and the Canadian border. Arctic Village and Venetie are located to the north, on the Chandalar, a tributary of the Yukon River. Above: Map of the Upper Yukon Region. Source: Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge. Much of the area is encompassed within the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, which covers over This is critical habitat for birds, fish, mammals, and 10 million acres. The Yukon Flats area is in itself a people. It provides the Gwich'in Athabascan with vast region with diverse landscapes, mountains, clean air and water, and a range of subsistence tundra, and lake-dotted wetlands, mixed forests of resources that support healthy traditional conifers and deciduous trees, and the many lifestyles. Today the region is rapidly changing as a tributaries that feed the Yukon. result of climate change. 10 “I used to have a canoe and would hunt ducks here. Now all the water is gone.” Rocky James, Fort Yukon 11 “When I was a boy, everything was so nice, The New Climate the cycles of the year were perfect. Life was “Climate” describes a long term condition, as healthy, but humans have caused all of this opposed to day to day “weather”. With rapid to tilt.” Gideon James, Arctic Village change occurring, defining ‘the new climate’ is challenging. Scientists use historic data to develop projections for future conditions. But there are only a few long term weather stations in Alaska. The closest to the these communities is Bettles located about 140 miles west of Venetie or Fairbanks which is about the same distance from Fort Yukon. Mean annual temperature trend data is available from the Alaska Climate Science Center. The record shows a lot of year to year variation, but a definite gradual temperature increase (about 3 degrees) between 1949 and 2014. Both stations have seasonal differences, with the biggest change (about 7 degrees F) occurring in winter, and the least (1-2 degrees F) occurring in autumn. Climate models have been developed by the Scenario Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning (SNAP), for temperature and precipitation through 2099. These are included in the community section of this report. Source: Alaska Climate Science Center 12 Everyone was too scared to go out on the ice. It kept freezing and thawing and freezing and thawing. The Ice went out before we could fish. Delores Larson - Koliganek Infestation of spruce bark beetles is another concern. Drought can make trees more vulnerable to beetles and wildfire. 13 A longer growing season can result in abundance, or conditions that are too hot and dry for Arctic plants. 14 “We are very worried about the salmon. We depend upon them for our food supply.” Rocky James, Fort Yukon 15 Communities “We see birds around here we have never seen before. We are shooting different kinds This section provides an overview of each of the of ducks and eider species.” three communities included in the assessment. Gerald James, Venetie The location on the river, landscape, community population, local services and climate change related concerns are all included in the discussion. During the assessments key observations were shared by community members, both about recent change, and changes that have occurred over decades or a lifetime. Although each community is different, there were common impacts reported and shared concerns about extreme weather, drought, changes in the river channel, bank erosion, lake drying, vegetation change, and about the health of people and subsistence resources. Above: Main street Arctic Village.