The Georgetown Tribal Council 2014 Annual Meeting
Environmental Report
July 30, 2014
In case you missed it, the GTC held its annual meeting this year at Tribal Council president, David “Buddy” Kutch’s residence in Chugiak, AK on July 19th. Seats B and C on the tribal council were up for election, and 33 votes representing 39.29% of the eligible voters were counted. The counts were:
Seat B Vanessa Evans 18 votes, Kim Notti 14 Votes
Seat C Traci Fredericks 27 votes
Congratulations to Vanessa and Traci!
The Army Corps of Engineers was also present to give a project update on the potential Donlin Gold mine and their involvement in the Environmental Impact Statement. Tribal administrator, Will Hartman, gave an update on financials and Buddy Kutch gave an update on the land committee and their work.
Environmental coordinator, Kate Schaberg, gave the environmental report. This will just document some of the highlights from the year:
Kuskokwim Fisheries Report
In 2014, the Chinook salmon fishery on the Kuskokwim River in refuge waters (below Aniak) was managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Waters above Aniak were managed by the ADF&G. Many found regulations from duel management difficult to keep straight. Unprecedented restrictions were in place this year – prior to start of the run, the entire river was closed to all Chinook fishing. The first subsistence opportunity was allowed in the lower river on June 20th. Overall, escapement numbers appear better this year, but taking into account heavy restrictions – it doesn’t appear that the total run was much bigger than last year – just more restrictions allowed the fish to make it to spawning grounds
Red Devil Mine Cleanup
The BLM considered 3 different alternatives for “Early Action” cleanup, which would prevent tailings migration into Red Devil Creek and the Kuskokwim River (Early action is a short term clean up to address urgent concerns). BLM Selected Alternative #4, which was to: “Realign the creek adjacent to the tailings piles, line the sides with gabion (a retaining wall of stones inside heavy wire mesh) to prevent erosion, and construct a sediment trap downstream as an additional safeguard against tailings migration in the creek”. Construction began in mid July and is scheduled to take place now through early August.
Kuskokwim River Watershed Council
New Staff were recently announced at KRWC! Adrian Boelens took over as Executive Director for the watershed council. Nominations are needed for a member and alternate to represent GTC on KRWC full board – August 20, 2014.
CONTACT THE GTC OFFICE IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN FILLING THIS ROLE.
The KRWC summit is tentatively scheduled for September 25-26, 2014 in Aniak. Elections to the KRWC executive board will be done at this time.
Water Quality Report
The GTC currently has data from 2007-2014 for multiple parameters with a database/map that houses data from several tribes, including Kalskag, Napaimute, Georgetown & Sleetmute. KRWC and Telida data will be included soon. In 2013/2014, presentations were given at the Alaska Forum on the Environment, the NW Tribal Water Rights Conference. Results and more information are available on our website.
Environmental Committee
The GTC Environmental committee currently consists of three members: Buddy Kutch, Renee Fredericks & Debby Hartman. We held our first quarterly meeting on May 17th. We put together an environmental assessment which will help get feedback from YOUon what your environmental concerns are for Georgetown. Our next meeting is tentatively scheduled for September 27th, at which time we will continue work on the Tribal Environmental Plan, including compilation of all survey results.
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| Georgetown members fill out environmental assessment at the GTC 2014 Annual Meeting |
For those of you who were unable to attend the annual meeting, surveys were sent in the mail with a return postage paid envelope and can also be found online at
Please complete the survey and submit or mail back by August 31st for entry into a drawing for a special prize!
We need your help to ensure our environmental vision is met:
To have a community and environment where land, water, and subsistence resources are preserved and respected.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or have any interest in participating in any of our environmental projects.
Kate Schaberg
GTC Environmental Coordinator
Kate.schaberg@georgetowntc.com
907-274-2195