2021 Fisheries Technician Job Announcement

Hey everyone!
ONC fisheries is now preparing for the summer 2021 season and looking to recruit technicians and ANSEP interns. This is a great opportunity for highschool or university students to get experience working with a tribal organization fishery program.
Attached below is the fisheries technician announcement.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10pIYgigDbqFU_pytm4melVOZAmNHtSKO/view?usp=sharing
Please have interested applicants send a resume & cover letter to Katie Russell [krussell@nativecouncil.org] and Danielle Lowrey [dlowrey@nativecouncil.org].
Quyana!

COMMUNITY SURVEY

ONC’s Environmental Program is hoping to gauge what environmental issues are most important to the community. We will put together resources for the community on these issues once they are identified. Please share your email at the end of the survey if you wish to receive resources directly. These resources will also be shared in a variety of ways late spring of 2021.

All participants in the survey will be entered into a drawing for gift card prizes!!

QUYANA for your participation!!

EPA Releases New Curriculum to Protect Children in Indian Country and Communities from Lead Exposure

https://us.vocuspr.com/Publish/518041/vcsPRAsset_518041_117252_ac72e661-9a5c-47d7-888c-32b1eb83fb34_0.jpg

WASHINGTON (October 21, 2020) —As part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) celebration of Children’s Health Month, the agency released a curriculum to help tribes and all communities protect children from potential lead exposure. The Lead Awareness in Indian Country: Keeping our Children Healthy! curriculum advances the Trump Administration’s commitment to the Federal Action Plan to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposures and Associated Health Impacts by providing practical, on-the-ground, community-based resources to reduce childhood lead exposure.

“EPA is dedicated to working closely with our partners to improve the health and safety of children,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Alexandra Dapolito Dunn. “Lead exposure disproportionately impacts children and this curriculum is an easy-to-use resource designed to empower tribes and other communities to take an active role in reducing childhood lead exposure.”

“We are pleased that this curriculum reflects the vision that EPA had from its inception that it would be built in close collaboration with tribes and would reflect tribal specific issues and solutions for all tribes and communities,” said Chair of the National Tribal Toxics Council Dianne Barton. “Our experiences with the pilots indicate that the curriculum’s materials can be easily tailored and modified to meet individual tribal program needs such as Head Start, tribal housing authority, maintenance or environmental education. The curriculum is beneficial and convenient for everyone to use in their own communities.”

EPA collaborated with the National Tribal Toxics Council and the National EPA-Tribal Science Council to develop the curriculum to include relevant tribal scenarios and cultural information to increase awareness and education in Indian country. As a result, the curriculum was developed in partnership with over 200 tribal representatives from approximately 80 different tribal governments and tribal organizations. These partners evaluated and enhanced materials by providing feedback during development or by attending one of seven curriculum pilots hosted by tribes and tribal organizations.

The Lead Awareness in Indian Country: Keeping our Children Healthy! curriculum is a series of four modules which include lesson plans, worksheets, key messages, presentation slides, and kids activity sheets that community leaders and other instructors can use to improve public awareness of the dangers associated with lead exposure and promote preventative actions. The design balances diverse community backgrounds, technical information and localized knowledge to allow instructors an opportunity to plan and deliver unique messages within each structured module. The format establishes a community-based platform where learning and teaching strategies come together to focus on meaningful community engagement.

The curriculum improves the understanding of lead’s potential impacts on children’s health and cultural practices and encourages actions that can be taken to reduce and/or prevent childhood lead exposure.

Since the 1970s, the United States has made tremendous progress in lowering children’s blood lead levels. Lead exposure, particularly at higher doses, continues to pose a significant health and safety threat to children, preventing them from reaching the fullest potential of their health, their intellect, and their future. No safe level of lead exposure has been identified for children, making them particularly vulnerable and underscoring that anything you can do to reduce exposure can improve life outcomes. 

To view the curriculum and learn more about EPA’s actions on lead, visit https://www.epa.gov/lead.

Spring 2021 Seed Potato Program Community Comments

Please take 2 minutes to complete this survey on ONC’s Seed Potato program. The program has been running for the last 20 years, providing seed potatoes to community members across Bethel. We need community support and comments to be able to continue running the program- so please let us know how you feel!

Potato - Wikipedia

Quyana for your time!

Job Announcement at the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge

The YDNWR is hiring locally for a GS-4 seasonal Park Ranger to help with visitor services. The job announcement is posted below:

United States Department of the Interior

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

1011 E. Tudor Road

Anchorage, Alaska  99503

————————————————-

JOB OPPORTUNITY NOTICE

R7-21-202637661-TD-LH

 OPENING DATE14 Dec 20       

CLOSING DATE31 Dec 20

————————————————-

POSITION:  Park Ranger (Visitor Services Technician), GS-0025-04

SALARY:  $34,901 – $45,369 per year, $16.72 – $21.74 per hour (plus 4.40% COLA)

LOCATION:  Bethel, Alaska

WHO MAY APPLY:  Any qualified U.S. citizen who has lived or worked in or near Alaska public lands and has special knowledge or expertise concerning the natural and cultural resources of the public lands and the management thereof.  This includes an applicant who was once a resident, moved away, but is intending to re-establish local residency.

WORK PERIOD:  This is a full-time temporary NTE 1039 hours.

ORGANIZATION:  Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge

DUTIESThe incumbent serves as Park Ranger for the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge or the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. Duties include serving as a Visitor Services Specialist at a National Wildlife Refuge Complex assisting with the operations of the refuges visitor services program.

For more information on the duties of this position contact:

Yukon Delta NWR – Gisela Chapa, (907) 543-1004, Gisela_chapa@fws.gov

 

KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: 

Applicants must have knowledge or expertise concerning the natural or cultural resources of public lands in Alaska and the management thereof.  Knowledge of refuge boundaries, wilderness areas and subsistence uses within those areas.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

  1. Travel, transportation, and relocation expenses will not be paid by the Department. Any travel, transportation and relocation expenses associated with reporting for duty in this position will be the responsibility of the selected employee.  
  2. U.S. Fish and Wildlife has determined that this position is suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.
  3. Selectee will be required to wear an official U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service uniform.
  4. All Federal employees are required by PL 104-134 to have federal payments made by Direct Deposit.
  5. Background Investigations:  Employment in this position requires a background investigation which may delay your starting date.  If you are selected and cannot obtain a favorable adjudication within a reasonable period of time due to disclosed or undisclosed background issues, the employment offer may be withdrawn.
  6. Male applicants born after December 31, 1959 must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
  7. You will be required to provide proof of US citizenship.

HOW TO APPLY:  The closing date is 31 December 2020 at 4:00 PM (Alaska Time).  Do not include any information that contains any personally identifiable information (sex, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, color, marital status, disability, political affiliation, race, religion, age, date of birth, social security number, criminal history, photos, etc.).  Applications should be based on your qualifications for the position only (education, experience, etc.)

  1. Resume
    • Please ensure that your resume contains:
  • Your full name
  • Address, including zip code
  • Telephone number
  • Whether or not you claim veterans’ preference in employment
  • Your country of citizenship
  • College and/or graduate school name(s), dates attended, date and type of degree earned or, if no degree earned, show credits earned.
  • Work experience: for each period of employment or non-paid work, include dates of employment (month and year of starting and ending dates), number of hours worked per week and salary, job title (if the position was in the federal government, include the official job title, occupational series and grade), the employer’s name and address, supervisor’s complete name and telephone number and indicate whether current supervisor may be contacted and a description of the major duties performed and accomplishments.
  • Any other job related qualifications such as language skills, technical/mechanical skills, professional certificates/licenses and dates received, honors, awards, and special accomplishments related to this position.
  1. Supplemental Questionnaire, attached.
  2. DD-214 member copy 4 or other documents to support veteran’s preference status
  3. SF-15, Application for 10-Point Veteran’s Preference and supporting documentation, if you are claiming a service-connected disability
  4.  Statement of military service to meet the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act (https://chcoc.gov/content/vow-veterans-opportunity-work-hire-heroes-act-2011)

The resume and supplemental questionnaire are the basis for determining eligibility and qualifications.  In addition, interviews may be conducted for this position on a pass/fail basis or may be scored.

Method to submit application:

  1. Email: travis_doyle@fws.gov  (received by closing date)
  2. Fax: 907-786-3841, ATTN:  Travis Doyle (received by closing date)
  3. Mail: Human Resource Office, Attn:  Travis Doyle, 1011 E. Tudor Rd, Anchorage, AK  99503 (postmarked by closing date and received within 5 business days)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Working for the Department of Interior offers a comprehensive benefits package that may include, in part, paid vacation, sick leave, holidays, life and health insurance.  In addition, you may be eligible for retirement benefits and/or participation in the Thrift Savings Plan which includes a percentage of government matching.  You may even be able to work a flexible schedule.  The following web address is provided for your reference to explore the major benefits offered to most Federal employees.  To find out more go to:  https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/benefits/

Privacy Act Information: The application you submit for this position contains information subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (PL 93-579, 5U.S.C. 522a).  We are required to provide you with information regarding the authority and purpose for collecting this data, the routine uses which will be made of it, and the effect, if any, of non-disclosure.  You are entitled to the same information as it pertains to disclosure of your social security number.

This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis.

The U.S. Department of Interior is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Selection for this position will be made solely on the basis of merit, fitness, and qualifications without regard to race, gender, color, religion, age, marital status, national origin, non-disqualifying handicap conditions, sexual orientation, political affiliation, or other non-merit factors.

We may use this announcement to fill additional vacancies within 90 days of closing date of this announcement.

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Tell DNR that we need to protect the Yukon-Kuskokwim watershed

In the Yukon-Kuskokwim we are suffering from spikes in COVID-19 case numbers and have been in lockdown mode for over a month now and some dear elders have departed. Despite the fact that residents and Tribal offices are in crisis and have asked for a pause in permitting for Donlin, the State of Alaska continues to march forward with issuing permits for the project.

Submit Comments Here

The latest is DNR proposing to issue 12 water permits that would give Donlin Gold the rights to withdraw water from 12 streams in the Kuskokwim watershed near Donlin Gold. DNR is allowing for only a 30 day comment period that ends at 5:00 PM on December 15th.

The holiday season is always a difficult time to respond, but combined with lockdowns and office closures, meaningful responses from Tribal leaders is next to impossible. That is why we are asking that you respond by submitting comments because we know from previous requests that the State of Alaska will not likely extend the comment period.

Submit Comments Here

The State of Alaska has continued to violate the human rights of the people of the Yukon-Kuskokwim and the utter disrespect toward our cultural practices, our connection to the land and what it provides for our people cannot be construed as anything other than acts of racism veiled by ‘process.’

Submit Comments Here

The 12 water rights permits that are subject to comment now will de-water creeks – including Crooked Creek – to the point of drying up ⅔ to ¾ of the salmon redds. In other words, DNR wants to give-away this vital habitat and the food sources of salmon and smelt that it supports to mining entities to be defiled and destroyed for gold that is intended to fuel nothing more than human vanity.

Quyana Caqnek,

Beverly Hoffman

Community and Cultural Activist

Alaska’s Pristine Bering Sea Western Interior at Risk of Resource Extraction

BLM draft plan rejects tribes’ nominations for protection of critical watersheds

David Shaw
David W. Shaw

This issue brief is part of a series outlining public lands in Alaska that are in danger of losing protection.

Overview

Since 2016, the U. S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U. S. Forest Service have advanced five efforts that would dramatically alter protections for some 60 million acres of federally managed land in Alaska. If fully enacted, the policies and decisions outlined in those proposed and finalized plans would open vast stretches of the Bering Sea-Western Interior, Tongass National Forest, Central Yukon, National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and unencumbered BLM land to extractive development and have significant impacts on Alaska’s lands, rivers, wildlife, and the Indigenous peoples who call these landscapes home.1

Pristine watersheds threatened


Arnold Demoski, the Nulato Tribe’s natural resources coordinator, harvests king salmon from the Nulato River. This watershed is a critical resource to the tribe and community.
Alice Demoski

 

 

The Bering Sea-Western Interior planning region is home to over 65 Indigenous communities whose traditional ways of life, supported by abundant fish, wildlife, and plants, have nurtured countless generations.2 The vast area includes most of the Yukon River, Kuskokwim River, and Unalakleet River watersheds, as well as other critical ecosystems that federally recognized tribes in Alaska have stewarded for thousands of years. Future uses of 13.5 million acres will be decided in the BLM’s planning process.

The region’s sovereign tribes have asked the BLM to protect watersheds important to local communities, but the bureau’s preferred plan would open 99% of the 13.5 million acres to extractive development.3 (See Figure 1.) BLM’s own reports have said some watersheds are “rare and irreplaceable” and support “an internationally significant fisheries resource,” with fish that travel more than 2,000 miles along the Yukon River to Canada and provide food for thousands of people along the way.4

“The Nulato Tribe supports protections for our traditional lands and waterways. As Indigenous people, our cultural and traditional way of life is being threatened in multiple ways. Our salmon and our reindeer are threatened. If we lose all of our natural resources, our future generations will be fighting for survival.”

—Arnold DemoskiNulato Tribe’s natural resources coordinator

The Bering Sea and Interior Tribal Commission, comprising more than two dozen tribes from the region, opposes the proposed plan and has asked BLM’s Alaska director’s office for better balance between extraction and conservation, and for watersheds nominated by tribes to be designated as areas of critical environmental concern. BLM has rejected the tribes’ appeals.5

The BLM is required by law to balance the many uses—including development and conservation—of the public lands it manages, but opening virtually all of the Bering Sea-Western Interior to potential extraction industry activity conflicts with that mandate. If the final plan mirrors the draft plan, it will put at risk essential watersheds that sovereign tribes rely on and that have historical, cultural, and economic significance.

Smokehouse

Western Alaska families use smokehouses—like this one that belongs to Arnold Demoski’s family—to preserve the salmon harvest.

Rosa Peter