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For information on the Harriman Retraced Expedition e-mail: harriman2001@science.smith.edu |
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The Glacier Bay Panel
convened at 4:20 p.m. on July 28 for a discussion of the
conservation and issues facing Glacier Bay National Park
& Preserve. Kim Heacox moderated, and began
with a ten minute opening. Next to speak was Greg Streveler,
founder of Icy Strait Environmental Services and co-chair of
the Alaska Board of Game. "The money-changers left the
temple but the temple hasn't yet been dedicated," Greg said,
referring to the commercialism in Glacier Bay. He focused on
the recent closure of commercial fishing in the Bay, and
gave three objectives for Marine Waters after the
closure: 2) Marine Laboratory: Allows
for partial openings to allow for scientific
study 3) Marine Reserve: Designs a
closed area to benefit the fisheries The next to speak was Johanna
Dybdahl, tribal administrator for the Hoonah Indian
Association. She explained that the Hoonah Tlingit have
inhabited the area for 9,000 years, according to
archaeological studies. "The creation of the national
park curtailed traditional food harvest in the area. We've
always believed that we are good stewards of the land," she
explained. "When you ask an elder about leaving Glacier Bay
it would appear that it had happened yesterday, the pain is
still so present… We want to protect this land forever
and we also want to partake of the resources as we have in
the past… My people travel here in small craft; this
has been considered their breadbasket, their food locker. To
deny them entry when huge cruise ships come in here every
day, we say, 'this can't happen.' We need to be allowed to
connect with our ancestral, spiritual homeland." She added that the Hoonah Indian
Association, which is not a corporation, does not support
ANILCA Title 8 Subsistence in Glacier Bay, as it would open
the Bay to intense rural use, for thousands of people to
hunt and fish as they please. This would destroy much of the
wilderness value in the Bay. Bill Brown, a retired historian
for the National Park Service and the author of several
important books on the national parks, then painted a
sobering picture of the loss of wildness in Alaska. He said
that two-thirds of all the nation's protected and preserved
lands are in Alaska. "You might have thought that the
Alaska Land's Act might have taken care of the preservation
of the lands. Not so. The debate has only gotten more and
more furious… Boom and bust defines the European period
in Alaska… The result of the fear of the end of the oil
boom is a resource politics that's run rampant…
National lands become prey to that desperation… If ANWR
(the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) goes, so too will
other protected lands. If we can't draw the line with these
places, where in God's name will we draw the line? These
national interest lands should be baselines of knowledge --
places where nature is still working at it's basic
rhythms… The question is: do we sustain the earth, or
do we sack it?" Jim Mackjovak, the author of
Hope and Hard Work, A History of Gustavus, then
addressed the Tongass timber issue, saying, "Trees weren't
considered trees in the jargon of forestry, they were
considered 'fiber,' and it didn't matter if eagles nested in
them or deer relied on them… The best of the forest is
gone. We are picking at the rind of a watermelon but the
heart's gone… The future is to concentrate on making
the most of what we have left, and doing it in a sustainable
manner." Hank Lentfer, president of
Friends of Glacier Bay, spoke to the disappearing wilderness
in Alaska, and the commercialization of everything, even the
sacred. "There is not a single cove or
river in Southeast Alaska that has not been exploited
commercially. There are no undiscovered places. I'm just
going to burst that bubble right now… I am no fan of
regulations. I have lived in Alaska my whole life and I find
regulations pretty damn distasteful, but the only thing I
find more distasteful is how badly we need them…
Glacier Bay was listed in Consumer Reports as the number one
national park. It is not the ranking I mind but the fact
that it was listed in Consumer Reports -- that
Glacier Bay is treated like a commodity." The last to speak was Tomie
Patrick Lee, Superintendent of Glacier Bay National Park.
"Most people who come and spend any time in Glacier Bay will
find that it gets inside you and touches a part of you that
you didn't know was there," she began. She had been warned
by colleagues (after accepting her new position in Glacier
Bay but before arriving in Alaska) that people who live in
the area would attempt to co-opt her and make her policies
part of their personal agendas. But it didn't happen that
way. It was the land itself that co-opted her, that
persuaded her to stand up in defense of what little wildness
remains. "Glacier Bay gives America the opportunity not to
make the same mistakes it has made with parks in the
past… What we're really here for is to protect Glacier
Bay for your experience when you come to the
park." After that, the questions were
eager and furious, dealing first with commercial fishing,
then with the challenges facing Tomie Lee to make difficult
decisions under the hot glare of Alaska's pro-development
congressional delegation. Kim Heacox summarized the
discussion by saying that national parks are paradoxical
places that are best explored deeply yet also lightly; they
are places to exercise freedom yet also restraint. They may
someday be the only vast wild places left, where in a world
of dotcoms, sitcoms, factoids and fashion, we can go and
find out who we are, where we came from and what we stand
for.
For information on the Harriman Retraced Expedition e-mail: harriman2001@science.smith.edu
Expedition
Log
1) Marine Plant
Concept: Minimizes human contact and presents a
"primitive environment"
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