Predicting the future after Ballot Measure 1 fails to pass

The elections this year are finally over. To be honest, the various elections I had an interest in all turned out like I expected, but that’s not to say I wasn’t disappointed with a few of the results. I didn’t think Ballot Initiative 1 would pass, but I was hoping to be surprised that it would.

I’m not going to beat a dead horse here, but I will make a prediction (move over Swami and make room for the new kid) and explain why I think so. With the failure of #1 to pass, I predict that within 25 to 50 years, give or take, the status of our Alaskan wild salmon populations will rival the poor wild salmon populations currently found in the Pacific Northwest, because of poorly regulated development, among other factors, which will occur in Alaska during that time frame.

Sure, other things will contribute to declining salmon numbers; things like changing ocean conditions, warming climates, and overfishing. But poorly regulated development along Alaska’s freshwater salmon systems, something we can control, will help kill off the few salmon returning from the polluted ocean waters because of inadequate and damaged spawning and rearing habitat for the early life stages of the salmon themselves.

This is one prediction I sincerely hope is wrong, but I wouldn’t bet against it. Because of the nearly 2 to 1 public vote against the initiative, I wouldn’t expect the legislature to even consider taking any action for the foreseeable future. Why should they? The public has clearly and overwhelmingly said they do not support the strengthening of fish habitat regulations.

I would expect to see a new push to develop major mining projects resulting in the utter destruction of watersheds currently supporting salmon runs. I haven’t heard of a single instance anywhere in the world where a major mining operation has been successfully cleaned up and fish habitat restored to its pre-mining condition with fish naturally reoccurring in the freshwater system – not one instance!

I’m disappointed that we, the people of Alaska, have decided to ignore the history of lost wild salmon stocks and, combined with that ignorance and greed to make a quick buck at the expense of a renewable natural resource, will repeat the destructive process of wild salmon in Alaska. I’m only happy that I won’t be alive to see this environmental destruction culminate in poor wild salmon runs down the road!

Speaking of fisheries habitat, the 11th Annual Mat-Su Salmon Science & Conservation Symposium will be happening next week, Nov. 14-15, at the Palmer Community Center (the Depot) from 9am to 4pm both days. To quote from the symposium flyer: “The Symposium is a forum to share information on Mat-Su Basin watersheds, salmon, and salmon habitat; promoting an exchange of ideas about salmon science and conservation.”

There will also be an evening event on Nov. 14 hosted at Turkey Red in Palmer. The event will be a book reading by the keynote speaker for the symposium, Langdon Cook. The doors open at 5 pm with a wild and local foods dinner from 5:30 to 7 pm. Cost to participate for the evening is $30.

The two-day symposium has a $25/day registration cost and is open to the public to attend. This registration fee includes lunch and refreshments. Online registration is closed but you can contact Jessica Speed at jspeed@tnc.org and make arrangements for a late registration.

Langdon Cook, the keynote speaker, is a writer, instructor, and lecturer on wild foods and the outdoors, and will share scenes from his latest book, “Upstream: Searching for Wild Salmon, from River to Table.” This book is a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. In order to better understand how society values salmon, Cook has visited with people from diverse geographic areas and backgrounds to explore the ways this age-old connection between salmon and society is valued and safeguarded.

With his expertise and our just completed election results, the discussion should be entertaining and informative to say the least!

We’re a week into the application time period for the various drawing permit hunts in Alaska. The application period started on Nov. 1 and runs through close of business on Dec. 17 at 5 pm. The drawing permit hunt supplement is available online on the ADF&G website, but if you’re like me, you’ll want to study and mark up a hard copy in the course of determining which hunts you apply for. After checking three stores, I finally found a hardcopy to study!