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Children's Book on Natural Indicators Annual Report Newsletter - Fall 2011

Mark Your Calendars for YRDFA’s 22nd Annual Meeting

It’s the event of the season, and you are invited! There will be great food (we’ve already hired a local culinary expert), fabulous entertainment, and friends from across the Yukon River drainage. The agenda will cover a wide range of topics significant to Yukon River fisheries, including culture, management, and policy. Do not miss out! Click here for more details.

Read the Latest News from the Yukon River Panel

In its most recent press release, the Yukon River Panel sums up the 2011 salmon fishing season, provides an update on its funding of Restoration and Enhancement projects, and notes its next meeting. Click here for more details. For more information on the Yukon River Panel and its work, click here to visit its official website.

YRDFA Board Presents Comments on Customary Trade

YRDFA’s Executive Committee gathered this fall and made recommendations regarding customary trade. While the committee did not have consensus to support either of the options put forth by the Tri-RAC Committee, it did offer guidance on the matter. Click here for more details.

YRDFA Begins Work on King Salmon Management Plan

YRDFA is launching a two-year project to develop a unified conservation plan to address the low king salmon runs to the Yukon River. At the core of this process will be a working group of stakeholders, agencies, and other experts. Click here for more details.

Watch New Video Interviews from YRDFA’s Founding Fathers

Spurred by declines in the salmon runs, in 1990 a contingent of lower river fishers traveled to the upper river for the first time to talk about sharing salmon. After that historic meeting in Galena, the next year an upper river delegation traveled to the lower river village of St. Mary’s to formally create the association known as YRDFA. With funds from the Alaska Humanities Forum, YRDFA was able to interview six people—Virgil Umphenour, Victor Lord, Richard Burnham, Lester Wilde, Harry Wilde, and John Lamont—who were either the initial founders of our organization or were there pretty early on in the process. We sought to document the hard work of fisheries leaders and young adults two decades past, and to gain insight. The salmon run is again in crisis; perhaps we can look to the past for solutions. Click here for more details.

Children’s Books & Teacher Toolkits on Natural Indicators on Sale Now

Long before sonars, counting tours, and management agencies, Yukon River Elders predicted the salmon runs. They observed the world around them—wind, birds, insects, fish, plants, water, weather, and even the moon—to determine when the salmon would come and how many would arrive. When Will the Salmon Come? Advice from Elders highlights this knowledge from the lower and middle river in a colorful, illustrated children’s book, and the knowledge is re-emphasized through a teacher toolkit. Click here for more details.