Developing internships for the council’s future

By LISA MATLOCK
Council Outreach Coordinator

Lisa Matlock makes a new friend at the 2014 Copper River Wild! festival in Cordova.
Lisa Matlock makes a new friend at the 2014 Copper River Wild! festival in Cordova.

In February 2015, the council will be 25 years old. We are an organization in transition, created by one generation and moving to the next. In the past year alone, several board members and long-time staff have retired, or, sadly, passed away. At every meeting, the board discusses the importance of finding and recruiting passionate younger citizens who will eventually be called upon to represent the council’s member entities and work on behalf of our mission. To help answer this need, the council has been developing an internship project to engage the next generation.

Pilot internships

The project began in 2014 with two interns working on very different pilot projects. Cordova High School student Sarah Hoepfner spent a few hours each month of the past year using traps and plates to monitor for European green crab and invasive tunicate species in the Cordova area. She also worked with several classrooms in Cordova this spring and at the Copper River Wild! Festival this summer to educate youth about invasive species. Sarah has been mentored by Information and Education Committee volunteer, Kate Morse, and Science Advisory Committee project manager, Joe Banta. Sarah’s final report on this summer’s aquatic nuisance species monitoring will be completed this fall.

Read more

Experience in Sound ignites educators’ passion to pass on environmental stewardship

By Elly Ray
Seward, Alaska

Participants in the Teacher expedition class pose in front of a glacier.
Participants in the teacher expedition class pose in front of a glacier.

When the 1989 oil spill happened in Prince William Sound, I remember being horrified about it and doing my share of finger pointing. Yet, in no way did I even begin to understand the impact it had on Alaskans and their way of life. As a 28-year-old Pennsylvanian, it fit my notions of environmental degradation, and that’s where it stopped.

Appreciating Alaska for its lifestyle and pure beauty only began when I moved here in 2005. As I developed friendships and began exploring the great land with my children and my spouse, I began to understand the subsistence culture I had joined—but my understanding leapt this summer through an amazing experience I shared with several teachers in Prince William Sound. Now the oil spill creates in me a strong drive to be proactive about protecting this wonderful place we live.

Can we measure the passion Alaskan youth have for Alaska? Could they possibly be taking the beauty and way of life for granted? Can we trust them yet as we pass the torch of protecting our land and way of life to them? Their young lives have not been interrupted by a major earthquake, tsunami, or oil spill of the Exxon Valdez magnitude. While they partake in the lifestyle, do they have a deep understanding of its vulnerability?

Instructor Tim Lydon leads class beside the glaciers in Barry Arm.
Instructor Tim Lydon leads class beside the glaciers in Barry Arm.

This is where my July adventure in Prince William Sound ties it all together for me. Under the thoughtful guidance of Betsi Oliver, from Alaska Geographic, and Tim Lydon, of the USFS, six Alaskan teachers, one San Francisco teacher, and one UAF journalism student camped, kayaked, and studied together for one week in the Nellie Juan Wilderness Area of Prince William Sound. During that time, we shared amazing experiences.

We attended class led by Lydon while watching a seal spy on us from the shoreline, and a whistle pig get comfortably close to us on the boulders where we sat. We ate gourmet food prepared by Oliver, as we chatted about the Native Alaskans who slept on the same wilderness shores we visited, and the gold miners and explorers who called this their home many years ago. We joked that we’d traded in our computers and smartphones for glacier TV: “Ohhhhhhhhh! Did you see that one?” and “Wow that was a huge piece that fell off. Did you hear it crash?” We slept with the chill from the nearby glaciers, forcing us deeper into our mummy bags. We paddled through still waters that reflected the snow-capped mountains and floated for hours in our kayaks near several tidewater glaciers. We felt disgusted when we learned how there is still oil from the spill just under the surface on many beaches. I believe I can safely speak for all of us when I say that we came away with a determination to make a difference, having been changed forever by the closeness we felt with Alaska during our trip.

Paddling through the Nellie Juan Wilderness Area in Prince William Sound.
Paddling through the Nellie Juan Wilderness Area in Prince William Sound.

I’m an Alaskan elementary school teacher, and now I fully grasp my responsibility. To make a difference, I must provide experiences for my students that leads them to understand how it will be their job as they get older to protect our precious natural resources—the water, plants, and animals—and the lifestyle that so many Alaskans depend upon. I must ignite their passion so it burns as brightly as mine does now. My wish is that environmental degradation is not simply a catch phrase on my students’ lips. Instead, it needs to propel them into action to prevent ruin from ever touching our shores again.

First of two new oil tankers to begin service in Prince William Sound in 2014

Photo of Liberty Bay courtesy of Aker Philadelphia Shipyard.
Photo of Liberty Bay oil tanker courtesy of Aker Philadelphia Shipyard.

The first of two new SeaRiver oil tankers is expected to begin service in Prince William Sound later this year.

SeaRiver, the shipping arm of ExxonMobil, held a naming ceremony for the vessel Liberty Bay on April 25. The second vessel will be named Eagle Bay.

Built by Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc., both vessels measure 823.5 feet long and 144 feet wide, and have double hull protection for both cargo and fuel tanks. The vessels are capable of carrying 115,000 tons of weight including cargo, fuel, ballast water, provisions and crew. Cargo capacity is 800,000 barrels (approximately 33.6 million gallons). Propelled by a slow speed diesel engine, the vessels’ “service speed” is 15 knots (approximately 17 miles per hour).

Ballast water treatment technology

Read more

Prince William Sound spill contingency plans under review

By LINDA SWISS
Council Project Manager

The council participates in various workgroups tasked with updating the Prince William Sound Subarea Plan, and recently submitted comments on proposed changes to the plan. The last update to the subarea plan was completed in 2005.

Access to current information is critical in the early hours of spill response. The council recommended that the revised plan contain the most current information on web links; resources such as communications, equipment, facilities and support personnel; sensitive areas; community information; and wildlife impacted.

Read more

Skip to content