Tundra Atv Trail Project Earns National AwardPublished on February 27th, 2008 By ALEX DEMARBAN
A Hooper Bay resident and others who fought to keep four-wheelers from destroying important bird nests and berry patches have won a national award. The village's ATV Trail Project Partnership, which helps keep riders from damaging tundra, was one of 21 projects across the country recognizedfor the U.S. Department of the Interior's Cooperative Conservation Award. The project began several years ago when elders in the village of 1,200 began noticing a decline in black brant numbers, an important subsistence food, as well as berries, according to a nomination letter submitted by the National Park Service. Villagers and the Sea Lion Corp., working with the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, completed a survey showing that ATV tires were smashing nests, scarring tundra and chewing up wetlands. Educational efforts, including two-person outreach teams camped near hunting grounds, raised awareness about avoiding sensitive areas. ATV riders began following paths instead of cruising openly across the tundra, and black brant numbers recovered quickly, the nomination letter said. To create a trail protecting wetlands near the village, Hooper Bay residents worked with the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program in the National Park Service. They also worked with theNatural Resources Conservation Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The trail, built from a system of interlocking plastic grids called Geoblock, crosses sensitive wetlands from the village's edge and travels half a mile to a ridge. The benefit of the porous trail is that it encourage ATV riders to stay on one path, in part because riders can travel quickly on it and won't be bogged down in mud, said Ryan Maroney, NRCS community planning coordinator in Bethel. Maroney is one of the award winners. The others are William Naneng with the Sea Lion Corp. in Hooper Bay, former refuge manager Michael Rearden and Doug Staller, refuge manager. The Sea Lion Corp. and Hooper Bay residents plan to extend the trail another eight miles to protect more areas. Contact us about this article at editor@thetundradrums.com |
Copyright 2010
The Tundra Drums is a publication of Alaska Newspapers, Inc. This site, its design and contents are
© 2010 and may not be reproduced without written permission of the publisher and
owner, including duplication on not-for-profit websites. Alaska Newspapers, Inc. may not own copyright to
portions of articles published; those sections are reproduced here with permission and Alaska Newspapers, Inc.
makes no provisions for further distribution
Copyright 2010
The Tundra Drums is a publication of Alaska Newspapers, Inc. This article is © 2010 and limited reproduction rights for personal use are granted for this printing only. This article, in any form, may not be further reproduced without written permission of the publisher and owner, including duplication for not-for-profit purposes. Portions of this article may belong to other agencies; those sections are reproduced here with permission and Alaska Newspapers, Inc. makes no provisions for further distribution.