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The hatchery employees at the Medvejie Hatchery located south of Sitka exemplify what it means to be "living with the land and building community in Southeast Alaska." They are the living link between the community of Sitka and the robust salmon fishery that supports the community. Their good work helps sustain healthy wild runs of salmon and healthy Alaskan communities. Without hatcheries like Medvejie, the Alaskan salmon industry would not be what it is today.

By the 1970's, the state's wild stock of salmon had been severely damaged by overfishing. In response to this crisis, the state developed a hatchery program intended to supplement, not supplant, the wild stocks of salmon. For this reason, there is a litany of policies and regulations that guide the state's hatcheries in order to protect the wild runs of salmon.

One of the policies developed to protect the wild runs of salmon was the mandated use of local brood stock. "Brood stock" are the fish a hatchery uses for breeding. Requiring that the "brood stock" be "local" means that the fish used for breeding must be naturally occurring in the area versus fish from outside the region. This requirement is designed to help maintain the natural genetic diversity of the run.

This August I had the opportunity to participate in Medvejie's brood stock propogation of Chinook Salmon (i.e., King Salmon). This involved the physical mixing of a male Chinook salmon's sperm with a female's row. We were, quite literally, making salmon.

However, it wasn't just salmon that was being cultivated that day, but a resource to sustain the local community. In recent years, Medvejie has had the most successful Chinook program in Southeast Alaska. In the last ten years, the hatchery's runs of Chinook have averaged 34,000 fish. Most of these fish, an average of 9,500 over the last ten years, are harvested in May and June by Sitka's commercial trolling fleet. The sportfishing fleet benefits as well, reaping an average of nearly 1,950 fish in this same period. While the associated economic impacts from these fish are beyond measure, it is safe to say that they are essential to the health of the local economy.

My experience taking brood stock at Medvejie taught me how fortunate we are to have such a well-managed fishery in the state of Alaska. I also learned about the fragility of this resource. Without such strict policies regulating the fishing industry, we would not have a resource that provides so much for our community. Salmon fishing is the cultural and economic backbone for many communities in Southeast Alaska. In the future, we must remember this fact to protect the resource that makes the community whole.

The double-salmon motif that Rhonda Reaney created for the Sitka Conservation Society combines the sleek elegance of the sea-run sockeye with the focused intent of the spawning female sockeye. The double salmon reflects the interconnectedness of the Ocean environment and the lands and waters of the Tongass Rainforests. Rhonda describes the top salmon as being full of life. The body incorporates human symbols with an eye representing the nutrients the salmon collects in the ocean.. The bottom Salmon is ready to spawn. Rhonda did not add any life to this fish other than the round-eggs it is going to lay to start a new cycle of life. The shape of the back represents the motion of the fish in the act of spawning. Available in t-shirts and hoodies in the SCS store.

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Rhonda Reany was the youngest of eleven children. She grew up surrounded by talented brothers who loved to carve. As they became allergic to carving wood, she would be handed the designs and she slowly learned. Since she was young, she often watched George Benson carve. Learning from his work, talking with elders, other artists and through books at the local library, Rhonda quickly developed into a very talented artist.

My mother who's taught me how to respect the land. We have always been taught to respect the land."

Her art is inspired by values distilled in her by her mother and father. Her mother always taught her that you take what you need and to always give back. Rhonda incorporates her mother into every piece of art that she completes by adding a simple, elegant cross.

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The Sitka Conservation Society works to protect the Wild Salmon of the Tongass National Forest. With over 6,000 spawning streams home to Pink, Chum, Sockeye, Coho and Chinook Salmon, Salmon are a keystone species on the Tongass and a crucial link between the forest and the sky. These Salmon are an essential part of Sitka's economy, culture and food supply. The Tongass National Forest produces 30% of Wild Salmon in Alaska from just 5% of the land. Statistics prove that the most economically valuable resource that the Tongass National Forest produces is Salmon. SCS has protected Tongass Salmon through our historic efforts to achieve Wilderness Designation for the West Chichagof Wilderness Area— 260,000 acres of salmon-producing watersheds. SCS continues to advocate for land management on the Tongass that focuses on restoring and protecting critical salmon habitat and intact watersheds and has helped to catalyze important Salmon habitat restoration projects on Baranof and Chichagof Islands.