Updated questionnaire and petition information
Hi everyone,
I had put a soft deadline of 12/20 on our questionnaire (you can find the muskox questionnaire at https://forms.gle/F3Mux94xQr3vQJ5U7 so I thought I'd share some updates with you.
We are up to 243 supporters on the petition so far. After signing, the platform does ask for a small donation. This funding does not go to us, it's a donation to keep the platform running for free. Additionally, they'll promote the petition. However, PLEASE DO NOT FEEL OBLIGATED TO DONATE. I encourage you to continue sharing so we can garner more support. You can send an email to the ADFG commissioner directly from the petition when you sign and explain to him why proper game management of these prehistoric animals is so important.
Before I delve into the updates on the feedback from the public we've received, I wanted to address some things that have come up in the past week or so.
-First, you do not need to be a resident, or even live in Alaska, to sign the petition. If you believe that wild game should be managed so we can better co-exist, then this is the petition for you. No one is asking for the muskoxen to go away or for us to have a "muskox free zone". Not only is it unrealistic at this point, but if properly managed, muskoxen can be a good subsistence resource for Alaskans. Right now, the only real benefit they're providing is leaving qiviut on the tundra. As much as I love my qiviut products, that does not offset the loss of life and the cost of the wonton destruction they are causing. There is a problem in the grand order of things when prey animals have no fear of what they should consider a predator (humans).
-Next, I've received a couple of responses on my questionnaire that stated it's basically not fair that it's only asking about negative impacts. I am in no way, shape, or form, conducting a survey or a poll. This is just a couple of people trying to gather stories in one place to show Fish and Game there's a need for better management. If you want to conduct your own poll to gather opposing views, go for it. You can even go answer the poll that's on The Nome Nugget's website at http://www.nomenugget.net/ My questionnaire is not intended for polling, it's informal information gathering.
And now, the updates.
On Monday, 12/19, I and several others attended the Fish & Game Advisory Committee meeting for Northern Norton Sound. They were kind enough to let the public speak first instead of waiting until the end, which was on their original agenda. It was very emotional for everyone, but I was able to speak first and present the board with five packets of 13 pages of feedback from the questionnaire. This is an important first step in getting Fish and Game to listen to us. I advised them at the time that I would also be putting out a petition to follow up on what we were there to discuss. This information is very important because there is strength in numbers, and we have the numbers if people are willing to speak up. There was a lot of frustration that was expressed, especially when it comes to feeling confident that citizens will be covered by DLP laws if they feel the need to defend themselves, not just against one muskox but an entire herd. Another issue brought up was that once it was 5pm, there was no local F&G help with dealing with muskoxen. People spoke to the countless lost hours of work, and loss of life of their animals (and unfortunately now a human life when we lost our friend and valued community member, Curtis Worland), and several of us stated there is no way to truly quantify how much of a financial hardship muskoxen have caused.
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The chart I shared with the advisory committee is in the petition I linked at the top of this post. Currently, we are up to 66 responses.
-62 live in Nome or the surrounding area
-4 live in or dealt negatively with muskoxen in, White Mountain (2) and Teller (2)
When asked "Do you feel safe in your community with muskoxen in or around close proximity to town?" all 66 responded.
-53, or 80.3% said no
-9, or 13.6% said sometimes
4, or 6.1%said yes (though based on the written responses I believe 2 of those were answered yes in error)
When asked "Approximately how many times in the past year have you been negatively impacted by muskoxen being in or around your community?" there were 64 responses.
-28, or 43.8%, responded with 11+ times
-10, or 15.6%, responded with 7-10 times
-18, or 28.1%, responded with 4-7 times
-8, or 12.5%, responded with 1-3 times
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I have also received some new comments, which I would like to share some of them.
"In early years, I reported every time I had an encounter, and sometimes there would be a response, and someone would come out and move animals, but there seems to be some kind of turf war, where the troopers' office referred us to the city, and the city referred us to FG and they sometimes were not available, or didn't respond, and sometimes they responded. The city would respond if there was an actual incident, but on one occasion took a gun away from the property owner who was trying to move his dogs, and another time stood by armed and let a musk ox hook and toss a human. It's very frustrating at this point with conversations that are sometimes hostile and seem futile."
"During working hours (M-F) if I have muskoxen problems at my dog lot I have called Fish & Game. I used to work with Bill Dunker. Now it is Sara Germain. They have always been helpful and usually available pretty quickly. Bill has had to kill 2 muskoxen in my yard after attacks. Bill and Sara have shooed muskoxen away from my lot at least a half dozen times over the past 8 years."
"I have an Autistic child at home who isn't all aware of dangers when she is presented with them, and that's not from a lack of parenting on mine or my husbands end. We also have two more smaller children at home and would like to enjoy our yard in the summer and fall months. It's hard to do so when we have to look around for MuskOx and fear our Autistic child may run into one and not know what to do. I've witnessed the animals get more and more aggressive over the course of the 6 years I've owned my home [in Icyview]. There needs to be REAL change when it comes to handling these dangerous animals."
"If the state wants to actually do something I see two approaches. The state could increase funding to ADF&G to develop and enforce perimeter security; basically a perimeter (one large or several smaller ones) of transmitting cameras and a goon squad to use more violent hazing tactics to then enforce said perimeter. Another would be to increase Musk Oxen harvest locally around Nome with the survivors hopefully "getting the idea"; incidentally this would would give ADF&G an opportunity to address the inequities associated with the current "lottery" system."
"PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THEM!! We are tired of trying to keep them away and limit the quality of life of our dogs, our kids and ourselves in our own neighborhood and town. GET THEM OUT OF CITY LIMITS AND KEEP THEM OUT!!"
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There is a lot more information I could share, but I don't want to overwhelm. I appreciate it if you have made it this far. Please continue to share the petition and questionnaire far and wide. I would love to get feedback from other rural communities, especially outside of our region.
Thank you from myself and Sarah Jane Swartz.