I would like to welcome all of you to Anchorage and the
International Association of Natural Resource Pilots Meeting. You have a
great-looking agenda with some really fine professionals working with you.
What better place to have a meeting than here in the Great Land? Are any of
you first timers to Alaska?
My first trip to Alaska was a permanent move from North
Carolina in November, 1984. I was hired as a wildlife biologist for Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge and was assigned a large field project scheduled to
start on the north slope the following May. I didn’t know anything about
doing field work in the north. One of the first things my boss said was
“Never violate the First Rule of the North”. I had no idea what he was
talking about, so I asked. His reply… “Don’t piss off the pilot.” What? I
said. “You are going to be flown out to camp, right? So, when do you want
to get picked up?” Now I understood. Despite the obvious practical
advantages of the first rule of the north, I was to learn over the years
that behind that humorous rule lay a very important principal: aviation was
and remains the key to effective natural resource management in Alaska.
Alaska has a tremendous legacy of natural resource
pilots; and it’s hard to know where to start naming them and their
accomplishments… but I will name just a few of the early pioneers and
associated milestones. This information is excerpted (and slightly edited)
from an important historical work entitled: The Alaska Waterfowl
Program. 120 years of Inventory and Habitat Protection by the US
Government. Reflections by Jim King. Jim retired as Project Leader for
the Juneau Waterfowl Investigations Office in 1983 but is still working for
migratory birds as a rehired annuitant after 55 years on the job.
First milestone:
1930 ‑ Sam O. White, Game Agent in Fairbanks invents
wildlife flying with his own airplane. White makes a first attempt to
restrain spring duck hunting around Fairbanks.
1948 ‑ Clarence J. Rhodes (former Alaska Agent, former
Aircraft Supervisor, experienced bush pilot and dedicated conservationist)
becomes Regional Director (Region 6) and executive officer of the Alaska
Game Commission.
1948 ‑ David L. Spencer (student of Aldo Leopold,
prewar refuge biologist, wartime amphibious airplane pilot/instructor, first
waterfowl survey pilot in Mexico and Guatemala and inventor of the segmented
transect for sampling prairie ducks still used today) transfers to Alaska as
a Refuge Manager and soon becomes Refuge Supervisor for Alaska.
1948‑73 ‑ Theron Smith (lifelong Alaskan, WWII bomber
pilot and bush pilot) develops the Aircraft Division. Rhodes wanted as many
of his staff flying as possible. Smith with his own brand of pilot
training/supervision largely fulfilled that dream. He also developed a
mechanic/technician team that modified airplanes for wildlife flying (one is
still flying for MBM) and built an HF radio network that had airplanes,
vessels, cars, offices and anxious spouses all over Alaska talking to each
other.
1949 ‑ D.L. Spencer does first experimental aerial duck
surveys on the Yukon Delta determining that the prairie duck sampling method
will also work here. Spencer describes "America's Greatest Goose‑Brant
Nesting Area."
1955 ‑ Henry A (Hank) Hansen (WWII fighter pilot,
Washington State University Instructor and Game Department biologist) comes
to Alaska as Supervisor of Waterfowl Investigations with a mission to
coordinate all the Alaska waterfowl work.
1955‑64 ‑ Hansen with Pete Nelson document goose
distribution from Alaska; with Calvin J. (Cal) Lensink perfects Breeding
Pair Duck Survey design that persists for next 50 years; with Peter E.K.
Shepherd initiates Trumpeter Swan studies that document their continued
expansion; With James G. (Jim) King develops duck drive trapping techniques
that produce recoveries from all across the US and Canada; with Robert D.
(Bob) Jones develops technique for assessing annual Black Brant productivity
at Izembek Lagoon and so on. Hansen did his work well as these efforts have
continued to the end of the 20th century and beyond.
These fine gentlemen laid much of the groundwork for
some of the most sweeping land conservation victories in history including
blocking the construction of the Rampart Dam which would have destroyed what
has since become Yukon Flats NWR. This refuge supplies over a million ducks
to all four North American Flyways. These pioneers also provided the data
and mapping that resulted in the creation of many of Alaska’s National
Wildlife Refuges and National Parks in 1980 with the passage of the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Over one hundred million acres
were protected for future generations as a result of this act.
There have been many others that have followed these
pioneers who so thoroughly demonstrated the importance of aviation to
natural resource management. Aviation is now utterly integral to what we do
as land and resource managers. Pilots and their planes are the taxi cabs,
pickup trucks, fire trucks, moving vans, radio trackers, goose banders, and
surveyors of every vertebrate creature big enough to see from the air. The
pilots see these duties as a sacred responsibility, and are the most
dedicated people I have ever worked with. The spirit that I see among
conservation pilots gives me great hope for the future of Alaska. It is
truly an honor for me to work with these pilots and to be here speaking to
you today.
So, enjoy your meeting, stick around for the Alaska
Airmen’s Association gathering, and remember-Don’t piss off the pilot!
