20060821 Amalik Bay/Geographic Harbor Trip Part 2 The Personnel
Part 2: THE PERSONNEL
Anglers use Amalik Bay and Geographic Harbor for halibut fishing during August. Also at this time pink salmon run upstream in shallow narrow Geographic Creek, which empties into Geographic Harbor. Pinks are not the most prized of salmon for eating and the physical nature of the creek may not provide the best angling experience, so anglers generally do not fish here.
The brown bears do. They don’t seem to mind the pink salmon variety and gather along the creek. Sometimes a dozen or more will use the last quarter of a mile section of creek, which is much braided at this point. The concentration of food brings the bears and the concentration of bears brings the people to watch them.
Scientists also visit this area during the summer. Scheduled for summer 2006 were projects to find and replace a temperature gauge in Amalik Bay and to preserve an archeological site on one the bay’s islands.
Anglers, bear viewers, and scientists in the area justify the need for a backcountry ranger at Amalik Bay in August, and one with boating skills. Summer of 2006 in Katmai National Park, two backcountry rangers are assigned to patrol 497 miles of mostly rugged coastline. They do not stay in one place but move with the need to protect. They protect the coastal users—anglers, bear viewers, and scientists—and all of the resources of the coast whether they are scenic, geologic, biologic, or cultural.
Al, a longtime backcountry ranger with many seasons’ experience at Katmai, was stationed at Amalik during this working visit by three of us from Brooks Camp: Jason, Niki, and myself. Known as Big Al, he is big like an angelfish. From behind his 6’2” frame is built around shoulders so broad and flat the like have not been seen since Kevin McHale of the Boston Celtic’s glory days. (That was for you, Clay) Turn Big Al sideways and while he does not exactly disappear, he does not loom near so large. From the broad shoulders hang disproportionately long Alley-Oop arms.
The name Big Al may have come, not from his stature, but from the size of his heart. Smokey-voiced Al rolls his own and takes care of everyone else’s needs before satisfying his. To hear him say it, he is off duty most of the time. To watch him is to know that the opposite is true. Al leads by example and allows others to decide for themselves if they will follow. He has his own set of ‘shoulds’ but from others only asks for the ‘musts’, and that ever so gently.
People are people wherever you go, and sometimes those people bring their problems to National Parks. Thus the need for law enforcement rangers (LEs), though they do much more, including emergency medical services and search and rescue. At Brooks Camp, located on Naknek Lake and near to Lake Brooks, LEs need boating skills as well. Jason, a husky dark-haired ranger from Michigan, fits right in. He helps with bear traffic control, has dealt with folk who insist on moving closer than 50 yards to a bear, and skillfully operates the park boats as needed. Jason has come to Amalik Bay for a week to learn the waters from Al and possibly spell him for some future days off in King Salmon.
With budgets being what they are, the Interpretive Divisions of the various national parks are coming to rely more and more on the services of volunteers to staff visitor centers and offer interpretive programs. Katmai National Park is no different. Of the staff of thirteen non-supervisory interpreters at Brooks Camp this summer, six are volunteers.
Three of the six are students hired through the Student Conservation Association and receive a small stipend and travel expenses. The other three receive a stipend but pay their own way to King Salmon. Niki is one of the latter.
Niki comes from Washington State, a place where abundant rain makes the western portion of the state delightfully green. Niki could also be described the same way. She has been involved in environmental causes for years and has carried that activism to Brooks Camp. She started a recycling program, has questioned the practice of garbage incineration, and regularly pulls non-native plants that have a foothold in the developed area. While Niki may be not much taller than five feet, she can be a big person. Katmai sent Niki and I to Amalik Bay to distribute visitor surveys.
Me? You know me. I’m a bearded long-haired refugee from the real world, finding a new life in national parks.
Anglers use Amalik Bay and Geographic Harbor for halibut fishing during August. Also at this time pink salmon run upstream in shallow narrow Geographic Creek, which empties into Geographic Harbor. Pinks are not the most prized of salmon for eating and the physical nature of the creek may not provide the best angling experience, so anglers generally do not fish here.
The brown bears do. They don’t seem to mind the pink salmon variety and gather along the creek. Sometimes a dozen or more will use the last quarter of a mile section of creek, which is much braided at this point. The concentration of food brings the bears and the concentration of bears brings the people to watch them.
Scientists also visit this area during the summer. Scheduled for summer 2006 were projects to find and replace a temperature gauge in Amalik Bay and to preserve an archeological site on one the bay’s islands.
Anglers, bear viewers, and scientists in the area justify the need for a backcountry ranger at Amalik Bay in August, and one with boating skills. Summer of 2006 in Katmai National Park, two backcountry rangers are assigned to patrol 497 miles of mostly rugged coastline. They do not stay in one place but move with the need to protect. They protect the coastal users—anglers, bear viewers, and scientists—and all of the resources of the coast whether they are scenic, geologic, biologic, or cultural.
Al, a longtime backcountry ranger with many seasons’ experience at Katmai, was stationed at Amalik during this working visit by three of us from Brooks Camp: Jason, Niki, and myself. Known as Big Al, he is big like an angelfish. From behind his 6’2” frame is built around shoulders so broad and flat the like have not been seen since Kevin McHale of the Boston Celtic’s glory days. (That was for you, Clay) Turn Big Al sideways and while he does not exactly disappear, he does not loom near so large. From the broad shoulders hang disproportionately long Alley-Oop arms.The name Big Al may have come, not from his stature, but from the size of his heart. Smokey-voiced Al rolls his own and takes care of everyone else’s needs before satisfying his. To hear him say it, he is off duty most of the time. To watch him is to know that the opposite is true. Al leads by example and allows others to decide for themselves if they will follow. He has his own set of ‘shoulds’ but from others only asks for the ‘musts’, and that ever so gently.
People are people wherever you go, and sometimes those people bring their problems to National Parks. Thus the need for law enforcement rangers (LEs), though they do much more, including emergency medical services and search and rescue. At Brooks Camp, located on Naknek Lake and near to Lake Brooks, LEs need boating skills as well. Jason, a husky dark-haired ranger from Michigan, fits right in. He helps with bear traffic control, has dealt with folk who insist on moving closer than 50 yards to a bear, and skillfully operates the park boats as needed. Jason has come to Amalik Bay for a week to learn the waters from Al and possibly spell him for some future days off in King Salmon.
With budgets being what they are, the Interpretive Divisions of the various national parks are coming to rely more and more on the services of volunteers to staff visitor centers and offer interpretive programs. Katmai National Park is no different. Of the staff of thirteen non-supervisory interpreters at Brooks Camp this summer, six are volunteers.
Three of the six are students hired through the Student Conservation Association and receive a small stipend and travel expenses. The other three receive a stipend but pay their own way to King Salmon. Niki is one of the latter.
Niki comes from Washington State, a place where abundant rain makes the western portion of the state delightfully green. Niki could also be described the same way. She has been involved in environmental causes for years and has carried that activism to Brooks Camp. She started a recycling program, has questioned the practice of garbage incineration, and regularly pulls non-native plants that have a foothold in the developed area. While Niki may be not much taller than five feet, she can be a big person. Katmai sent Niki and I to Amalik Bay to distribute visitor surveys.
Me? You know me. I’m a bearded long-haired refugee from the real world, finding a new life in national parks.
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