HIA Environmental Program

09/16/2026

We had potato diggers of all ages yesterday and it was really wonderful! Thank you to our community members and school students for coming out and making this harvest happen!

09/15/2026

First potato plant out of the ground this year is looking good! Join us at 2pm at HIA Environmental office to harvest the community potato garden!

09/14/2026

We are really looking forward to this Saturday. See you at 11 at Alumni Gym!

🌿 Celebrate Food, Culture, & Community! 🌿

It’s that time of year again! The Hoonah Indian Association and Huna Heritage Foundation warmly invite you and your family to the 9th Annual Traditional Food Fair.

Come share a delicious meal featuring traditional subsistence foods, honor our local heritage, and enjoy the wonderful company of neighbors and friends.

When: Saturday, September 19th at 11:00 AM
Where: Hoonah City Schools Alumni Gym
Cost: Free and open to everyone!🍰
Sweet additions: A delicious meal will be provided, but if you would like to bring a favorite dessert to share with the community, you are most welcome to do so!

We look forward to gathering on this beautiful day to celebrate the land and one another. See you there! Please help spread the word!

09/14/2026

Community potato garden harvest tomorrow! We expect a lot of potatoes this year and could use the help!

08/26/2026

Re-sharing this video of the Hoonah Greenhouse Áa Kawduwahaa yé Greenhouse

08/11/2026

We are scheduling a meeting with deer hunters from Hoonah, Gustavus, Pelican, Elfin Cove, and Juneau to talk about the current deer season, winter mortality, and observations from the first couple weeks of the season. If you'd like to join can you fill in a time you could meet in the link below? We'll post it to the comments too.

I hope your summer going well. I'm looking to schedule a Unit 4 Deer Working Group Meeting soon. The goal of this meeting will be to 1) Review winter deer kill observations/data and 2) talk about what last winter means for deer management going forward 3) ask alpine hunters what they are seeing up h...

08/08/2026

Hoktaheen:
On July 20th, after a two year process, including over 7 months of permitting, HIA's Fisheries, AYS, and HNFP crews worked together to build a remote fish monitoring weir to begin generating current and accurate stock assessments of sockeye.

Despite being a heavily utilized system, critically important to the surrounding communities, no current data exists on this resource. Over twenty years have passed since HIA and the USFS conducted fish counts by foot for three short seasons.

This weir is one of only a handful of tribally operated weirs in the state. From conception, installation, and operation. It is also one of just a few completely unmanned video monitoring weirs. Utilizing technology to limit costs. Like our weir in Neva, footage is sent back to Hoonah to be reviewed by our Fisheries Technicians.

This data will be used in the State and Federal Resource Management processes to protect the health of, and access to our resources.

The project was funded by a US F&W Tribal Wildlife Grant as well as a First Nations Development Institute "Restoring Our Relatives" award.

07/26/2026

Potato garden update! Growing well!

07/10/2026

07/09/2026

“What is the difference between growing conditions for Tlingit Potatoes inside and outside of the hoop house?” 🥔🌱

“What changes across the year at Spasski Creek would we be able to measure with a Weather Chime on land and a SmartRock in the water?” 💧🌲

These are some of the questions Hoonah Alaska Youth Stewards crew members discussed with each other before deploying Weather Chimes and SmartRocks — weather, precipitation, and river monitoring equipment —with Oregon State University engineering students & OPEnS (Openly Published Environmental Sensing) Lab members, Lucas Johnson & Owen Schwab and SSSC staff members, Luka Silva & Zofia Danielson.

The three days of field instrument installation and outreach were a part of the Ḵutí Project, a five-year NSF-funded initiative under the Coastlines and People (CoPe) Program, aimed at developing tools to mitigate risks associated with precipitation-induced hazards like landslides and floods in Southeast Alaska.

We are grateful to our partners at Hoonah Indian Association Environmental Department for their collaborative work, knowledge, and insights shared during the 3 days of instrument installation and throughout the Ḵutí Project.
🌲🏔️🛘💧🌿🌧️