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voyage to the
<br />Aleutian Islands
<br />Without Getting
<br />Seasick! (continued)
<br />"It's like going on a Jacques Cousteau
<br />adventure into a place that's incredibly alive
<br />with wildlife and volcanoes, yet seen by so
<br />few people," said refuge manager Greg
<br />Siekaniec. "The Aleutians are to Alaska what
<br />Alaska is to the Lower 48-most Alaskans
<br />know relatively little about them and haven't
<br />been there. This film will give them a
<br />glimpse of the Aleutians and beyond."
<br />Heiser's camera had to be tied to a rail
<br />during a March trip to Adak Island, to
<br />prevent it from being thrown across the
<br />wheelhouse as he recorded the 25 foot seas
<br />and 90 knot winds pounding the foredeck and
<br />drenching the windows.
<br />Journey of the Tiglax was a finalist among
<br />550 entries in the prestigious 2003 Jackson
<br />Hole International Wildlife Film Festival
<br />and was the feature presentation at
<br />the opening of the Alaska Islands and
<br />Ocean Visitor Center on December 13
<br />in Homer, Alaska.
<br />Odyssey Productions, Inc., is a full-service
<br />film and video production company located
<br />in Portland, Oregon. Established in 1973,
<br />Odyssey has produced award-winning
<br />natural history films for a wide range of
<br />museums, visitor centers and aquariums
<br />from Texas to the Pacific Northwest. In
<br />addition to its natural history films, Odyssey
<br />has produced cultural history films for
<br />Oregon Public Broadcasting, Northwest
<br />Museum of Arts & Culture, Columbia River
<br />Maritime Museum, the Discovery Channel,
<br />and many others. But Heiser says Journey
<br />of the Tiglax was logistically the most
<br />difficult film he has ever made.
<br />Mike Boylan, Region 7
<br />Citizen Centered Government
<br />at Work on the Rio Grande
<br />Agricultural, municipal, and conservation
<br />stakeholders along New Mexico's Rio
<br />Grande are increasingly frustrated as
<br />water resources dwindle due to drought
<br />conditions. Community leaders struggle to
<br />find a balance between what is best for the
<br />economy and what is best for the natural
<br />environment.
<br />Among those interests hardest hit are those
<br />wanting to thwart the endangered Rio
<br />Grande silvery minnow's trek toward
<br />extinction. No one realizes this more than
<br />U.S. Senator Pete V. Domenici (R-NM),
<br />who has seen to it that funds are available
<br />to assist Federal agencies to improve
<br />the minnow in its native habitat while
<br />considering the full spectrum of demands
<br />placed upon water resources during a
<br />drought cycle. Domenici recently visited the
<br />collaborative work on the ground and said:
<br />"For the first time, it makes me feel very
<br />good to see the results of implementation,
<br />see things being done on the ground with
<br />an obvious purpose."
<br />The minnow's home is a stretch of the Rio
<br />Grande between Cochiti Dam to Elephant
<br />Butte Reservoir, approximately 180 miles.
<br />Historically, a ribbon of green bosque,
<br />cottonwood and willow canopies, outlined the
<br />undulating shape of the ancient river basin.
<br />More recently, the river has depended on
<br />storage reservoirs for its perennial nature.
<br />The river is now under siege by invasive
<br />salt cedar and Russian olive. Before dam
<br />construction in the early part of the 20th
<br />century, the Rio Grande's flows might be
<br />considered intermittent. Without the benefit
<br />of reservoir storage, drought years ensured
<br />that long stretches of the Rio Grande would
<br />be dry. Conversely, with no reservoir spill
<br />ways to control flood waters, high snow pack
<br />Senator Pete V. Domenici, R-NM,
<br />U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southwest
<br />Regional Director Dale Halo and
<br />Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez release
<br />endangered Rio Grande Silvery Minnows
<br />into an artificial refugium developed by
<br />the City of Albuquerque in association
<br />with the Service and other federal partners.
<br />FWS photo: Tom Baca
<br />and higher than normal precipitation could
<br />produce life-threatening flash floods reeking
<br />havoc on the local communities.
<br />Minnow mature in low flow shallow pools at
<br />the outer edges of the basin. When flows are
<br />high due to large releases, eggs and larvae
<br />cannot find quiet water and protection as
<br />the velocity produces islands through silt
<br />buildup. These islands funnel water more
<br />quickly and result in deeper pools not
<br />conducive to spawning and recruitment.
<br />Dale Hall, the Service's Southwest Regional
<br />Director, stated that a strong working
<br />relationship between Federal agencies,
<br />the New Mexico Department of Game and
<br />Fish, the City of Albuquerque, and the
<br />Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District has
<br />been effective in recent accomplishments.
<br />Agencies are working to remove Russian
<br />olive and salt cedar and replace it with native
<br />trees, cottonwood and willow, improvements
<br />that help minnows move upstream of
<br />diversion dams.
<br />"I'm glad that Senator Domenici was able to
<br />see the progress we've made," Hall said.
<br />Hall noted Secretary Gale Norton's 4Cs
<br />(Cooperation, Consultation and
<br />Communication in the service of
<br />Conservation) vision and President Bush's
<br />concept of Citizen Centered Government,
<br />and added, "The collaborative approach
<br />is one wherein active partnerships
<br />truly engender conservation. It takes
<br />professionals and citizens alike to work
<br />together to do good things for our own
<br />benefit and the benefit of an important
<br />component of our environment, the river
<br />habitat and the fish that thrive there."
<br />Tom Baca, Natural Resources Planner,
<br />Albuquerque, New Mexico
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