She:kon/Greetings Community,

I am just back from the Menominee College in Menominee, Wisconsin where Richard David and I delivered Ash Conservation training. The training was delivered betwixt our local seed collection effort this year, making for a very busy month.

The Menominee workshop was the third training event for this year, having provided training to the Tuscarora Nation and to the Robert Moses State Park Nature Center where what we had to share was very well received and appreciated. We offer our sincere thanks to our hosts who welcomed us into their communities. Our sincere thanks are given to our families who endured our absence during our journeys.

Nothing has given me greater pleasure and a sense of accomplishment than having been able to work toward achieving the goal of restoring black ash to our community. The effort has had excellent support from the Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment (ATFE), the Quaker organization called the American Friends Services Committee (AFSC) and Mike Bridgen of the Ranger School, Wanakena, NY. Very recently the Curator and Plant Physiologist Dave Ellis, who represents the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation, Ft. Collins, CO acknowledged our efforts and provided the ATFE with the means to train other Tribal agencies in ash seed collection so that the effort can be broadened to include others.

A big Niawen/Thank You is given to Bill Sears and his equipment operator Bill for once again giving their support to the project by providing their 4-wheel drive man-lift and operator for seed collection at the Chapman Road site. Bill Sears provided the lift at a very minimal cost. With the assistance from Bill Sears and our pole pruning collection we harvested about 50 pounds raw weight of seeds. This translates into around a million seeds. This provides us with an additional 10-years stockpile of seeds for restoration.

If there is one thing that I have learned over the years as I worked on this project it is this: Not one thing would have been accomplished without the cooperation and involvement of many, many people who share the same vision, black ash restoration. I have not mentioned everyone who has been involved because there simply isn’t enough time to list them in this letter without it become more of an essay, the list keeps growing as well. However, at the very beginning there was one elder who always said, “We should at least try”, in referring to bring black ash back to Akwesasne. We have tried and our partners had too. Originally, our vision was restoration but now has expanded to preservation because of an insect pest that is threatening all ash trees on this continent. This is why we continue.

Most people do not know that the ATFE has supported this project since its beginning along with many other beneficial community projects. Unfortunately, the ATFE is now experiencing problems of its own. Its primary beneficiary, the AFSC, is closing its doors in Syracuse and all funding support is now lost. This is all due to the economic hard times. This will probably translate into a direct loss of community services provided to the community. The ATFE has organized seed and tree day for the past 20 years, organized roadside cleanup, and has been a major voice of the community challenging the less than acceptable cleanup efforts planned for at the GM hazardous waste site.

If you benefited from the ATFE’s efforts either directly or indirectly or helped them in the past or even liked what they were doing, now is the time to give back to them so they can continue. The ATFE is going through a tough time right now and will likely emerge from the economic downturn and continue its nonpartisan, grassroots environmental efforts but really could use your support right now. Our chairperson is Craig Arquette and his day job is the GM Oversight Manager for the Tribe’s Environment Division. If everyone in the community gave a dollar that would take care of the ATFE’s operating budget for one year. This is pretty good considering there is no one on salary. It is all volunteer.

Sken:nen/Peace

Les Benedict

ATFE Black Ash Project Coordinator