History
The following text was written in March 2000. It provides some history about SEASIDE and its newsletter. But, the needs of the region are constantly changing and so is SEASIDE. So stay with us for future updates!
“Southeast Alaska is experiencing major changes in natural resource use. These changes impact rural communities economically, environmentally, socially, and culturally because of the importance these resources have in their daily lives. Residents face many challenges in the process of adapting to these changes.
Many communities, formerly heavily dependent upon the timber and fishing industries, have either died away or are struggling to shift to alternative sources of income. Adding value to products, an important tool for diversification in the region’s resource industries, is one of the approaches being taken to rebuild local, healthy economies.
Another form of natural resource use that has its own way of impacting the region is the tourism, or visitor, industry. Communities in Southeast Alaska, as elsewhere in the world, are turning to tourism as a panacea. Residents and non-residents are getting involved in the various forms of this industry, in a state known for “limited entry,”while they still can. This rush in the current economic boom is creating change more rapidly than ever before.
These changes, and many others, are happening whether communities are ready or not. When going through changes, information is a vital part of making careful decisions about the future. Many residents are not aware of available help. Geographic isolation of many SE villages, and in many cases, the “digital divide,” inhibits or slows change. Southeast residents need information about what is happening in other communities. They also need to know about what help is available, such as community action planning, funding, meeting facilitating, mediation, conflict resolution, and many other services.
Geographic and communications isolation also means that information about the needs in these communities does not make it back to the very agencies, public and private, that can provide the assistance the residents need.
This is where SEASIDE News comes in. SEASIDE is an acronym for “SouthEast Alaskans for a Stable, Independent, Diversified Economy.” Its mission is
“to encourage and assist in the building of a stable, independent, diversified economy based on moderate, conservative uses of the resources in Southeast Alaska.”
The goals of SEASIDE News are: 1) “Connecting People in Southeast Alaska” (its slogan), and 2) providing information that relates to the building of healthy, sustainable communities in the region.
The objectives are: 1) to provide information to residents of rural communities, and 2) to inform public and private agencies about the needs of rural communities.
The strategies to accomplish these goals and objectives are 1) providing information through a quarterly newsletter, and 2) setting up a web site.
Currently the newsletter is available via E-Mail and hard copy. Plans are being made to have a web site available where issues of the newsletter will be posted. I also plan to have links to referenced web sites and/or E-Mail addresses.
The intended benefits of the newsletter are a region made up of communities that are based on sustainable economies, rural residents that know who, what, where, when, and why about activities that may be important to them, and public and private agencies that have a more informed understanding of the needs of rural communities.
I created the SEASIDE name in the midst of planning for the Tongass Community Futures Conference that was held in Sitka April 3-5, 1998. The conference was planned by a diverse group of Alaskan organizations “to share information, discuss opportunities, and identify actions leading toward the sustainable use of natural resources and greater stability in the small communities of the Tongass National Forest.”
A broad range of issues were identified at the conference as being important to conference participants. Conference organizers, within their own organizations, have been doing what they can to meet participants’ needs. This past fall, two SEACC activities, important to participants, were brought to my attention. I realized that conference participants would be encouraged by learning what SEACC and other organizations were doing.
I decided that the time was right for “SouthEast Alaskans for a Stable, Independent, Diversified Economy” and the SEASIDE acronym. SEASIDE News would become the tool for providing a focal point for information about building sustainable communities in Southeast Alaska.”
