OUR VISION
We believe the Copper River watershed can have a vibrant, healthy future.
This year`s Copper River Stewardship Program was a great adventure! The program ended this last Sunday after a whirlwind tour of the watershed.
Last week, the crew was in the Copper Basin and had fun canoeing and fishing for pike on Mineral Lake and hiking and exploring off the Nabesna Road. On their way south, they stopped at the Little Tonsina bridge and helped take care of the new native vegetation CRWP is working to establish at the restoration site. After a night in Valdez, they hopped on the Prince William Sound ferry to Cordova!
In Cordova, our Executive Director Kate Morse met up with the stewards one afternoon to assess fish at a recently replaced culvert after they spent the morning kayaking on Sheridan Glacier Lake. Next, they had a great day learning about hydropower and exploring the coastline. For their last day of the trip, they chose to play (and go to the spa!) on the sand dunes of the copper river at “27 mile “ (27 miles out the road from downtown Cordova).
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Find out more about the Copper River Stewardship Program at https://copperriver.org/programs/watershed-education/copper-river-stewardship-program/
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📷 Copper River Stewardship Program, 2025.
Lakota McRoberts, with Colleen Merrick from Copper River Native Association, led a native plants talk this month in partnership with Rebarcheck Farm, Anchorage Soil and Water Conservation District and Alaska Pacific University. Lakota is a native plants champion and has been very engaged in replanting the Little Tonsina Bridge project site with native plants.
We love to see our partners out in the community sharing this excellent information on native plants to grow in gardens, yards and on farms in the region. Removing invasive species is only part of the solution. Planting native plants before invasive`s can take hold is another part of keeping the watershed healthy.
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CopperRiver.org
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📷 courtesy of Colleen Merrick/CRNA - Lakota McRoberts leading a native plants talk in the Copper Basin.
#nativeplants #CopperRiver #CopperBasin #copperriverwatershed
Happy National Alaska Day!
We love our corner of Alaska here in the Copper River watershed — from the headwaters of the Copper River near Mentasta, to the Copper River Delta near Cordova where the river drains into Prince William Sound. One of the last intact, thriving watersheds supporting an abundance of salmon, birds, mammals, and people who rely on the resources here, the Copper River is worthy of the work and dedication it will take to keep this region wild and thriving into the future.
Love the Copper River? Get involved! You can sign up on our email list and keep an eye out for upcoming volunteer opportunities. https://copperriver.org/email-signup/
You can donate to CRWP to help keep boots-on-the-ground and people in the field doing habitat restoration, stream monitoring, and invasive plant management. https://copperriver.org/barrier-free-crwp/
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📷 Photo 1 - Copper River near Mentasta. Photo 2 - Confluence of Chitina & Copper Rivers. Photo 3 - Alaganik Slough on the Copper River Delta (Kirsti Jurica & Michelle McAfee/CRWP).
#AlaskaDay #copperriverwatershed #CopperRiver #CopperRiverDelta
The Copper River Salmon Jam stage this year will be rocking with local talent and regional bands to keep you dancing long into the night! Headlining Salmon Jam this year, are Indiana Commune and Good Company, along with the deep grooves and unique sounds of Küf Knotz & Christine Elise.
Come to Cordova July 18-19 for Salmon Jam`s live music, Alaska Salmon Run Races, delicious food, live art, and artisans. Proceeds from the music event and beer garden support year-round arts and culture in Cordova, while the event “spawn”sorship program helps generate support for CRWP’s work to sustain healthy habitat for Copper River Salmon.
Alaska Airlines makes it easy to get to Cordova with a 10% Discount on flights when you use code: ECMO295! Volunteers will receive $15 off gate prices for every shift worked. Sign up to volunteer here: https://bit.ly/salmon-jam-volunteer
SalmonJam.org
#SalmonJam #CordovaAlaska #musicfestival
Join the CRWP Team!
We are hiring a temporary Restoration Specialist to assist with fish habitat restoration projects through 2026. Someone who is passionate about Copper River salmon and wants to play a role in supporting barrier removal and maximizing habitat available to Copper River salmon. This person will work with an amazing team to help implement multiple restoration projects, including culvert upgrades and hopefully replacement of Eyak Lake Weir. Applications will start to be reviewed starting July 1 and position is open until filled.
For more information go to: https://copperriver.org/about-us/job-opportunities/
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📷 CRWP Team
#jobopportunity #CordovaAlaska #CopperBasin #copperriverwatershed #RestorationSpecialist
Last weekend, our Copper Basin Interns Alvin and Rosel, hosted a CRWP booth at the Gulkana Airport Day event. They facilitated a "Draw your favorite native plant" chalk activity, and chatted with residents about invasive species management in the Copper Basin.
The event was hosted by Copper Valley Air Service and offered $10 flight-seeing tours above Glennallen. It was a great opportunity to let residents know more about invasive plants in the area and how to manage them.
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Find more on our Invasive Plant Management program at https://copperriver.org/programs/invasive-plant-management/
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📷 Rachel/CRWP - CRWP Interns, Alvin and Rosel, hosting a CRWP booth at Gulkana Airport to share invasive plants information with event participants.
The Copper River Stewardship Program took off last Friday and they are having a blast! They had a gorgeous day to fly over the Copper Basin, then floated the Gulkana River and pulled invasive White sweetclover from gravel bars along the way.
The crew shared an update from the weed pull: "We collected over 600 lbs of weeds and had a great time rafting. We played pirates and tried to steal each other’s weed bags and everyone was laughing till their sides hurt. They also had a great time swimming. The bugs are worse than Cordova but everyone is handling it well. The students are the kindest group and everyone is getting along well.”
You can track their progress via our online mapper: https://crwp.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/9470c6963d924dd19c913570d73598b2
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Want to know more about the Copper River Stewardship Program? https://copperriver.org/programs/watershed-education/copper-river-stewardship-program/
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📷 Amanda Jackson/CRWP - Copper River Stewardship Program students flying over the Copper Basin then floating the Gulkana River where they pulled and removed over 300 lbs of invasive plants.
#CRSP #CopperRiver #copperriverwatershed #alaskayouthprogram #stewardshipprogram
Well that was fun! Eyak Lake Appreciation Day last weekend brought all ages to the water for a friendly paddle competition and BBQ. Youth of all ages were big participants this year!
Our Executive Director, Kate Morse, shared some Eyak Lake history with the community, and Samantha from City of Cordova, Parks and Recreation Department gave a safety talk. Volunteers even offered to give a canoe flipping demo! AC donated food and more volunteers ran the grill. The Cordova Volunteer Fire Department was there looking out for everyone`s safety. It was a community effort to make this event happen, and a fun way to gather and celebrate this lake we love!
Thank you to the City of Cordova, Parks and Recreation Department for partnering with us to make Eyak Lake Appreciation Day so special!
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📷 Kim Casavan/CRWP: Photo 1 - Kate Morse sharing Eyak Lake history. Photo 2 - Paddlers lining up for races. Photo 3 - Race Participants at the starting line. Photo 4 - And they`re off!! Cordova community members racing in the Eyak Lake Appreciation Day paddle races. Photo 5 - Not everyone paddled a boat. A participant races on a paddle board. Photo 6 - Shannon Lindow paddling a kayak. Photo 7 - Anita Smyke, winner of the .5-mile race. Photo 8 - Participants enjoying the BBQ.
#EyakLake #CordovaAlaska #communityevent
CORDOVA - This Sunday, June 22nd, come to the Eyak Lake Appreciation Day celebration!
Join the 1-mile or .5-mile paddle races and "We ❤️ Eyak Lake" Flotilla to close the day. Offer your insights on the development of Skater`s Cabin and celebrate this place we love. This is a FREE event!
WHEN: Sunday, June 22nd, 3pm-5pm. Race starts at 4pm!
WHERE: Skater`s Cabin
Secure your spot in the races by pre-registering or sign up on the day of the event.
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CopperRiver.org
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📷 Hamish Laird - 2023 Eyak Lake Paddle Races.
#EyakLake #CordovaAlaska #paddlerace
It`s high fishing season in the Copper River region! It is incredible that every year the salmon return and we get to experience the abundance of the Copper River and Prince William Sound. It will take all of us to keep this extraordinary place healthy and thriving for the next generations of fish who will swim up this river and spawn in the tributaries.
We are dedicated to this stewardship work, and invite you to get involved! You can volunteer at upcoming events in the watershed, sign up on our email list to stay informed, or you can donate to help us keep people in the field monitoring invasive species, stream temperatures, and damaged culverts.
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Donate to CRWP:https://copperriver.org/barrier-free-crwp/
Sign up on Email List: https://copperriver.org/email-signup/
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📷 Michelle McAfee/CRWP - Salmon leaving Hartney Bay for the Copper River Delta (2023).
#salmonfishing #fishingseason #AlaskaFising #copperriverwatershed #CopperRiver
CORDOVA - Join us for a fun day in celebration of this place we love! Share your insights on the development of Skater`s Cabin, and join the 1-mile or .5-mile paddle races and "We ❤️ Eyak Lake" Flotilla to close the day! This is a FREE event!
Eyak Lake Appreciation Day is Sunday, June 22nd, 3pm-5pm at Skater`s Cabin. Race starts at 4pm!
Secure your spot in the races by pre-registering or sign up on the day of the event.
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CopperRiver.org
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#EyakLake #CordovaAlaska #paddlerace
Congratulations to Jillian Gold for winning the Salmon Jam Artwork Contest!! Jillian submitted a fun design that will appear on the 2025 Salmon Jam t-shirts, hoodies, stickers, and whatever else we can print on!
"I got excited when I saw the flyer for this contest posted around town. Usually, when I apply myself to arts, whether visual or audio, I lean into abstract expression that looks like strange curvy lines (or what I call "worms") and sounds like chaotic noise (or what I call "music"). So, I think it was the element of personal challenge that most excited me about this contest. Creating a thing that looks like a real-world thing and that needs to meet specific parameters is way outside of my comfort zone. It was a lot of fun playing with balance and design, trying to sum up "summer in Cordova" with just a few visuals. I especially enjoyed imagining this happy-cartoony spawned-out salmon. I could almost picture his little word bubble, `Hooray! I`m dyin`.` Thanks so much to the Copper River Watershed Project for running this contest! And, as ever, big THANKS also to a community that supports the arts. Happy Salmon Jam!" —Jillian Gold
Come to the Copper River Salmon Jam, July 18-19 in Cordova and get your 2025 hoodie with Jillian`s design!
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SalmonJam.org
CopperRiver.org
#SalmonJam #CordovaAlaska #MusicandArt #SummerFestival #festivaldesign #artworkcontest
Join the CRWP Team!
We are hiring a temporary Restoration Specialist to assist with fish habitat restoration projects through 2026. Someone who is passionate about Copper River salmon and wants to play a role in supporting barrier removal and maximizing habitat available to Copper River salmon. This person will work with an amazing team to help implement multiple restoration projects, including culvert upgrades and hopefully replacement of Eyak Lake Weir. Applications will start to be reviewed starting July 1 and position is open until filled.
Come to Cordova on July 18-19th for Salmon Jam!
Join us for live jammin’ music, road races, delicious food, live art, and artisans, all celebrating what sustains us: Salmon and Art!
This is a FUNtastic music and art festival you don’t want to miss!
WHEN: July 18-19, 2025
WHERE: Cordova, Alaska
Watch our Annual Meeting Presentation to get the full update on the progress and projects of the Copper River Watershed Project.
Explore the interactive Story Map!
Our Programs Making a Difference
