FishWatch Planning Team Agrees to Develop Memorandum of Agreement

Members of the Copper River Watershed Project’s FishWatch Planning Team agreed to move forward with creating a written agreement documenting the group’s partnership.  At its February 13, 2009 meeting, the group reviewed responses from an informal survey on the purpose and benefit of a written memorandum of agreement.   Meeting participants agreed that the purpose of a written agreement is to “work collaboratively for the sustainability of a healthy watershed”, “bring together partners who have a vested interest in the preservation and conservation of Alaska's fish and wildlife habitat,” and “over-see base line data monitoring and engage basin residents and agencies in expanding the programs and assure that results are summarized, distributed and looked at for indications of changes or degradation.”  The FishWatch Planning Team has been meeting since 2001.  Members include state and federal resource managers, tribal council representatives, residents, and businesses.   Other activities conducted under the FishWatch program include training volunteers, collecting five years of water quality and human use monitoring data, prioritizing Copper River sub-basins by habitat challenges, and deploying temperatures loggers on selected streams and rivers throughout the watershed.  Contact:  Kristin Smith, (907)424-3334, crwp@copperriver.org for more details or survey results.