OUR VISION
We believe the Copper River watershed can have a vibrant, healthy future.
Save the dates for Salmon Jam and Gakona TRIfesta this summer!
🎸 Salmon Jam Music and Art Festival is up first on July 18-19th in Cordova! 🎶
✨
All the money raised at this fun event goes toward supporting art and cultural performances for Cordova, as well as college scholarships for local graduates and summer art camp scholarships for teens. Dance, eat local foods, and buy unique gifts from local artisans while supporting a good cause.
✨
https://salmonjam.org
..................................
🏃🏼♀️ Gakona TRIfesta Race is happening on July 26th, 11am at the Gulkana Lodge 🛶 🚴♀️
✨
This beloved triathlon event is located in the heart of the Copper River Basin. Participants bike to the infamous Gulkana River, then paddle downriver in whatever flotation device they like until the river crosses the Richardson Highway, where racers exit their watercraft and head back to the Gakona lodge on foot. The route intertwines with three scenic rivers and features views of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
✨
https://copperriver.org/news-events/upcoming-events/gakona-trifesta/
.
📷 Photo 1: Michelle McAfee/CRWP - Crowd rocking out during Salmon Jam, 2023. Photo 2: Heidi Hatcher - Gakona TRIfesta participants at Gakona Lodge, 2024.
Today is the deadline to apply for the Copper River Stewardship Program (CRSP)!
Youth currently in 8-12th grade can apply for this opportunity to explore and learn about the watershed while boating, rafting, hiking, and camping with new friends. Work with students from throughout the region as you learn about tributaries and how much they contribute to the health of our watershed.
Optional high-school credit is available through your local school district!
The cost is $400. Scholarships are available.
.
Find more details and download the application by tapping our bio link and selecting the Copper River Stewardship Program button.
.
📷 CRWP - Photo 1 Kate Morse/CRWP: CRSP participants roasting marshmallows over a fire. Photo 2 Kate Morse/CRWP: Copper River Stewardship Program (CRSP) participants rafting the Klutina River. Photo 3 KateTrudeau/PWSSC: CRSP youth wading and canoeing into the watershed.
We have new hatchlings in the Cordova classroom tank!
They are so cute with their little sparkly eyes, hiding out in the gravel while they get used to wiggling. It must be crazy to hatch from inside a tiny salmon egg out into a glass tank with full view of an elementary classroom and a bunch of students staring at them!
Welcome to the world baby salmon - you`re in good hands with the Cordova students who are taking great care of their classroom tank.
.
Find out more about Salmon in the Classroom at https://copperriver.org/programs/watershed-education/salmon-in-the-classroom-2/
.
📷 Kim Casavan/CRWP - Newly hatched alevin wiggling around in the Cordova classroom tank.
Upstream Learning Alevin are almost ready to explore the tank as salmon fry! Check out that tough one - one step ahead of the others by building strength in its fins, and getting the hang of swimming for the first time in its life! Pretty soon the others will follow and food will be distributed by the teacher and students.
Keep swimming little buddy!
.
Follow Salmon in the Classroom at CopperRiver.org
.
#copperriverwatershed #salmonintheclassroom #youthprograms
There are only days left to apply for your PFD. Applications close on March 31st!
With one click, you can give to the Copper River Watershed Project! Your gift puts boots on the ground and students in the field for fish habitat restoration work, data collection, culvert replacement, and invasive plant management.
Help keep the Copper River watershed thriving for people and fish by choosing CRWP when you Pick.Click.Give.
Apply for your PFD at https://pfd.alaska.gov/
🐟 Consider CRWP when you apply for your PFD 🐟
.
CopperRiver.org
.
#PickClickGive #copperriverwatershed #pfd #stewardship
You are invited to CRWP`s Annual Meeting on Wednesday, April 23rd at 6:00pm!
This is a hybrid meeting (in-person + online) and a great opportunity to learn more about our fish habitat restoration work and hands-on learning opportunities for watershed youth - all made possible by the generous support of our members. Come see the impact your support is having and learn more about recent accomplishments and upcoming projects in the watershed.
CORDOVA - This is our Spring Wild Food Feast, so bring your favorite dish made with ingredients harvested from the watershed! $25 per person (free if you bring a dish to share).
WHERE: The Pioneer Igloo, 621 First Street, Cordova
COPPER BASIN - This is a watch party at the Glennallen High School after the Environmental Fair dinner. Join us for a presentation, discussion, and dessert!
WHERE: The Glennallen High School, 1976 Aurora Drive, Glennallen
ONLINE - Contact CRWP to register for the meeting and receive your Zoom link at info@copperriver.org or call 907-424-3334.
Not a member of CRWP? This is the perfect opportunity to learn more about our stewardship work in the Copper River watershed.
.
CopperRiver.org
.
#AnnualMeeting #nonprofitorganization #copperriverwatershed #CordovaAlaska #Glennallen
Calling all artists!! Salmon Jam 2025 is happening July 18-19th!
Do you want to see everyone in Cordova wearing YOUR art? Copper River Salmon Jam invites you to submit your t-shirt design ideas, not only for the fame of it, but the winning design will receive a $250 cash prize, a weekend pass, and complementary logo gear!
.
For submission guidelines go to salmonjam.org
🎨 The submission deadline is April 15th!
.
#SalmonJam #CallforArtists #CordovaAlaska #SalmonArt
Happy World Water Day!
Glacier Preservation is the focus of World Water Day 2025, and the Copper River watershed is home to a wealth of glaciers - for now. Glaciers are retreating and losing mass yearly right here in our "backyard." It`s incredibly evident with the glaciers in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, especially the Kennicott Glacier, since it`s easy to visit and, for some, to live next to. That ice will not come back in our lifetimes.
Our Partnership Administrator, Amy Scudder, felt it wholeheartedly when she recently rode her bike out from the McCarthy swimming hole across the frozen lake below Kennicott Glacier and explored some of the frozen icebergs, "That lake is getting SOOO big. The ice is a lot farther away…climate change saddens me." When you`re close to glaciers, it`s easy to feel - and see - the loss.
Glaciers are more than just frozen water – they are natural archives of Earth`s climate history. Each layer of snow and ice that builds up over time traps small bubbles of air, pollen, dust, and other particles, preserving valuable information about past climates. By studying these layers, scientists can learn about Earth`s temperature, atmosphere, and even volcanic eruptions going back thousands of years. Some ice cores from glaciers hold climate records as far back as 800,000 years! Glaciers are some of the most important sources of fresh water on Earth. If all the world`s glaciers melted, sea levels could rise by over 197 feet, which would drastically change coastlines." —United Nations/World Water Day 2025
.
CopperRiver.org
.
📷 #1 Michelle McAfee - Rohn Glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. #2 Amy Scudder - Amy exploring icebergs below Kennicott Glacier with her daughter and pup. #3 Michelle McAfee - Melting ice on the Kennicott Glacier.
#WorldWaterDay #Glaciers #GlaciersRetreating #PreservingGlaciers
Get ready - Gakona Trifesta is on this summer!!
WHEN: Saturday, July 26th, 11am
WHERE: Gakona Lodge
This beloved triathlon event is located in the heart of the Copper River Basin. Participants bike to the infamous Gulkana River, then paddle downriver in whatever flotation device they like until the river crosses the Richardson Highway, where racers exit their watercraft and head back to the Gakona lodge on foot. The route intertwines with three scenic rivers and features views of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
Race fees are donated back to the Copper River Watershed Project to support stewardship work in the region.
.
Find more details and register by tapping our bio link and selecting the Gakona TRIfesta button!
.
📷 Heidi Hatcher - 2024 Gakona Trifesta
#GakonaTrifesta #CopperBasin #copperriverwatershed #race #GakonaRiver
Applications for our 2025 Scholarships are open through April 4, 2025!
The Copper River Watershed Project awards two $1000 scholarships annually in the spring to one student from a school in the Copper Basin (Glennallen, Kenny Lake, or Slana High Schools) and one graduating student from Cordova High School. Homeschool students in the region are also eligible to apply, as well as students who have spent a significant portion of their schooling in the Copper River watershed or students who have significant ties to the region.
.
Tap our bio link to find details and download the application packet.
.
📷 # 1 - Mia Ranck, 2024 Copper Basin Scholarship winner. #2 - Floyd Witsoe, 2024 Cordova Scholarship winner.
#Scholarships #CordovaAlaska #CopperBasin #copperriverwatershed
With 2 weeks left to apply for your PFD, consider the Copper River Watershed Project when you Pick Click Give. Your gift creates opportunities for hands-on stewardship and gets youth and adults out into the field to study things that impact our region and way of life. With just a click, you can help sustain the Copper River watershed now and in the future for people and fish.
PFD applications are open until March 31st at: https://pfd.alaska.gov/
.
CopperRiver.org
.
#pfd #stewardship #copperriverwatershed
Happy St. Patrick`s Day!! We don`t have any green, only blue (pinch, pinch) from Amy Scudder`s ride last week on the frozen lake below Kennecott Glacier in McCarthy. The planet is warming, the glacier is retreating, and the lake is getting BIG. Change is the only certainty in this world....and St. Patrick`s Day. That`s pretty certain.
Our staff members work hard and play hard in the Copper River watershed. We wouldn`t have it any other way. ❤ #LoveWhereYouLive
.
CopperRiver.org
.
#copperriverwatershed #McCarthyAlaska
Have you heard?
Alaskans – when you apply for a PFD this year, consider choosing the Copper River Watershed Project!
Your gift creates opportunities for youth and adults to wade out into the watershed and study the things that impact our region and way of life. With just a click, you can help sustain the Copper River watershed now and in the future for people and fish.
Apply for your PFD here.
Applications for the Copper River Stewardship Program (CRSP) are open now through March 31, 2025 for youth currently in 8-12th grade!!
This is a fantastic opportunity to explore and learn about the watershed while boating, rafting, hiking, and camping with new friends. It’s a chance to work with students from throughout the region as you learn about tributaries and how much they contribute to the health of our watershed.
Optional high-school credit is available through your local school district! The cost is $400. Scholarships are available.
Click the button to apply!
We’d like to send a big shoutout to the Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment (WISE) and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve (WRST-NPS) for being our coho-st in the salmon tank program this year! We are able to deliver and engage with 6 classrooms across the Copper River watershed thanks to their assistance to the program! And a great big thank you to all of our Salmon in the Classroom Partners and Sponsors. We couldn’t do this without you!
(Click the button to view a full list of Salmon Tank Partners and Sponsors!)
Apply for the CRWP Scholarships now through April 4th!
The Copper River Watershed Project has awarded two $1000 scholarships annually in the spring to one student from a school in the Copper Basin (Glennallen, Kenny Lake or Slana High Schools) and one graduating student from Cordova High School. Homeschool students in the region are also eligible to apply, as well as students who have spent a significant portion of their schooling in the Copper River watershed or students who have significant ties to the region.
Click below to apply!
Our Programs Making a Difference
