OUR VISION
We believe the Copper River watershed can have a vibrant, healthy future.
On September 24th, CRWP staff members Kirsti Jurica and Kate Morse hosted the PWSC - Prince William Sound College forestry students on a field trip to explore the interactions between waterways and forests that are so tangible on the Copper River Delta.
Students observed how improperly placed culverts can impact the forest in addition to the stream, and how glacial rivers run wild and can aggressively erode the Delta when constricted, as is the case for the Sheridan Glacier River. Super Volunteer and retired U.S. Forest Service Fisheries Biologist, Ken Hodges, joined us and shared his wealth of knowledge about fish habitat on the Copper River Delta. It was wet, but participants still had fun and learned a lot!
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Find more on our Education Programs at https://copperriver.org/programs/watershed-education/
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📷 Kate Morse/CRWP - Prince Williams Sound College Forestry Students exploring waterways and forests on the Copper River Delta.
#CopperRiverDelta #PrinceWilliamSoundCollegeForestry #watershededucation #CordovaAlaska
THANK YOU Melissa and Vince for donating $4800 to CRWP through the Colorado Climate Ride!! 😍
Melissa and Vince Valentin just finished an Independent Challenge bike ride through Summit County, Colordo, and raised money and awareness for the Copper River Watershed Project!
Melissa, a water resources engineer, spent the past two summers in Cordova working with the us on fish passage projects, and modeling how future climate change will impact glaciers and streamflow. This surprise donation is so appreciated!!
Read about their week-long bike ride in Colorado by clicking our bio link and selecting the Melissa & Vince`s Climate Ride button.
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📷 Courtesy Melissa Valentin - Melissa and Vince on the Climate Ride through Summit County, Colorado.
CORDOVA - Inspect your heating fuel tank and be eligible to win 50 gallons of home heating fuel — and prevent oil spills!
Homeowners are legally liable for costs associated with cleaning up contaminated soils and water that result from a home fuel tank spill. With proper care and maintenance, these costs can be avoided.
Did you know fuel spills can...
✅ contaminate local drinking water sources like Eyak Lake;
✅ reduce the value of your property;
✅ cause odor and health problems in
you and/or your neighbors’ homes;
✅ end up in Odiak Pond, Orca Inlet
or Eyak Lake, home to salmon, the backbone of our economy.
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Fill out and submit the questionaire by November 30, 2024 to enter, and find more information by clicking our bio link and selecting the Win 50 Gallons of Home Heating Fuel button.
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#oilspillprevention #CordovaAlaska #preventspills #homeheatingoil
nativevillageofeyak
Last Friday, CRWP Executive Director Kate Morse and Watershed Stewardship Program Manager Amanda Jackson hosted a table at the Prince William Sound Science Center Marine Science Fair. One hundred twenty-six 3rd-10th grade students strolled through the gym full of interactive displays hosted by a variety of marine and fishery related organizations. We recruited for our summer internship and technician position and students learned about GIS while participating in a simple mapping activity set up by Ashley Taylor, our GIS Specialist. Almost forty students logged on to share where on Earth they would like to explore or learn more, and noted their career of interest!
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CopperRiver.org
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📷 Photos 1 & 2 Kate Morse, Photos 3 & 4 Amanda Jackson/CRWP - Amanda and Kate showing students a map of the watershed and introducing them to GIS.
Happy Alaska Day!
Today, and everyday, we celebrate our great state and the amazing Copper River Watershed we call home. With work, diligence, and collaboration, we can make sure this rare gem of a watershed is as wild and abundant in the future as it is now.
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CopperRiver.org
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#lovewhereyoulive #copperriverwatershed #AlaskaDay #celebratethewild #conservation #cleanrivers #cleanoceans
Photo 1 Amanda Jackson/CRWP - Edgerton Overlook at the Tonsina and Copper River confluence in the Copper Basin.
Photo 2 Shae Bowman/CRWP - Fishing boats coming into Cordova Harbor.
Photo 3 & 4 Michelle McAfee/CRWP - Fish migrating upstream from Hartney Bay and Coho spawning in Eyak River, Cordova.
What a day in the outdoor watershed office!
We were thrilled to be joined by thirty-five 5th graders and their two teachers for salmon-fun out the road in Cordova! On a gorgeous sunny day we worked with our partners at Prince William Sound Science Center and Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation and super volunteer Ken Hodges to guide students through a variety of activities that brought to life classroom lessons on watersheds and salmon spawning habitat, and collected salmon eggs to place in their classroom tanks.
"My heart soared to hear them define riffles and pools and explain all the reasons bankside vegetation is so important to salmon habitat (in case you don`t know, it provides shade, keeps banks intact and reduces erosion, leaf litter feeds the insects that feed the fish, and when the trees fall into the stream, they create habitat!). We were all in awe of the abundant spawning activity going on in the stream, too, including in our new culverts on the main stem of 18-Mile stream, home to coho salmon and coastal cutthroat trout! The eggs they helped collect have now been placed in the tank at the school and the students are eager to take on the role of caring for the eggs and monitoring the tank. Thanks to Alaska Department of Fish & Game for permitting this amazing educational opportunity." —Kate Morse, CRWP Executive Director
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Click our bio link to find out more on our Salmon in the Classroom Program!
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📷 Photos 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9 Kate Morse/CRWP & Photos 3, 4, 8 Amanda Jackson/CRWP - Cordova 5th Grade students field trip at 18-Mile stream culvert collecting salmon eggs and learning about salmon habitat.
#CordovaAlaska #SalmonintheClassroom #salmoneduation #salmonhabitat #fieldtrip pwssc
Last summer, youth participated in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Visitor Center Plant Program Intro Day. They researched invasive species and designed Wanted Posters with our Watershed Stewardship Program Manager, Amanda Jackson. We got a kick out of this one:
✍️ The handwriting reads:
🌾 Common Name: foxtail barley
🔬 Scientific Name: Hordeum jubatum L.
🗻 Description: Terrestrial
📏 Size: 30.5-60 cm tall
🍥 Color: Pinkish, red, green
🐰 Other Characteristics: Fluffy, soft, harry
🚶♂️ Spreads by: Human activity
👮 Crimes: Can cause damage to mouth, eyes, and skin of animals. Host for viruses. Accumulates high amounts of salts in its leaves and roots reducing the salinity of the soil.
🌏 May be located at: Western North America
🤷♀️ To be returned to: Western North America
🏆 Reward: A free burger. A free trip whenever you would like + five million dollars.
😆
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Click our bio link to find more on Invasive Species in the Copper River watershed.
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#InvasivePlantManagement #foxtailbarley #invasivespecies #copperriverwatershed
Every day is Indigenous People`s Day in the Copper River watershed. We are grateful to live and work in partnership with the Eyak, Ahtna, Sugpiaq and Tlingit People who have lived here since the beginning of human time. `Awa’ahdah and Tsin’aen for stewarding this watershed with deep wisdom and knowledge.
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Thank you to SalmonState for sharing this Native lands map https://native-land.ca/
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#IndigenousPeoplesDay #Eyak #Ahtna #Sugpiaq #Tlingit #copperriverwatershed
Our Watershed Stewardship Manager Amanda Jackson was out about in the Copper Basin last month and snapped some photos of fall colors and fungi. These plants and mushrooms were not harvested - just pretty to look at. Our watershed is a kaleidoscope of colors when the angle of light shifts, and the days get shorter!
CopperRiver.org
📷 Amanda Jackson/CRWP - Fall colors and fungi on a walk in the Copper Basin.
#CopperBasin #FallColors #copperriverwatershed
✨ CRWP Board of Directors Spotlight - Nelly Hand ✨
We are grateful to our Board Members who volunteer their time to help guide our nonprofit organization.
Nelly Hand is the Vice President of CRWP`s Board of Directors, and also an Owner & Founder of Drifters Fish, a small team of sustainable fishermen bringing wild-caught Alaska salmon to dinner tables. Nelly grew up in a fishing family and spent summers throughout high school and college working on the family boat in Alaska.
This summer, Nelly joined our GIS Specialist Ashley Taylor, on Eyak Lake in Cordova to map spawning beds, and shared her experience:
"In late August, I went out with Ashley to survey another section of the lake - Middle Arm. Right away, as we launched our boats, you could smell the fish in the lake - the ones that had spawned and were decomposing, leaving their nutrients behind to feed the trees that grew along the border. We paddled across and into Middle Arm, and as we rounded the corner into that finger of the lake, the waters started to simmer with a thick mass of deeply red spawning salmon swimming slowly in the shallows. It was so powerful to see how many were back there, just a wild ribbon of red bodies that had made it this far - all the way through the ocean and back to their home waters. It’s a really beautiful thing to get to witness a healthy salmon cycle. After a summer on the water, harvesting wild fish - I’m so grateful to get to see a healthy return of fish continuing their rhythms on Eyak Lake." —Nelly Hand, Drifter`s Fish
Aside from the time and energy Nelly gives to CRWP`s Board of Directors, Drifter`s Fish also donates 1% of their proceeds back to CRWP to support our stewardship work in the watershed!
Thank you Nelly and Drifter`s Fish!
https://driftersfish.com
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Learn more about CRWP`s Board of Directors at https://copperriver.org/about-us/staff-board/
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📷 Nelly Hand - Photo 1 - Nelly Hand. Photos 2 & 3 - Nelly & Ashley at Middle Arm on Eyak Lake mapping spawning beds.
#BoardofDirectors #EyakLake #CordovaAlaska #nonprofitvolunteer #fisherwoman
Just In: for those that missed out on Adult Salmon Jam Merch this year, we`ve got you covered with a restock order!
We have a small selection of Crew Neck Sweatshirts, Zip-Up Hoodies + T-shirts. We still have gear for the little ones too, T-shirts and Crew Neck Sweatshirts. Stop by the CRWP Gift Shop and grab your new Salmon Jam merch!
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CopperRiver.org
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#SalmonJam #CordovaAlaska #merch #hoodies
On September 27th, Cordova Girl Scout Troop 148 led a clean-up day at Eyak Lake to remove large piles of rusty nails from pallet burning on Sunset Beach, which borders important salmon spawning beds. The Troop garnered support from CRWP, U.S. Forest Service , Alaska Commercial Company , and Peterson`s Welding, with a donated a fire ring to contain beach fires, and funds to help them create an informational sign with their artwork and design.
The Girl Scouts set out to complete their Outdoor Journey and were inspired to Take Action with this project to protect spawning habitat and bring awareness to the problem of nails accumulating on Sunset Beach. The project expanded into the clean-up effort that resulted in them earning their Bronze Award.
Clean-up day gave us perfect fall weather. The group started at Nirvana Park to do a clean-up sweep, moved to Skaters Cabin for another clean-up sweep, and ended the day at Sunset Beach where the Girl Scouts worked away picking up any debris and many, many pounds of rusted nails (over 10 gallons of nails!). The girls were proud to install the sign they created and the beautiful custom fire pit generously donated by Peterson`s Welding. The troop ended the clean-up effort with s’mores, donated by Alaska Commercial Company, cooked over a celebratory fire and received their pins and badges for their work on this project.
We invite you to help us continue to maintain this beach and shorefront to protect the salmon eggs and alevin rearing just offshore of this beach in the gravel.
We are full of smiles and hope to have our young stewards care about protecting salmon spawning habitat and doing something to make a difference. Thank you again to the troop leaders and supportive parents, U.S. Forest Service, Alaska Commercial Company, and Peterson`s Welding for helping make this happen!
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Click our bio link to find more on the Girl Scout Clean-Up Project.
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📷 Kim Casavan/CRWP - Girl Scout Troop and supporting partners cleaning up Sunset Beach on Eyak Lake during a beautiful fall day.
#CordovaAlaska #EyakLake #cleanup #beachcleanup
Have you heard?
CORDOVA – Inspect your heating fuel tank and enter to win 50 gallons of home heating fuel — and prevent oil spills!
Did you know fuel spills can…
contaminate local drinking water sources like Eyak Lake; reduce the value of your property; cause odor and health problems in you and/or your neighbors’ homes; end up in Odiak Pond, Orca Inlet or Eyak Lake, home to salmon, the backbone of our economy.
Homeowners are legally liable for costs associated with cleaning up contaminated soils and water that result from a home fuel tank spill. With proper care and maintenance, these costs can be avoided.
What a day in the outdoor watershed office!
On October 17th, we were thrilled to be joined by thirty-five 5th graders and their two teachers for salmon fun out the road in Cordova!
On a gorgeous sunny day, we worked with our partners at Prince William Sound Science Center and Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation and super volunteer Ken Hodges to guide students through a variety of activities that brought to life classroom lessons on watersheds and salmon spawning habitat and collected salmon eggs to place in their classroom tanks.
Our Programs Making a Difference
