OUR VISION
We believe the Copper River watershed can have a vibrant, healthy future.
Thank you to The Copper River Record for publishing our Salmon in the Classroom story on February 26! You can check it out at copperriverrecord.net or visit our website at https://copperriver.org/2026/03/09/salmon-in-the-classroom-overcoming-challenges-rural-alaska/
And a big thank you to Robin Mayo at wise.education.alaska and Bailey at ahtnaintertribal for working with us to facilitate the Salmon in the Classroom program this year! 🐟
#salmonintheclassroom #copperriverwatershed #copperbasin #copperriverrecord #youthprogram
Hands-on, up-close learning in the Salmon in the Classroom Program! Glennallen 4th grader helps place new salmon eggs in the classroom tank.
Want more information on this program? Visit CopperRiver.org and tap the Watershed Education tab.
#copperriverwatershed #copperbasin #salmonintheclassroom
Happy World Wildlife Day! It is certainly a wild life living in the Copper River watershed 🫎
We are lucky to share this country with moose, bears, lynx, lots of fish, myriad birds, beaver, caribou.....the list is loooooooong and wild. Here`s to celebrating living in this wild place, and to all the life it holds and supports. 🙌🏼
📷 Big thanks to Cordova based photographer miloburcham for sharing his wonderful wildlife photography with CRWP over the years.
Glennallen Elementary 4th graders helped Robin Mayo from wise.education.alaska (WISE) place salmon eggs into their new home in the classroom tank last month. They learned how delicate those eyed-eggs are at this stage, and got to handle them - carefully. The students are also learning how to take great care of their tank, and soon we`ll have an update on the alevin that have hatched!
Big thank you to Robin from WISE and Bailey from the Ahtna Intertribal Resource Commission (AITRC) for helping to facilitate Copper Basin salmon tanks this year!
Tap our bio link and select the Salmon in the Classroom button for more information on this program!
📷 Bailey Roberts, AITRC/CRWP - Glennallen 4th graders learning how to place salmon eggs into the classroom tank.
On this last day of #NISAW2026, we want to celebrate and thank our partners, students, and volunteers who have worked to remove invasive plants in the Copper River watershed.
Thank you to our partners in the Invasive Plant Management Program: ahtnaintertribal, Alyeska Pipeline Company, mypubliclands (BLM), cityofcordova Parks and Recreation Department , copperrivernativeassociation , oceanplasticsrecovery, u.s.forestservice, wise.education.alaska
And to all the volunteers who hopped on rafts and joined events to pull invasive plants in the Copper Basin and Cordova, including Mavis Island Project!
Thank you as well, to the students and programs who helped tackle invasive species: Youth Employment and Training Initiative (YETI), Copper River Stewardship Program (CRSP), Girl Scouts, CRNA After School Program!
Join us this summer on a float or weed pull in your area! For more information visit https://copperriver.org/programs/invasive-plant-management/
📷 CRWP–Photo 1: Floatable Weed Smackdown group. Photo 2: Girl Scout troop in Cordova plucking orange hawkweed. Photo 3: CRNA After School Program student removing a large patch of bird vetch.
#copperriverwatershed #alaskainvasiveplants #invasiveplantmanagement #stopthespread #cleandraindry #playcleango
This week during National Invasive Species Awareness Week, we shared information on 2 of the Top 4 invasive plants in the Copper River watershed. But there are more, include Aquatic Invasive Species that are starting to make their way into our region.
💪🏽 Ways you can help Stop the Spread of invasive species:
• Make prevention a practice when recreating outdoors
• Volunteer for a CRWP Weed Smackdown event to remove invasive plants from our rivers
• Adopt-a-Pest through our program and manage invasive plants in your area.
And, visit online resources for how to create a prevention practice outdoors like, removing mud from boots, gear, pets and vehicles after recreating before going to another area.
https://playcleango.org
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For boaters, Clean.Drain.Dry your boat after recreating to prevent the spread of Aquatic Invasive Species.
https://www.cleandraindry.org
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Find more information about CRWP’s efforts and volunteer opportunities by tapping our bio link and selecting the Invasive Plant Management Program button.
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#nisaw2026 #copperriverwatershed #alaskainvasivespecies #playcleango #cleandraindry
In Cordova, one invasive species of concern is reed canarygrass. This perennial grass likes wetlands and grows in dense stands of culms produced from creeping rhizomes. It threatens salmon habitat by outcompeting native species, clogging streams, reducing shade, and causing greater erosion along stream banks.
🌾 We`ve been working on managing this aggressive plant in the Cordova area primarily by removing seed heads, and trying a new tactic of laying light-excluding tarps on large patches of it along the shoreline of Eyak Lake where salmon spawn.
✂️ It`s SUPER important to not clip seed heads or disturb this plant once it`s gone to seed. And equally important to not rip or break plant roots or stems when removing the entire plant. Otherwise, all those little plant pieces will sprout new plants and spread. Timing is everything when managing reed canarygrass.
👉🏼 Tap our bio link and select the Invasive Plant Management Program to find more information.
📷 CRWP - Photo 1 - Reed canarygrass on the shoreline of Eyak Lake (2025). Photo 2 - Our field technician, Maddie Tharp, removing a large patch of reed canarygrass along the shoreline of Eyak Lake, that was then tarped (Photo 2) to kill the roots of the grass (2025). Photo 4 - CRWP Field Technician Serena Herschleb clipping reed canarygrass from the roadside in Cordova (2024).
#NISAW #reedcanarygrass #alaskainvasivespecies #CordovaAlaska
This week, during National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW), we`re sharing information on the 4 Top Invasive Species
in the Copper River watershed.
White sweetclover is a very aggressive invasive plant in the Copper Basin that can disperse more than ❗️350,000 ❗️seeds PER PLANT.
It`s a tough one to control. The Copper River Watershed Project (CRWP) is making an effort to slow the spread of this aggressive plant along rivers like the Gakona, Gulkana, and Klutina, which are important salmon tributaries to the Copper River. Taking on white sweetclover is a gargantuan task, but any white sweetclover plants that can be removed before they go to seed will help slow the spread in our watershed. This plant moves downstream quickly on river bars and shorelines via wind, and fisher people`s clothes and boots. It can travel in boats and on cars, hitch rides on wildlife, and get shoved and hauled around with heavy equipment. Waterways with rich soil and plenty of damp earth - rivers - are a prime target for this invasive plant.
Removing white sweetclover is a big job, so why not make it fun? CRWP started doing Floatable Weed Smackdowns, and ran 2 very successful trips last summer. On each trip, we filled a couple of rafts with willing people, and stopped on the ride downriver where we found thick patches to pull and haul out as much white sweetclover as the rafts could carry. It was super fun and the groups removed hundreds and hundreds of pounds of this invasive plant from our rivers. That`s millions and millions and seeds that won`t be traveling our watershed this year!
Stay tuned for information on this summer`s upcoming Weed Smackdowns!
Tap our bio link and select the Invasive Plant Management Program button for more information.
📷 CRWP - Participants of the 2025 Weed Smackdown on the Gulkana River pulling white sweetclover, bagging it up, and hauling it out in rafts.
#NISAW #AKISAW #invasiveplants #alaskainvasivespecies #whitesweetclover
It`s National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW)! This international event was created to raise awareness about invasive species, the threat that they pose, and what can be done to prevent their spread.
❓What is an invasive species?
🌱 It is a plant that is non-native to the ecosystem and whose introduction and spread causes economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.
🐟 Invasive species are a real concern in Alaska because they outcompete native plants, disrupt the food web, and can damage the habitats salmon rely on. This week, we`ll be sharing information on the Top 4 Invasive Plants in our watershed, how to Stop The Spread, and some do`s and dont`s of removing these invasive plants.
👉🏼 Tap our bio link and select the Invasive Plant Management Program to learn more about what CRWP is doing to manage invasive plants.
#NISAW2026 #AKISAW #InvasiseSpecies #copperriverwatershed
✨ Looking for work this summer? Join the CRWP Team!
🌱 The Copper River Watershed Project is hiring Plant Program Field Technicians – 2 positions in Cordova, and 2 positions in Glennallen. These are field-based positions through our plant programs, and will include invasive plant management and native seed harvesting. On-the-job training will be provided for plant identification, surveying, and data collection methods.
🗓️ Positions are up to 40 hours/week Monday - Friday with flexible start and end dates from mid-April through early September, 2026.
👉🏼 For information on how to apply, tap our bio link and select the Join the CRWP Team button!
📷 Amanda Jackson/CRWP - 2025 Plant Technicians Rachel Ryan and Alvin Albert collecting data on invasive plants.
#CordovaAlaska #GlennallenAlaska #jobopportunities #fieldwork #invasiveplantmanagement #nativeseedharvesting #copperriverwatershed
Youth currently in 8-12 grade can register for the Copper River Stewardship Program!
✨The stewardship program takes ten youth from communities throughout the Copper River region on a journey through the Copper River watershed, meeting with representatives from a wide range of fields perspectives along the way. Participants will boat, raft, hike, and camp with new friends, while learning about our watershed.
✅ Optional credit is available through your local district!
📝 Application deadline is March 31st. Applicants must currently be in 8-12 grade.
👉🏼 You can find more information and the application by tapping our bio link and selecting the Copper River Stewardship Program button!
📷 2025 Copper River Stewardship Program adventures.
#copperriverstewardshipprogram #youtheducation #CopperRiver #copperriverwatershed
Are you graduating this year? Apply for the Copper River Watershed Project Scholarship!
CRWP will award two, $1000 scholarships 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.
Applications for the 2026 Scholarships are open now through April 5, 2026!
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Find details and download the application packet at https://copperriver.org/programs/watershed-education/scholarship-program/
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📷 Mia Ranck, 2024 Scholarship winner.
#Scholarships #copperriverwatershed #Cordova #CopperBasin #SupportingEducation
The Copper River Watershed Project is pleased to announce we are soliticitng proposals construction services for fish passage improvements at the COP 3 and SHER 3 sites in Cordova, Alaska, with work occurring during the summer 2026 construction season.
The pre-bid conference on Wednesday, March 18, 10am AKT, will be available both by Zoom and in person at the Copper River Watershed Project office in Cordova. Please email partnership@copperriver.org if you would like the Zoom link.
Ten youth from communities throughout the Copper River region will go on journey through the Copper River watershed, meeting with representatives from a wide range of fields perspectives along the way. They will explore and learn about our watershed while boating, rafting, hiking, and camping with new friends.
Optional credit is available through your local district!
Application deadline is March 31st!
CRWP is hiring Plant Program Field Technicians – 2 positions in Cordova, and 2 positions in Glennallen. These are field-based positions through our plant programs, and will include invasive plant management and native seed harvesting. On-the-job training will be provided for plant identification, surveying, and data collection methods.
Positions are up to 40 hours/week Monday – Friday with flexible start and end dates from mid-April through early September, 2026.
Are you graduating this year? Apply for the Copper River Watershed Project Scholarship!
CRWP will award two, $1000 scholarships 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.
Explore our interactive Story Map!
Learn more about the Copper River Watershed Project and the Copper Region in this fun Story Map created by our GIS Specialist, Ashley Taylor.
Our Programs Making a Difference
