OUR VISION
We believe the Copper River watershed can have a vibrant, healthy future.
Last Friday in Cordova, Mt. Eccles Elementary 5th Graders had a beautiful day to release salmon fry into their new habitat!
Students scooped baby fish up in plastic cups, counted how many they had, and reported the number to one of the teachers before Mrs. Gretchen spread the students out along the water bank. Ms. Kate from the Prince William Sound Science Center counted to 3 and the students released the fry they raised this winter in classroom tanks. Some of the baby salmon were named, like Bartholemew, Jerald, and many others, and the kids watched their babies swim away into wild waters.
The students then participated in an activity where they created a salmon lifecycle bracelet using different colored beads. Each bead color represented a part of the salmon lifecycle. Once the students were done with the activity, they found a spot to sit down and write their own story of the salmon lifecycle implementing as much science from this activity as they could.
🐟 THIS is Salmon in the Classroom in action! 💖
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Find more information on this incredible program by clicking our bio link and selecting the Salmon in the Classroom button!
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📷 Kim Casavan/CRWP - Cordova Elementary students release baby fish they raised in classroom tanks, into local wild waterway.
#SalmonintheClassroom #youthprogram #SalmonFry #kidsoutside
We`d like to congratulate and celebrate Samaya and Liz, our wonderful interns this year, as they graduate high school and move onto the next adventures in life! It`s been a joy having them both in the office, helping out with stewardship work, student programs, and events.
✨The future is bright for you, Samaya and Liz, and on behalf of the team at CRWP, we can`t wait to see what future holds for you both.
Congratulations and Happy Graduation! 🎉 🎓
Check out Liz Heidbrink`s Environmental Science Project by clicking our bio link and selecting the project button.
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📷 CRWP / Photo 1: Samaya manually removing Orange hawkweed in Cordova. Photo 2: Liz urging everyone to recycle aluminum cans in Cordova! Photo 3: Liz and Samaya helping with the Wish Board during our Spring Annual Meeting.
#CordovaGraduates
🗻 CORDOVA - We`re two weeks away from Fishing Web Recycling event! Bring your old fishing web and gear to the Baler on Whitshed Rd on May 28th-29th, 10am-3pm for recycling!
♻️ Recycling used fishing web keeps it out of the landfill and turns it into useful products like shoes, hats, knives, and other items.
🐟 Web has to be free of cork lines, weed lines, lead lines, purse lines, chafe gear and hangings - those can be recycled separately.
🥫 Don`t forget you can recycle aluminum cans anytime! Aluminum cans are accepted for recycling behind AC and at the Baler on Whitshed Rd. The money raised from recycling aluminum cans goes towards making the net recycling program possible. It`s a win-win!!
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Find more information about our recycling program at https://copperriver.org/programs/recycling/
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#recyclingmatters #recycle #fishingwebrecycling #repurpose #CordovaAlaska
We had a successful Glennallen Middle School salmon fry release with the seventh and eighth graders!
Special thanks to Bailey Roberts from ahtnaintertribal Resource Commission and Bryan Marquardt from mypubliclands BLM - Alaska for helping to host fun salmon education activities. We had a glorious sunny day at Junction Lake. Macroinvertebrates were sampled to identify what the salmon fry friends were eating in their new wild-life. The students also played an interactive game that taught the many different forms of water you might experience in a watershed and how they depend on their functions. All students had an opportunity to practice their citizen science skills in the identification, measuring, data collection and release of the coho salmon that they raised for four months!
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Find more information on our Salmon in the Classroom program at https://copperriver.org/programs/watershed-education/salmon-in-the-classroom-2/
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📷 Amanda Jackson/CRWP - Glennallen Middle School students wade into the watershed to release baby salmon fry they raised in a classroom tank.
#SalmonintheClassroom #youthprogram #copperriverwatershed #salmonfry #outdoorlearning
🦋 Amanda Jackson, our Watershed Program Manager and our new Copper Basin Tech Rachel Ryan will be hosting outreach this year at the Native Village of Gakona`s Youth Environmental Summit (YES)! The theme is "Through My Eyes" and will explore aquatic invertebrates, an interactive mosquito game, plant identification, scat & tracks, playing a severe weather event game, and participants will learn how to clean up contaminated lands.
🥞 Breakfast & lunch provided.
May 27: 6-8 Grade - Kenny Lake Community Hall
May 28: 3-5 Grade - Mile 7.5 Edgerton Hwy
May 29: K-2 Grade - Kenny Lake, Alaska
🕙 All workshops are from 10:00 am - 4:15 pm.
For more information call 907.822.5777 or visit https://nvgakona.com/yes2025
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#YouthEnvironmentalSummit #GakonaAlaska #copperriverwatershed #CopperBasinYouthEvent
🦢 Happy World Migratory Bird Day!
On the heels of a wonderful 35th Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival, we continue - and always - celebrate the millions of migratory birds that come through our watershed every summer along the Pacific Flyway.
✨ The Copper River Delta is the largest wetlands along the Pacific coast of North America (700,000 acres). It is used annually by 16 million shorebirds, including the world`s entire population of western sandpipers and the pacific flyway population of dunlins. The Delta is also home to the world`s largest population of nesting trumpeter swans and is the only known nesting site for the dusky Canada goose.
That`s a lot to celebrate!
"Help make your area safe and welcoming for birds by planting native plants, providing clean water, and avoiding the use of harmful chemicals. By creating and protecting shared spaces, we can help birds on their long journeys and make our communities more beautiful and healthy." —World Migratory Bird Day
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📷 Milo Burcham
#WorldMigratoryBirdDay2025 #migratorybirds #CopperRiverDelta #PacificFlyway #copperriverwatershed
🗻 CORDOVA - Have old fishing nets laying around? Bring them to the Baler on Whitshed Rd on May 28th-29th, 10am-3pm for recycling!
♻️ Recycling used fishing web keeps it out of the landfill and turns it into useful products like shoes, hats, knives, and other items.
🐟 Web has to be free of cork lines, weed lines, lead lines, purse lines, chafe gear and hangings - those can be recycled separately.
🥫 Don`t forget you can recycle aluminum cans anytime! Aluminum cans are accepted for recycling behind AC and at the Baler on Whitshed Rd. The money raised from recycling aluminum cans goes towards making the net recycling program possible. It`s a win-win!!
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Find more information about our recycling program at https://copperriver.org/programs/recycling/
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#recyclingmatters #recycle #fishingwebrecycling #repurpose #CordovaAlaska
💙 Protect What You Love
The Copper River watershed is wild, rich, and resilient — but there is no guarantee it will stay that way.
At Copper River Watershed Project, we work to keep this extraordinary place healthy for people and fish, now and for generations to come. But we can’t do it alone.
When you give to CRWP, you`re not just donating — you`re putting boots on the ground, restoring habitat, fighting invasive species, and standing up for rivers, fish, and the communities that depend on them.
💧 Your gift is an investment in the future of the Copper River region. Let’s keep this watershed strong — together.
🔗 https://copperriver.networkforgood.com/projects/146365-copper-river-watershed-project-giving-page
📷 Kirsti Jurica/CRWP - Confluence of the Chitina and Copper Rivers.
#ProtectTheWatershed #CopperRiverStrong #InvestInNature #CRWP
A Meditation brought to you by baby salmon in a classroom tank 🐟
The water is so clean it’s invisible - just how salmon fry like it!
CopperRiver.org
Our Program Manager Amanda Jackson attended Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment (WISE) We Are All Teachers events throughout the Spring season to gain valuable educational outreach techniques and collaborate with Copper Basin education partners. During one of the meetings, Derrick Sinyon of Native Village of Gakona, volunteered to take professional headshots of the group. Thanks for capturing the moment, Derrick!!
We celebrate the wonderful partners that foster stewardship in the lives of youth and watershed communities!
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📷 Derrick Sinyon / Photo 1: Education Partners in the Copper Basin during a We Are All Teachers event. Photo 2: CRWP`s Program Manager Amanda Jackson.
#copperriverwatershed #outdooreducation #educationpartners #CopperBasin #WISE
CORDOVA - Bring your old fishing gear to the Baler on Whitshed Rd on May 28th-29th, 10am-3pm for recycling!
Web has to be free of cork lines, weed lines, lead lines, purse lines, chafe gear and hangings - those can be recycled separately. Recycling used fishing web turns it into useful products like shoes, hats, knives, and other items and keeps it out the landfill!
And remember you can recycle aluminum cans anytime! Aluminum cans are accepted for recycling behind AC and at the Baler on Whitshed Rd. The money raised from recycling aluminum cans goes towards making the net recycling program possible. It`s a win-win!!
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Tap our bio link and select the Recycling Program button for more information.
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#recyclingmatters #recycle #fishingwebrecycling #repurpose #CordovaAlaska
CRWP`s Kirsti Jurica shared an interesting article that describes why we work hard to remove barriers for baby and juvenile fish in our watershed.
"Over the last number of years, studies in Alaska have been observing that juvenile salmon have far more complex freshwater life histories than previously understood and radio telemetry studies show juvenile coho found in systems far from their natal streams showing they can withstand brackish water before smoltification. I guess now it`s been proven!" —Kirsti Jurica, CRWP Hydrology & Watershed Restoration
This quote is from the article: "Akin to the human understanding that it takes a village to raise a child, similarly, it takes a connected coastline of functioning, healthy rivers to bring up a baby salmon." We concur!!
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To read the article, tap our bio link and select The Seattle Times Article button.
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#babysalmon #connectedcoastline #AlaskaSalmon #salmonmigration
If you missed our Annual Meeting, you can watch the presentation here!
Explore the interactive Story Map!
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
Bike, Paddle, Run in the Gakona TRIfesta!
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.
WHEN: Saturday, July 26, 2025, 10:00am registration/11:00am race start
WHERE: Gakona Lodge
Our Programs Making a Difference
