OUR VISION
We believe the Copper River watershed can have a vibrant, healthy future.
Birds are cool. They get to fly with feathered wings above the landscape that gravity holds the rest of us to. They get to see the big picture, the far-away, the distant mountains, and all that happens on the ground while soaring and twirling through thin air. Seriously, how cool is that?
The closest we get is riding in a helicopter or plane, which is pretty neat too. Our summer plant technician, Moshe, took his first helicopter ride out to Kayak Island this summer and said it was incredible. On the way back, he took this shot of the Copper River carving through the delta before it spills into the Gulf of Alaska.
What an amazing world we live in. Fish swim home by smelling the river they were born in. Humans fly in machines along with the birds. Rivers braid and carve the land, creating an artery for all kinds of life. Sometimes you have to get above it all to really see how magnificent this world is. Especially when your corner of the world is as big as this 🙂
📷 Moshe Cotton/CRWP - The Copper River flowing through the delta near Cordova.
#CopperRiver #CopperRiverDelta #BirdsEyeView
Last week, the pwsc_cordova Forestry course visited the Copper River Delta and spent a day with CRWP learning about the intersection between forests, streams and roadways.
Fifteen students and two instructors completed two different outings. With CRWP Executive Director Kate Morse, participants learned about fish passage and visited culverts that were replaced this summer. They checked minnow traps to confirm that Coho aged 1-3 were enjoying their open pathway across the Copper River Highway.
This group also toured the Sheridan Glacier floodplain and learned how the river is significantly eroding land on the north side of the highway due to the highway bridge not being big enough to handle Sheridan River waters. As the river is forced to release its energy upstream, it is eroding USFS Road 220 and eyakcorp (TEC) lands. CRWP and TEC are working together to hire an engineer to evaluate the flood plain and provide recommendations on how to save the road.
While the group was with Moshe, our summer Plant Technician, participants learned about vegetation on the land next to Sheridan Glacier. Moshe shared his experience gathering native seed collections on the Copper River Delta, and participants got to collect lupine seeds for our Cordova native seed bank.
CopperRiver.org
📷 Kate Morse/CRWP - Prince William Sound Forestry course participants visiting culverts and checking minnow traps with Kate Morse.
#CordovaAlaska #CollegeForestryCourse #FishPassage #NativePlants
COPPER BASIN - We`re so happy to report the tributary to the Little Tonsina river along the Bernard Creek Trail is now flowing freely!
The old culvert was removed, the streambank and slopes were shored up seeded with native seeds, and boulders were placed to block access. Photo #1 shows the old culvert, perched above the streambed. Photo #2 & #3 shows the stream now, after restoration, flowing freely.
🐟 The salmon will be happy about that!
Thank you to the contractor who completed the work, Blackburn Industries, and to our partners and funders for making this habitat restoration possible: mypubliclands, the noaa, and the Chugach Alaska Corporation.
CopperRiver.org
📷 Kirsti Jurica/CRWP
#CopperBasin #RichardsonHighway #ConstructionProject #fishpassage #haibtatrestoration
As field season starts to wind down, we`d like to give a big shout-out and thank you to our awesome Cordova Plant Technician, Moshe, for coming aboard this summer to work with CRWP! Today is Moshe`s last day with us this season.
Moshe did a lot of work with the Native Plant Program collecting seeds and data, and did some great outreach at events this summer in Cordova giving out native seeds packets to folks and sharing information on how important it is to plant native plants. Moshe also hopped on a helicopter and rode out to work on Kayak Island.
"It was a really cool experience getting to go to remote places to work in the field and do seed collection. Another thing I really loved doing this season was interacting with the community as much as possible. When I was out doing seed collections people would stop by and ask what I was doing. Everyone was really interested. It was a great feeling to be able to share that with people." — Moshe Cotton
The CRWP Team thanks you for all the great work and outreach Moshe!
📷 Moshe Cotton/CRWP - Moshe collecting lupine seeds along the shores of Sheridan Glacier lake.
#StaffShoutOut #Cordova #NativePlantProgram #ThankYou
CORDOVA - Tomorrow is the LAST day to purchase a Sandpiper Cream Ale from copperriverbrewing and have $1 from your purchase donated to CRWP to support habitat restoration work!
You love to fish. Fish need healthy habitat to thrive, spawn, and return again to this watershed. It`s a win-win, plus you get to quench your thirst with some good brew after a long day on the water.
If you want give more, Copper River Brewing makes it easy! Just add $1, $3, or $5 to your tab at checkout to help open more miles of fish passage in the Copper River watershed.
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Drink responsibly. Donate recklessly.
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Find out more about our fish habitat restoration work at https://copperriver.org/programs/fish-habitat-restoration/
#CopperRiverBrewing #CordovaAlaska #BeerSpecial #SalmonHabitatRestoration
CRWP is partnering with the Mt. Eccles Elementary Student Council leaders to build a native plant pollinator garden in front of the school in Cordova!
Last week our plant program staff shared some freshly harvested lupine seeds for students to get a closer look at, and planted some root wads into the ground. We`re so excited to see this partnership - and the seeds - grow! Sending a big THANK YOU out to our 5th & 6th grade student council folks and to Skye Steritz, an amazing leader of leaders.
Next month we`ll be sowing some seeds, so stay tuned!
CopperRiver.org
📷 Skye Steritz - Students at Mt. Eccles Elementary School in Cordova get a close-up look at wild harvested lupine seeds while learning about creating a native plant garden at their school.
#CordovaAlaska #NativePlants #YouthProgram #nativeplantgarden
Summer is soon coming to a close, and if you didn`t have time to get some wild salmon for your freezer, check out all that senasea_seafoods has in stock.
Sena Sea is a fifth-generation fishing family who cares about the ocean, and the habitat salmon need to continue thriving.
When you buy fish from Sena Sea, they will donate 8% of your purchase to the Copper River Watershed Project to help restore salmon habitat in our watershed. You get Copper River salmon and the watershed gets a little help with salmon habitat restoration.
👉🏼 Use this link to buy fish: https://www.senasea.com/r?id=4jha3n
CopperRiver.org
#sustainablefishing #wildsalmon #buyfish #copperriver #sockeye
♻️ COPPER BASIN - Do you have a little time to spare to help tidy up the ROAR site in Glennallen?
🥫CRWP is a Recycling Our Area Resources (R.O.A.R) sponsor for the month of September, and we could use some help to keep the drop-off site in Glennallen tidy. Volunteering some time is a great way to support a healthy watershed and help decrease impact on our landfill.
👉🏼Please contact info@copperriver.org if you can share some of your time to help tidy up the ROAR in Glennallen.
🫶🏽 Thank you to everyone who has volunteered so far - we really appreciate it!
📷 Kirsti Jurica & Kelsey Stansboro/CRWP - ROAR site in Glennallen.
#Glennallen #ROAR #Recyle #VolunteerOpportunity
CORDOVA - Take a break after a long day out on the water and relax at copperriverbrewing!
🍻During the month of September, when you buy a glass of Sandpiper Cream Ale, $1 from each purchase will be donated to Copper River Watershed Project to support habitat restoration work! And healthy habitat is good for fishing!
🎣 And the brewery makes it easy to give even more at the cash register to support the fishing you love. You can add $1, $3, or $5 to your tab at checkout to go towards opening more miles of fish passage in the Copper River watershed.
It`s a win-win. Plus, you`ll be less thirsty.
😁 Drink responsibly. Donate recklessly.
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Find out more about our fish habitat restoration work at https://copperriver.org/programs/fish-habitat-restoration/
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#CopperRiverBrewing #CordovaAlaska #BeerSpecial #SalmonHabitatRestoration
This last weekend, CRWP`s field technicians connected with folks at the Fungus Festival sharing locally harvested seeds and information about the mycorrhizal relationship between soil fungi and plant roots.
This mutual relationship benefits both when the soil fungi uptake water and nutrients (phosphorous, etc.) and send them to the plant roots, while the above-ground portion of the plants absorb sunlight, and send sun nutrients (as carbohydrates) through its roots back to the soil fungi.
In this partnership, they exchange what they each need to thrive. It is estimated that 90% of the plants we see every day are engaged in a mycorrhizal relationship underground. So cool!
Thank you to everyone who stopped by the table to talk with us and learn together.
📷 Kate Morse/CRWP - Copper River Watershed Project Field Technicians Moshe and Jillian at the CRWP table talking with people attending Fungus Fest in Cordova.
#FungusFest #CordovaAlaska #copperriverwatershed #nativeplants #fungi
🗓️ CORDOVA TODAY & TOMORROW - Bring your old fishing web to the Baler on Whitshed Road for recycling!
Instead of bulking up our landfill, your old fishing gear can be recycled and repurposed into usable items like knives, hats, and all kinds of useful things! It`s a win-win for everyone.
🥫While you`re at it, bring in your aluminum cans for recycling. When you recycle cans, the money from those cans goes towards supporting the fishing web recycling effort. How cool is that?
♻️Drop your fishing web at the Baler on Whitshed Road from 10am - 3pm on these dates:
– September 22 and 23
– October 13 and 14
Web has to be free of cork lines, weed lines, lead lines, purse lines, chafe gear and hangings but
corks, leads, chafe and purse lines can be recycled separately.
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👉🏼 We need volunteers to help process fishing web. If you can donate some time, please sign up for shifts on this google form and let us know when you`re available to help. THANK YOU for helping!
📋 Sign up to volunteer here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfjwievoedzOHqnJJXkrmaWW_V2wicWoY8XrC97-7eQXEuBvw/viewform
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Learn more about our recycling program at https://copperriver.org/programs/recycling/
#fishingwebrecycling #recyclingmatters #repurpose #CordovaAlaska
Sockeye are spawning along the shore of Eyak Lake! The gravel edge in the video is the spot where Girl Scout Troop 148 recently cleaned up the beach - thank you ladies!
Long after the fish have spawned, died, and become nutrients to feed the ecosystem, the eggs they leave behind are developing under the gravel right along the shoreline. Walking, driving, and other activities along the water’s edge can potentially hurt or destroy the eggs underneath. A good thing to remember when
Recreating on the beaches of Eyak Lake.
Thank you for being a good salmon neighbor, and giving this year’s eggs a chance to hatch and grow!
CopperRiver.org
#cordovaalaska #copperriverwatershed #eyaklake #sockeye
Recycle your used Fishing Web October 13 & 14!
Recycle your used fishing gear and turn it into useful things like shoes and hats instead of filling up our landfill!
Web has to be free of cork lines, weed lines, lead lines, purse lines, chafe gear and hangings but corks, leads, chafe and purse lines can be recycled separately.
🥫While you’re at it, bring your aluminum cans! Recycling your cans supports the net recycling program, so drop off your aluminum at the Baler at the same time!
We need volunteers to help process fishing gear! Sign up for shifts on this google form and let us know when you’re available to help. THANK YOU for helping keep fishing web out of our landfill!
Our Programs Making a Difference
