Copper River Watershed Project

The Copper River Watershed Project supports a salmon-rich, intact watershed and culturally diverse communities by forming partnerships for watershed-scale planning and projects.

Much of our work focuses on salmon and salmon habitat because this keystone species is the true currency of our region! Pick.Click.Give. contributions are part of the funds we raise to support watershed education and salmon habitat restoration project work in the Copper River watershed. Your contributions make these partnership-supported activities possible:

* restore fish passage: we coordinate replacement of old, tired, under-sized culverts that block access to upstream spawning and rearing habitat. These culvert replacements benefit the salmon productivity that support our subsistence, sport and commercial fishing economies.

* Coordinate invasive plant management. We educate residents of the Copper River watershed about the economic and environmental implications of invasive plants and engage them in fieldwork to help eradicate current infestations of invasive plants in the watershed.

* Engage K-12 students in hands-on watershed education opportunities: Students from Cordova and Copper River School Districts are literally immersed in local ecosystems (in chest waders!) to monitor water quality, fish species, habitat conditions, and participate in watershed stewardship activities. Students are connected across the region using online collaboration tools like Skype to share information about their local climate, ecosystem, and communities with their peers living in very different places.

For every project, we bring three or more partners to the table, groups and people who would not be coordinating with each other on fish habitat restoration or education if it were not for our leadership and facilitation. Partners share tools and equipment, and their expertise. With this collaborative approach, weve been able to build trails, replace culverts and build bridges to restore access to salmon spawning habitat, fill data gaps for resource managers, and sponsor watershed education programs that connect up- and down-river communities.