
Klawock Lake Sockeye Salmon Action Plan
Sockeye salmon from Klawock Lake have been important to the livelihood and culture of the people of Klawock, Craig, and Prince of Wales Island for millennia. Over the last two decades there have been significant declines in the number of fish returning to the Klawock Watershed, and a group of tribal, native corporation, government, non-profit, and private sector partners are working to reverse this decline. With support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and with facilitation and coordination from Kai Environmental, this group of stakeholders and community members has produced the Klawock Lake Sockeye Salmon Action Plan. The purpose of the Klawock Lake Sockeye Salmon Action Plan is to help guide landowners, stakeholders and the Klawock community in promoting healthy and sustainable sockeye salmon populations in Klawock Lake for…

Restoration Potential in the Mendenhall Wetlands
The Mendenhall Wetlands, extensive intertidal and estuarine wetlands between the Juneau mainland and Douglas Island, are a globally recognized Important Bird Area, an ecological hotspot in Southeast Alaska, and a treasured recreation area for Juneau. These wetlands have been heavily impacted by urbanization and resource development over the years, leading to habitat degradation and fragmentation. The Watershed Coalition recently completed a restoration opportunity assessment for the area to identify sites that have been altered or degraded but have the potential to be restored. We identified projects on several city, state, and private properties, and are already exploring some of these opportunities with the land owners and managers. We anticipate that this US Fish and Wildlife Service-funded assessment will lead to multiple wetland habitat restoration projects that reconnect and rehabilitate habitat…

Klawock Lake Watershed: Threemile Creek Restoration Opportunities
For: Klawock Sockeye Salmon Stakeholder Group By: Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition: John Hudson, Rob Cadmus, and Rebecca Bellmore and The Nature Conservancy: Conor Reynolds. Click for the full report below. [gview file="https://www.alaskawatershedcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Klawock-Threemile-Restoration-Opportunities-10_9_19-min.pdf"]

Pat’s Creek Restoration in the News!
Check out a recent KTSK radio story and article in the Wrangell Sentinel about our restoration project in Pat's Creek. The US Fish and Wildlife Service put together a fun time lapse video showing the action. It wonderful to see this project through to completion!

Before and After Restoration at Pat Creek
Restoration of salmon habitat at Pat Creek near Wrangell is underway. SAWC and our partners are adding large woody debris to about 1 km of stream. Fish like trees (when they fall in they create pools and other preferred habitats). The lack of mature trees along (and also in) the creek has resulted in less than optimal fish habitat including overwidened areas lacking pools and cover. Here is a before and after shot from the same spot on Pat Creek that shows the addition of large wood. Before After

Work Starts for the Pat Creek Fish Habitat Enhancement Project
Work started today on SAWC's Pat Creek Fish Habitat Enhancement Project! Photo: Mike Brunfelt, with Interfluve, Inc., works with Brett Woodbury, BW Enterprises to improve fish habitat to Wrangell's Pat Creek. Location: Wrangell Island, Southeast Alaska Fish: Salmon (Coho, Pink, Chum, Sockeye), Dolly Varden char, Cutthroat Trout History: The valley bottom was logged in the 1960’s-70’s. This logging occurred before stream buffers were required, and trees on the stream’s banks were harvested. Restoration Need: Fish like trees (when they fall in they create pools and other preferred habitats). The lack of mature trees along (and also in) the creek has resulted in less than optimal fish habitat including overwidened areas lacking pools and cover. The Project: During the summer of 2019, “large wood” (tree trunks/roots) will be added to…

Feb 20: Ocean Acidification and AK – Talk and Q&A
Please join us on Feb 20, 5:00 PM, at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall to learn about and discuss the effects of ocean acidification in Alaska. The event will include short presentations from ocean acidification researchers Jessica Cross and Bob Foy of NOAA, followed by Q&A/dialogue with the audience. This is a chance for people to ask question about what we know so far about ocean acidification in Alaska and what we might expect in the future. It's also a chance for researchers to hear thoughts and information needs from the local community.

Killing Canarygrass
With springtime in full swing in Southeast Alaska, our meadows and forest shrub-layers are greening up as new leaves sprout from twigs and blades of grass poke up from the ground. However, in certain places around Juneau, curious-looking patches of yellow stand out starkly within a sea of fresh green growth. These bright spots are infestations of reed canarygrass, an extremely aggressive invasive plant that is found throughout Juneau and elsewhere in the region. In late summer and early fall, canarygrass transfers energy from above-ground foliage to below-ground rhizomes. Come spring, this stored energy fuels the production of new stems and leaves which rise up through a dense mat of yellow thatch left behind the previous year. By early May, fresh green growth nearly obscures last year's thatch. Reed canarygrass…

WANTED: Bohemian knotweed (Dead)
Most people don’t worry much about invasive plants during the winter months. After doing battle with them all summer or watching them take over our yards and open spaces during the growing season, we relax as the last of them die back in the fall. As cold winter weather grips the landscape, we take comfort knowing these aggressive species are tucked away in frozen soil for several months. As someone who’s attention is drawn to every infestation they see while out and about during the summer, I’m certainly enjoying this invasive plant-free time of year. While invasive plants may be out of our sight right now, they definitely should not be out of our mind. Now is the time to make plans for defeating these unwanted invaders. In 2018 SAWC…