Fieldnotes Blog | Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition

20Oct 2017 by Rob Cadmus

SAWC Participates in Gustavus’ Community Curiosity Series

SAWC restoration biologist John Hudson traveled to Gustavus to participate in the “Community Curiosity Series.” Gustavus resident Susan Brook developed the series as an opportunity for locals to learn about the natural history of the area. Topics this summer included moose ecology, geology, and lodgepole pine decline. John lead 24 participants on a watershed walking tour of Harry Hall Creek, a small groundwater fed stream that provides important habitat for salmon, trout, and char in the Good River watershed. Participants visited a culvert that blocks fish migration as well as one of several new bridges that have replaced barrier culverts along the stream. Using coho salmon as an example, John discussed the need for removing man-made barriers in watersheds so that adult and juvenile fish can access seasonal habitats used…

19Oct 2017 by Angie Eldred

The Southeast Alaska Mitigation Fund is Approved!

Restoration & Mitigation

Our wetlands and waterways provide unparalleled services to humans and the environment. Well known for harboring amazing biodiversity, wetlands play a critical role in the water cycle by naturally filtering and regulating the flow of water, helping clean water, controlling flooding, and preventing drought in dryer climates. In much of the world, these “ecosystem services” have been undervalued. It is estimated that since 1900 approximately 64-71% of the world’s wetlands have been lost (Davidson, 2014), with the drivers of this decline coming from intensive agricultural production, urbanization, irrigation, pollution, etc. (TEEB, 2013). The loss has real consequence, not only for fish and wildlife but for the livelihoods and probability of businesses that can be affected by flooding, drought, and poor water quality. Here in Southeast Alaska, we are lucky to…

06Oct 2017 by Angie Eldred

Water Quality Monitoring Tracks Effectiveness of Restoration on Juneau’s Duck Creek

Community Watershed Stewardship

The Juneau Watershed Partnership (JWP) as part of the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition (SAWC) was awarded a two-year grant through the Alaska Clean Waters Actions (ACWA) Grant Program administered through the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to monitor the Nancy Street wetland on Duck Creek in Juneau. The purpose of the monitoring is to collect water quality data to evaluate the effectiveness of the wetland in improving water quality conditions on Duck Creek. The project began July 1, 2016 with the JWP working with the DEC to develop a monitoring plan and quality assurance project plan, which ensures the integrity of our monitoring methodology and data. Water quality monitoring began Friday, April 17th and will wrap up in October 2017. A report on the results of the monitoring will be…

04Oct 2017 by admin

Updates from TIWC!

Uncategorized

Taiya Inlet Watershed Council is starting up another year of Salmon in the Classroom at the Skagway School. We are excited to be partnering with the Skagway Traditional Council this year, bringing a cultural component to the program! We started out the year with an egg take from our local pink salmon in Pullen Creek. The eggs are now in their tank in the school’s hallway for the students to observe as they go through the life cycle. In the spring they will be released back into Pullen Creek to continue their journey! Our last lesson focused on the internal and external anatomy of salmon. We had an up close and hands on look of the various organs and body parts. Source: Taiya Inlet Watershed Council Blog

04Oct 2017 by admin

Updates from TIWC!

Uncategorized

Taiya Inlet Watershed Council is starting up another year of Salmon in the Classroom at the Skagway School. We are excited to be partnering with the Skagway Traditional Council this year, bringing a cultural component to the program! We started out the year with an egg take from our local pink salmon in Pullen Creek. The eggs are now in their tank in the school’s hallway for the students to observe as they go through the life cycle. In the spring they will be released back into Pullen Creek to continue their journey! Our last lesson focused on the internal and external anatomy of salmon. We had an up close and hands on look of the various organs and body parts. Source: Taiya Inlet Watershed Council Blog

03Oct 2017 by Rebecca Bellmore

New! Management applications of freshwater temperature data

Watershed Science

SAWC is pleased to release "Management Applications of Regional Freshwater Temperature Data for Southeast Alaska," a white paper that describes the need for freshwater temperature monitoring and ways the data can be used in natural resource management applications, including fisheries management, invasive species control, riparian conditions, fish passage, water quality regulations, and conservation priorities. We hope this paper will be useful to network partners and other organizations that are considering monitoring freshwater temperature, as they make decisions about priority activities and consider contributing their information to the larger community of researchers, managers and stakeholders.

03Oct 2017 by Angie Eldred

Skagway Students Learn Salmon Life Cycle Hands-On Through Salmon In The Classroom

Community Watershed Stewardship

Skagway's Taiya Inlet Watershed Council wrapped up another great year of Salmon in the Classroom in April and is just starting up another year of the project. In January of 2017 TIWC received over 200 eyed coho salmon eggs from DIPAC Hatchery in Juneau, AK for the Salmon in the Classroom project. They were raised in a tank in the Skagway School hallway for the students to observe as they evolved from tiny red eggs to swimming fry. TIWC Program Coordinator, Nicole Kovacs, taught Kindergarten through 5th grade students in the Skagway school about salmon and their environment. Students learned about the life cycle of a salmon, habitat, benefits to the environment, and what we can do to help salmon. They also talked about the internal and external anatomy of our…

17Aug 2017 by Rob Cadmus

SAWC is taking on invasive plants.

Uncategorized

An invasive plant is defined as a plant species that is non-native (or alien) to an ecosystem and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. The annual cost of invasive plants to the U.S. economy is estimated at $120 billion per year. Despite its remote setting, Southeast Alaska is not immune to invasion by these plants nor the economic and ecological impacts that come with them. In fact, well over 50 invasive plant species in more than 1,000 infestations have been documented in Juneau alone. Reed canarygrass takes over a stand of fireweed near lower Jordan Creek in Juneau. SAWC is taking on two of the most invasive of these plant species – Bohemian knotweed and reed canarygrass. Knotweed…

02Aug 2017 by Angie Eldred

Juneau Native Plant Nursery Supports Local Restoration Projects

Restoration & Mitigation

Willow and cottonwood trees at SAWC's native plant nursery in Juneau are thriving this summer thanks to an abundance of rain, and occasional sunshine, in Juneau. The nursery hosts more than 300 trees, each one started from a portion of a branch "borrowed" from wild trees in early spring. These sticks, called dormant cuttings, are placed upright in soil-filled pots. The moist soil stimulates the bark to quickly produce roots, known as adventitious roots, and a few weeks later numerous new branches sprout from the cutting above the soil surface. By summer's end the cuttings have transformed into bushy little trees. SAWC and its partners plant these trees at restoration sites around Juneau where they stabilize soil, shade streams, and provide food and habitat for countless creatures, large and small.…

01Aug 2017 by Rebecca Bellmore

Water quality and climate change in Southeast Alaska

Watershed Science

SAWC Science Director Rebecca Bellmore visited Whale Pass on July 25 to meet with the Prince of Wales Community Advisory Council. She discussed a potential research project to study the effects of climate change on drinking water quality. Many communities in Southeast Alaska have concerns about high organic matter concentrations in drinking water sources, and increasingly extreme weather events may exacerbate these issues. Analyzing water quality data in the context of historic precipitation data and recently downscaled climate change projections for Alaska could provide some insights into how water quality may change in the future.