Fieldnotes Blog

13Jul 2017 by Rob Cadmus
Path to Prosperity focuses on Local Foods: Twelve Entrepreneurs Compete for Award to Grow Business

Path to Prosperity focuses on Local Foods: Twelve Entrepreneurs Compete for Award to Grow Business

Community Food Sustainability
The Path to Prosperity (P2P) business development competition has selected 12 finalists to advance to the second round of the 2017 program. P2P aims to identify and support new and growing small businesses in Southeast Alaska, especially those implementing sustainable practices into their business models.  These businesses’ leadership is key to building social, economic, and environmental resiliency in Southeast Alaskan communities. READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE!  Focused on Food For the 2017 competition, P2P is focused exclusively on Southeast Alaska food businesses. Eligible applicants must be involved in the growing, harvesting, processing, aggregation, preparation or distribution of food. Local food systems and community food security are of critical importance to the region, Spruce Root, TNC, and new P2P sponsor Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition (SAWC).  "Creating access to local foods…
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12Jul 2017 by Angie Eldred
Petersburg Beach Program Completes Second Year of Recreational Beach Monitoring

Petersburg Beach Program Completes Second Year of Recreational Beach Monitoring

Community Watershed Stewardship, Watershed Science
SAWC and our partners at the Petersburg Indian Association have completed the second and final year of recreational beach monitoring at Sandy Beach Park in Petersburg. Funded by the State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Clean Water Actions Grant, the 2-year program collected weekly water samples during the high-use spring and summer seasons to be tested for the presence of harmful bacteria. In the event of a bacterial presence above EPA water quality standards, the community could be notified of public health risks and informed once the water was again safe to recreate. A final report outlining year two of the Petersburg Beach Program is available for viewing and download below: [gview file="https://www.alaskawatershedcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/17-B01_Final_Report_PSG_Beach.pdf"]   This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States EPA under…
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31May 2017 by Angie Eldred
Hooligan Study Aims to Understand Population Trends & Climate Adaptation

Hooligan Study Aims to Understand Population Trends & Climate Adaptation

Watershed Science
Takshanuk Watershed Council is into their seventh year monitoring hooligan (Eulachon, or Saak) populations in Northern Lynn Canal, in partnership with the Chilkoot Indian Association and Oregon State University. This year continues a mark-recapture study on the Chilkoot River, and expands environmental DNA (eDNA) population studies to the Chilkat, Ferebee, Taiya, Katzehin, Lace, Antler, and Berners Rivers. Takshanuk and project partners hope to gain a better understanding of the species’ population trends and adaptations to climate change by examining the population at a larger regional scale. A relatively new technique, eDNA allows researchers to sample water for minute traces of a species’ DNA, from shed skin, scales, fecal matter, or reproductive material. Testing these samples using methods similar to those used in the fields of forensics and medicine, researchers can…
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26May 2017 by Angie Eldred
Climate Adaptation Workshop Brings Together Tribes & Communities to Monitor Changes in Fish Habitat

Climate Adaptation Workshop Brings Together Tribes & Communities to Monitor Changes in Fish Habitat

Watershed Science
Southeast Alaska's streams and rivers are important breeding and rearing grounds for salmon harvested by subsistence, sport, and commercial fishermen. Recent closures of major rivers and streams to fishing due to reduced salmon populations have fisheries managers and users alike looking for ways to monitor and understand environmental factors that could be contributing to declining salmon runs in Southeast.  In an effort to better understand and respond to the effects of climate change on stream and river systems, some Southeast Alaska communities and management agencies have begun monitoring temperatures of their local aquatic systems. Water temperature is one of the most significant factors in the health of stream ecosystems, where it affects the growth and survival of algae, aquatic plants, invertebrates, and fish. Salmon have evolved in natural river and stream systems, where water temperatures…
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22May 2017 by Angie Eldred
Growing Produce in Southeast Alaska: Economic Opportunities in the Last Frontier

Growing Produce in Southeast Alaska: Economic Opportunities in the Last Frontier

Community Food Sustainability
Most of us know that supporting local business and localizing our food system is important, but just how big of an impact could a local food economy have for Southeast Alaska? Members of the Sustainable Southeast Partnership, Spruce Root Community Development, Grow Southeast, and the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition partnered to produce a study on the economic impacts of localizing vegetable production in Southeast Alaska. Check out the handy infographic below, and read the full report here!      
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31Mar 2017 by Angie Eldred
2016 Petersburg Beach Monitoring Program Results: Sandy Beach Park

2016 Petersburg Beach Monitoring Program Results: Sandy Beach Park

Community Watershed Stewardship
Last summer the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition (SAWC) in partnership with the Petersburg Indian Association continued a second year of recreational beach monitoring to test a popular local beach for levels of harmful bacteria. With support from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Petersburg Beach program sampled waters at Sandy Beach Park for organisms that indicate fecal contamination. The Beach Program was established by the Alaska DEC through the Alaska Clean Water Actions program to provide support for communities to begin monitoring marine water quality at high-priority beaches for bacterial pollution, specifically, fecal coliform and enterococci.  A partnership between the State of Alaska’s Departments of Environmental Conservation, Fish & Game, and Natural Resources, ACWA was created to characterize Alaska’s waters in a holistic manner, and facilitate the sharing…
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23Feb 2017 by Rebecca Bellmore
Stream and Wetland Temperature Monitoring Training

Stream and Wetland Temperature Monitoring Training

Uncategorized, Watershed Science
We are excited to partner with Chilkat Indian Village and Cook Inletkeeper to provide a stream and wetland temperature monitoring training and climate change monitoring training May 2-5, 2017, in Klukwan, AK. The training is designed for tribes and community organizations and will include hands-on field demonstrations. Contact information and more details, including a travel scholarship application, can be found here.
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06Jan 2017 by Angie Eldred
How to be a “Stream Friendly” Landowner

How to be a “Stream Friendly” Landowner

Community Watershed Stewardship
There are hundreds of salmon streams throughout Southeast Alaska and chances are likley that you live next to or close to one of them! The Juneau Watershed Partnership has created a handy brochure to help streamside landowners be good neighbors to their stream-dwelling friends. The brochure has some helpful information for Juneau-specific streams, and tips that apply to streams through Southeast Alaska. Streamside landowners play a critical role in protecting and maintaining the high quality of water and habitat our salmon and wildlife populations need to thrive. Being "stream-friendly" means making choices that minimize impacts to our creeks, streams, rivers and lakes. The pay off is clean drinking water, healthy and functioning fish and wildlife habitat, and sustained fish and wildlife populations. Check out the Juneau Watershed Partnership's brochure, "…
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09Nov 2016 by admin
Proposed Trail Project

Proposed Trail Project

Uncategorized
We're proposing a half mile overlook trail on the Jones Point Property and we want your feedback on the project. Please contact TWC at 907-766-3542 if you have any question/comments about this project. Source: Takshanuk Watershed Council Blog
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