The Copper River Watershed Project

Fish Habitat Restoration Projects
Salmon don't just live in streams. . . they live in watersheds!

Fish are a critical public resource in the Copper River watershed. Eighty percent of area households harvest fish, game and berries for subsistence use. Fifty percent of Cordova’s economy relies on commercial fishing. Sustaining salmon spawning habitat is essential in a region where fish have enormous economic and cultural value. Fine sediment in streams literally chokes fish to death: it can smother incubating eggs and also abrades and clogs fish gills. These problems exist in places in the Copper River drainage where heavy vehicle use and foot traffic have eroded the bank vegetation that holds soil in place, contributing to heavy siltation into salmon streams and rivers. The CRWP has led or participated in three salmon habitat restoration projects and is planning a fourth for the 2003 summer season: Salmon Viewing Platform, Gulkana River: we built a viewing platform for tourists to safetly view spawning salmon and to protect river bank vegetation and salmon habitat. Eyak Lake, Cordova: we restored 600' of shoreline to recreate a natural and safe habitat for spawning salmon, growing fry and returning juveniles. Lake Elsner, Copper River delta: we stabilized and re-vegetated stream banks at failed logging road stream-crossings; Fish Creek, upper Gulkana River (northwest corner of Copper River drainage): we cut a new trail to connect two existing trail sections on land and reduced seven ATV stream crossings to one, protecting 20,000 spawning sockeye. Middle Fork trail, Gulkana River: with the Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance program of the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management, we helped install 1,000 feet of porous pavement panel to protect wetlands from ATV erosion and prevent sediment from washing into the Middle Fork of the Gulkana River, which hosts highly productive sockeye and king salmon runs.
Salmon Viewing Platform, Gulkana River Before: tourists walked down the bank to see spawning salmon	After: platform protects habitat and improves safety for visitors

*Funders: Coastal Impact Assistance Program, Coastal America Foundation, Alaska Conservation Foundation.*
Eyak Lake, Cordova Before: rip rap shoreline	After: willow shoots protect shoreline

*Funders: FishAmerica Foundation, US Fish and Wildlife Service, with in kind contributions from the Chugach National Forest.*
Lake Elsner, Copper River Delta Before:	After:

Sediment from the road fill is sloughing into this salmon stream behind the log bride stringer. June 1999.	Using culled logs, Paul Swartzbart and his crew formed a grid that holds bank soil in place. They also replanted native alders to hold the soil in place and fix nitrogen in the soil for other plants, restoring 15 miles of riparian habitat. August 1999.
*Funders: Harder Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, Eyak Corporation, Jane Smith Turner Foundation, the Brainerd Foundation.*
Fish Creek, Upper Gulkana River Before:	After:

Stream crossing where heavy motor vehicle traffic has churned up sediment and eroded bank vegetation. Vehicles can also destroy fish eggs in the stream.	Paul Swartzbart and Copper Valley Construction worked to take the trail out of the stream. They cut a new trail section on land to connect two existing segments, and blocked off the old, eroded crossings with boulders. Stream crossings were reduced from seven to one cobble, hard-surface crossing.
*Funders: Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the Wells-Fargo Bank of Alaska, Mt. Sanford Tribal Consortium.*
Middle Fork, Gulkana River

(1) Damaged trail sections are a source of sediment pollution for adjacent salmon streams.	(2) Trail is prepared for synthetic fabric, which will reduce sedimentation of adjacent streams.

(3) Geo block, a synthetic material made from recycled plastic, is used to support trail over sensitive wetlands.	(4) Geo block is covered with gravel to create the finished trail.
Funders: Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Alaska Division of State Parks and Recreation, Bureau of Land Management, and the Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance Program (National Park Service).
*Learn more about maintaining and creating healthy fish habitat... click here*