Outreach & Education Grant Program - Year 1

The Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (Commerce), funded the following projects through its Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund Outreach and Education Program:
1: Twenty-one incubation tanks were purchased or upgraded and subsequently distributed in classrooms. The students learned about the life cycle of salmon and their habitat requirements at each stage. This hands-on project serves as a centerpiece for ongoing lessons throughout the school year about sustainable salmon fisheries in Alaska.
2. Nine groups sampled for fish in the Chena River 11 sites weekly.
3. The project provided middle school students, pre-university students, and community members the opportunity to participate in hands-on habitat restoration and biological monitoring studies with professional resource managers.
4. This project funded two outreach programs to which public participation is critical: the Adopt-a-Stream program, and stream clean-ups in Noyes Slough. The TVWA also authored an educational brochure entitled “Living Streamside” A Landowner’s Guide to Riparian Areas,” which is designed to educate landowners and the general public about the importance of riparian areas and riparian health.
5. Every school in the Anchorage School District (ASD) was equipped with at least one aquarium in which to grow salmon from eggs taken from a local stream or hatchery. This project also implemented a major curriculum update for the Alaska Aquatic salmon curriculum will add a new technology component that will put scientific tools into the hands of students for first-hand exploration and investigation into environmental conditions that affect the growth and survival of Pacific salmon.
6. It was the goal of the Stream Watch program to utilize volunteer assistance as they promoted public awareness and appreciation of the resource values of the Kenai River ecosystem by developing a public education program that educated about the fragility of the Kenai River, the effects of continued unmanaged use, and the proper ways to fish, boat, and minimize user conflicts. The grantee provided written information on best management practices, critical habitats, and regulations to landowners, visitors, and commercial operators.
7. The goal of the campaign is to increase the level of public awareness and action to address problems associated with invasive northern pike in South-central Alaska by communicating the significance of the problem. The outreach program included producing kiosks to be installed at various water bodies, an informational video, television commercial, radio feature story, K-12 curriculum (including PowerPoint presentations), and reward program.
8. An aquarium was placed in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game information center in Fairbanks. Interpretive signs concerning salmon habitat, life cycles, anatomy and physiology, and fishing techniques are pre-existing, in-house and are part of the living display.
9. One informative, user-friendly, illustrated Landowner’s Guide was developed which will help property owners gain increased knowledge and understanding about: salmon habitats, various common land use practices and their effects on the salmon habitats of the lower Kenai Peninsula, and actions landowners can take to promote the health and sustainability of salmon habitats in their backyards, neighborhoods, and watersheds.
10. Pamphlets created for the Afognak and Frazer projects were tailored to each specific site using the differing cultural use and scientific data available for each site. Brochures were sent out to the respective sites for distribution to the visiting public.
11. The project developed and provided information content for a website, print materials, signs and radio broadcasts on the role sonar technology plays in estimating the abundance of returning salmon in rivers.
12. The grantee purchased and received 71 chillers for classroom salmon incubators.

The increased understanding, awareness, and restoration actions generated by this project will contribute to the health and sustainability of salmon populations, including those harvested by commercial, sport, and subsistence fishermen.