Download the full press release here (March 25, 2024)
Since 2020, Homer-based nonprofit Kachemak Heritage Land Trust (KHLT) has helped protect a total of 209.033 acres for conservation within the Kenai River watershed. Kenai Watershed Forum is proud to be a frequent partner for KHLT’s work in the central peninsula region, and will continue to help maintain these protected lands into the future.
As part of the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) mitigation work for the Sterling Highway MP 45-60 Reconstruction Project, KHLT was selected to establish a mechanism to preserve, perpetually care for, and monitor local wetland conservation properties. KHLT’s role has been to find, assess, select, and secure specific lands to protect on the Kenai Peninsula.
The value of KHLT’s work hits close to home for those of us living in the central peninsula area:
“The lands protected by Kachemak Heritage Land Trust as part of this project are part of my neighborhood’s ‘backyard’ where I regularly see all manner of local wildlife, including moose, bears, eagles, and even the occasional caribou. It is truly heartening to know that we will be able to share this space in perpetuity as our community grows. These lands mean a lot to me professionally as a scientist who studies water quality and fish habitat, but they mean even more to me as a place that will persist as wild long beyond my time.”
– KWF Environmental Scientist Benjamin Meyer
