Alexis McDonald (Summer 2022)
My internship began when the Russian River ferns were no more than six inches tall. I watched as these plants sprouted taller each week till eventually, they stood taller than me. Being only five two it doesn’t take much to be taller than me but even so, their growth was drastic! In three short months I also witnessed the growth of many other things: baby moose, water levels in the Kenai River, number of salmon fillets in my freezer, and most notably myself.
This summer I moved across the country to join KWF’s team as a Stream Watch intern. I couldn’t have been more excited to get started but still I was nervous to be living in an entirely new environment. As I met the KWF staff my concerns began to dissipate. I received the warmest of welcomes from each and every one of them. They made me feel at home and comfortable in my new surroundings. Throughout the entire summer I received endless support and plenty of guidance from them all. In this environment that they had created, I myself was able to grow in many aspects, except vertically. I gained the much-needed job experience specific to my field of study. My knowledge in conservation, public education, even invasives and hydrology were expanded upon in this time too. Most important to me was my growth in confidence and the formation of amazing new friendships. I truly loved every minute of my time in Alaska and I cannot thank KWF enough for the opportunities and memories.
Kevin Duffie (Summer 2022)
When I was first hired as a Stream Watch Intern, I had no idea what the title meant or how to explain to my family what I was moving to Alaska to do. I knew that the work was centered on river health and that was enough for me. Everyone chooses internships for their own reasons, and my goal was to experience as much as I could in terms of wildlife, culture, and career interests.
KWF was and continues to be a great place for me to grow as a professional. Within our organization, we have teams involved in invasive species, hydrology, education, and river restoration. This allowed me to spend time within each, and gifted me the opportunity to find out what I am passionate about. I found true joy in sharing my knowledge with others and helping people experience everything this beautiful state has to offer. Without this internship I would not have been exposed to as many environmentally based career paths or been able to network with outdoor professionals on a daily basis.
My final words — beware, those who say you may fall in love with the place and never leave. I came here with a one way plane ticket, and I’m staying until they kick me out!
Sara Aamodt (Summer 2022)
Coming to the Kenai Watershed Forum, I knew I was going to love it. When I moved to Alaska, I wanted to work outside every day and make a positive impact; KWF was exactly what I was looking for.
I was thrown into the Kenai River Festival during my first week here, and there couldn’t have been a better way to start. During this event, I got to interact with people in the community and see how much they appreciate what our organization does. Even if people don’t know what our current projects are, they understand that we are here to protect and support the environment and resources that locals and tourists enjoy every day.
Additionally, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the kids at summer camp this year. It’s awesome to see how each of the children experiences Alaska and its environment differently. Some kids are way more excited than others, but they all love living here. Summer Camp Director Meg Pike and I got to do everything from teaching kids about macroinvertebrates and water chemistry testing, to seeing bears and baby salmon in the creek on our hike. Every kid was fascinated by something different, and it was inspiring to know that KWF offers such fulfilling experiences to local children.
Through both of these experiences and my work here this summer, I am getting to see the influence that KWF has in the community. We get to show adults and kids alike the importance of Alaskan resources, and renew their appreciation for the local environment.
~ Sara appreciated her time with KWF so much that she is staying on board as full-time staff following her internship ~
New Journal Article by KWF Staff: Climate Change and Juvenile Salmon in the Kenai River
A new publication authored by KWF Water Quality Coordinator Benjamin Meyer was recently published in the journal Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. Prior to being at Kenai Watershed Forum, Ben was working on his graduate research through University of Alaska Fairbanks with work focused on the Kenai River.
The research began with the broad quandry, “What could climate change mean for juvenile salmon in the Kenai River?” Through time, the question grew narrower and more detailed: since juvenile salmon live in very different habitats throughout the Kenai River, from high, rushing glacial rivers to low, meandering wetland streams, how could climate change affect these populations differently?
For two summers Ben and other researchers captured and measured thousands of juvenile salmon from Beaver Creek to Ptarmigan Creek and everywhere in between. Along with size and weight data they also collected diet contents, scales, water temperature data, and other information. The data was used to model how juvenile fish growth rates could change under future climate conditions.
So what did we learn?
The results suggest that as water temperatures warm over the next century, baby king and silver salmon fry that live in low-elevation tributaries like Beaver Creek are likely to see decreases in summer growth rates. However, for salmon with lots of food in their bellies, warmer waters may not affect their growth rate as dramatically.
Science can often leave us with more questions than answers. Here, we hope that research like this can continue to inform and guide the priorities for conservation restoration in our region.
To read this article, follow the link below. A sincere thank you to all the fellow researchers, co-workers, and community members who contributed their time, sweat, and expertise to make this research happen.
New 2022 Freshwater Conservation Action Plan
In January 2022, we convened a team of 18 experts in fish habitat and conservation to develop a Conservation Action Plan for the Kenai Peninsula Fish Habitat Partnership. The plan outlines detailed strategies, threats, and recommended actions for freshwater fish habitat conservation in our region. The plan represents the thinking of many of the most cutting edge ecological researchers and managers working in the Kenai region, and will be a valuable tool for anyone planning work here.
In the above table (Figure 1), we summarized our consensus on which threats are most pressing in different types of freshwater aquatic systems.
To read on, find the 2022 plan along with the supplemental climate change document at https://www.kenaifishpartnership.org/cap/
Access the interactive Partnership area map at bit.ly/kpfhp_map, which includes details about each watershed within the Kenai Peninsula Borough.
We look forward to seeing where this plan takes us in the next ten years!
Summer 2022 Water Quality Sampling Results Available
Kenai Watershed Forum has received all laboratory results from it’s Summer 2022 Baseline Water Quality Monitoring. The results are currently being prepared for upload to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Quality Exchange, a pubic data repository for water quality data. The results have not yet been analyzed to check against water quality standards; we expect to complete this by Summer 2023.
We worked with three laboratories in Summer 2022:
1.) Soldotna Wastewater Treatment Plant – SWWTP provided analyses of Total Suspended Solids:
Download Summer 2022 Total Suspended Solids results
2.) Tauriainen Engineering and Testing – Tauriainen provided analyses of Fecal Coliform
Download Summer 2022 Fecal Coliform results
3.) SGS Laboratories, Anchorage – SGS provided analyses of all other substances monitored in Spring 2022, including nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, and metals like zinc, copper, lead, and others:
Download Summer 2022 Metals and Nutrients results
For questions about Summer 2022 water quality results, contact Benjamin Meyer, Water Quality Coordinator. Thank you again to all the participants and volunteers who made this event happen!
Vogel Lake and Miller Creek Hydrology
In Fall 2019, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) were notified of several adult pike caught in Vogel Lake near the Northwest tip of the Kenai Peninsula. Pike are a non-native fish species of great concern in south central Alaska, as they are voracious predators of juvenile salmonids when given the opportunity (see Dunker et al 2018 for a summary). Several watersheds in the nearby Mat-Su valley have seen pike colonize and nearly take over, with local managers making herculean efforts to slow their spread.
The Kenai Peninsula has thus far managed to escape the fate of the Mat-Su valley in terms of pike invasion. Pike were found in a number lakes and creeks in the Kenai/Soldotna area in the early to mid 2000’s, but were quickly contained and exterminated. In the case of Miller Creek, researchers believe that at least one or multiple pike arrived by swimming over from the Mat-Su through the Cook Inlet, likely during the Spring when high runoff levels create temporarily lowered salinity levels.
With the news that pike had arrived to Vogel Lake, local mangers reacted swiftly. Kenai Watershed Forum worked with ADF&G personnel in developing a proposed treatment plan, then applied for and received a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to support the work. KWF took the role of addressing project water quality monitoring and mapping before, during, and after the treatment process.
As of Fall 2022, evidence indicates the project has been successful in eliminating pike from the watershed. After treatment with the chemical rotenone in Fall 2021, subsequent monitoring in Summer 2022 has failed to capture pike, and the system is repopulating with native fish from adjacent lake systems.
To access Kenai Watershed Forum’s work on water quality and mapping efforts for this project, see the online report at the following link: Miller Creek and Vogel Lake Water Quality Report.
The report is best accessed in the online format linked above, but a static MS word document with the same information may be downloaded here also.
The Kenai Peninsula remains pike-free for the moment. The future of keeping it that way will depend on a combination of monitoring, research, and education. Local researchers and managers are continuing to monitor areas vulnerable to potential invasion, as well investigating salinity tolerance in pike found in south central Alaska.
One future valuable addition to prioritizing pike monitoring efforts for the Kenai Borough region would be to replicate the approach outlined by researchers who created a map of “vulnerability” to pike invasion for the Mat-Su valley (Jalbert et al. 2021). “This simple to implement, adaptable, and cost-effective framework will allow prioritizing habitats for early detection and monitoring of invading northern pike,” the authors write. Such tools would be highly useful for on-the-ground biologists in our region, tasked with surveying a large and remote area for invasive pike.
As long as pike are our distant neighbors, there’s the potential for them to visit again any time, and it’s our responsibility to be ready.
References
Dunker, K., Sepulveda, A., Massengill, R., and Rutz, D. 2018. The Northern Pike, A Prized Native but Disastrous Invasive. In Biology and Ecology of Pike. CRC Press. pp. 356–398. https://bit.ly/3V9Wp38. [accessed 10 October 2022].
Jalbert, C.S., Falke, J.A., López, J.A., Dunker, K.J., Sepulveda, A.J., and Westley, P.A.H. 2021. Vulnerability of Pacific salmon to invasion of northern pike (Esox lucius) in Southcentral Alaska. PLoS One 16(7): e0254097.
Jack Buban (KWF Intern 2021)
The summer (and ensuing fall) that I spent working with KWF proved to be the most influential period of my life both professionally and personally. Being surrounded by people so inspired to work for a resource that means so much to this ecosystem, economy, and the culture of this area shed some hope onto the impact that a small motivated group of people can have on an area they care about.
From a purely professional standpoint I developed more skills in the few months that I spent in Soldotna than I had in years prior. Performing extensive GIS projects, intense field work, grant writing, and gaining an understanding of how to work with people to maximize effectiveness (and maintain sanity) spurred my career development far more than any other job/internship I had previously had. Equally as important to all of that however, is the growth as a person I experienced. The people that I met (and you’ll have the pleasure of working with) are the warmest I’ve interacted with in my entire life and recognize the struggles that can come with being thousands of miles from home. The sense of community on the Kenai Peninsula is unlike anything I’ve experienced before, and allowed me to grow as a person in a highly transitional time in my life.
Working as an intern for the Kenai Watershed Forum shaped who I am today, as well as what I am looking for in the future. It provides the opportunity to do work that matters with good people, and frankly, for me, there’s not much out there that can top that.
Burke Haywood (KWF Intern 2021 & 2022)
My first summer interning with the Kenai Watershed Forum (KWF) was easily the most impactful and enjoyable work experience I have ever had and – like many interns before me – I enjoyed it so much that I returned for a second summer. During my time at KWF I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside a small team of incredibly determined and self-motivated individuals on a wide variety of exciting projects. Some of my favorite things about working for KWF include: getting to collaborate with a slew of different people, conservation agencies and organizations; interacting with locals who have a deep appreciation for the work we do; imparting the things I learned at work to curious kids at our summer camp; and, of course, the opportunity to see and explore the beautiful Kenai Peninsula while at work.
One particular project – controlling an extensive infestation of invasive white sweet clover on the Seward Highway – has stuck with me and encapsulates much of what I have grown to love about working at KWF. It was late in the summer and the rest of the invasive crew and I had been working around the clock to control the spread of invasive plants all over the peninsula. As my time in Alaska waned and the season of growth – where invasive plants seemed to pop up like a whack’a’mole – came to a close, the summer had begun to feel like a job well done. But, as we drove up the Seward Highway to what should have been a routine day of treating small infestations of bird vetch and meadow hawkweed in Portage, we spotted the mother of all white sweet clover infestations.
Broad tendrily bushes, some up to 5-6 feet high, adorned with little white flowers as far as the eye could see. My team and I sat aghast as we continued a mile, then two miles, before seeing a break in the dense infestation. In all my days of pursuing plant species in places they don’t belong, I had never seen such an intense monocrop – a prime example of the detriment to biodiversity that our work aims to prevent.
Doing her best to keep her composure, my fearless supervisor, Invasive Species Program Coordinator, Maura Schumacher, considered our options for managing this infestation that I felt sure had grown far beyond something that we, with our few hands, had any chance to control. We couldn’t mow it because the plants were so mature that they probably already bore viable seeds. We couldn’t treat it with herbicide because our permits didn’t allow us to spray there and by the time we secured a permit, the plants would have already gone to seed. The only option was hand-pulling, but with our little crew of three, it would’ve taken many days, even weeks, to hand pull and bag such a prolific infestation. We had to call for backup!
Overnight, emails were sent and phone calls were made, and by the following day, a large group of people from 6 different agencies and organizations dawned their orange traffic vests and assembled to tackle this beast. Coaxed on by the spectacular mountain vistas around us and unbothered by the constant racket of vehicles whizzing by, we pulled one plant after another for an entire day. By the end of it all, six dumpsters had been filled with bags of white sweet clover and to our knowledge, that section of highway had been rid of every last one of the unwelcome invaders. With tired hands and sore backs we momentarily reveled in our accomplishment and then headed home to our various corners of the peninsula where we could all rest assured that the day had been one heck of a job well done.
Baby Salmon Live Here!
One of the many great outreach works run by The Salmon Project was the “Baby Salmon Live Here” campaign. The campaign challenged us to recognize salmon habitat not only among the wide, clear rivers and lakes where adults leap up waterfalls, but also to see that just as much of their lives depend on the more humble, swampier, brushier parts of the watershed where juveniles (“babies”) grow up before departing to the ocean. The more we can recognize everyday salmon habitat under our own feet, the better job we can do keeping it intact. The campaign lives on today at www.babysalmon.org, and among the hundreds of green “Baby Salmon Live Here” signs posted throughout Alaska.
In summer 2022, we discovered a small stack of these signs that were yet to be posted and got to work with our partners to get them out into the world. We are working with local partners including Kachemak Bay Conservation Society, Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, Cook Inletkeeper, and Kachemak Heritage Land Trust to deploy the remainder of these signs at places where salmon streams and lakes cross our roads and trails. Thanks also to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for supporting creation of these signs.
For those of you ready to go put up signs, read on below!
A map of where existing signs are located, along with proposed sign locations can be viewed at an online map: Map of BSLH Sign Locations.
A spreadsheet of both existing and proposed sign locations can be viewed here: Spreadsheet of BSLH Sign Locations.
Instructions for how to install Baby Salmon Live Here signs at new locations can be found here: How to Install New BSLH Signs.
If you have an idea where to put a new Baby Salmon Live Here Sign, reach out to us at hydrology@kenaiwatershed.org ! Send us your pictures if you see a sign! And we are always looking for volunteers to help put them up!
Read the May 2022 local news article from KBBI.org here
Listen to the episode of Kachemak Currents about Baby Salmon habitat
