Tyonek Tribal Conservation District

Matanuska Susitna Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership the Matanuska Susitna Borough S Western Cook Inlet Is Remote, With Current Access Limited to Air, Water, and Snow Though Remote, Salmon Habitat Degradation and Impacts to Salmon Populations Can Occur via Biological Invasions, I E , the Aquatic Invasive Plant Elodea Canadensis Hereafter, Elodea , and Increased Access From Proposed Developments Such as the West Susitna Industrial Access Corridor This Project Focuses on Filling Two Distinct Data Gaps Identifying Data Gaps in the State Anadromous Waters Catalog Awc Near to Proposed Development and Conducting Fish Surveys to Add Waterbodies and or Species and Life Stages to the Awc and Conducting Presence Absence Surveys for the Aquatic Invasive Plant Elodea in High Risk Waterbodies We Will Identify Regions Where These Needs Overlap and Focus Sampling Efforts on Selected Subregions as Part of a Multi Phase Project Phase I Includes Partner Collaboration, Logistical Planning, and Fish and Elodea Surveys, With the Deliverables of Five Elodea Surveys and Sampling at Ten Sites for Anadromous Fishes This Project S Objectives Are in Line With the Matanuska Susitna Salmon Habitat Partnership S FY22 RFP Priority Data Gaps and CS7 Aquatic Invasive Species Kenai Peninsula Borough Fish Habitat Partnership the Kenai Peninsula Borough S Western Cook Inlet Is Remote, With Current Access Limited to Air, Water, and Snow Though Remote, Salmon Habitat Degradation and Impacts to Salmon Populations Can Occur via Biological Invasions, I E , the Aquatic Invasive Plant Elodea Canadensis Hereafter, Elodea to Support Salmon and Salmon Habitat, We Will Implement Early Detection, Rapid Response Survey Methods for Elodea, a Plant With Demonstrated Negative Impacts on Water Quality and Salmon Habitat Surveying at Risk Waterbodies Prevents Further Elodea Spread and Habitat Degradation by Allowing for Treatment If an Infestation Is Detected the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the State Agency Tasked With Elodea Treatment and Eradication, Has Previously Identified Survey Assistance as a Primary Means That Partner Organizations Can Support Elodea Eradication Many Waterbodies in Kenai S Western Cook Inlet Have Yet to Be Surveyed, Despite High Levels of Floatplane Traffic Early Detection of Elodea Infestations Is Key to Successful, Cost Effective Eradication, and Surveying All Floatplane Accessible Waterbodies Will Ensure That Elodea Is Not Present and Being Transported to Other at Risk Waterbodies in Year 1 of This Two Year Project, We Will Identify and Prioritize Remote Waterbodies for Presence Absence Surveys of Elodea on the Kenai Peninsula Lands of Western Cook Inlet and Conduct Elodea Presence Absence Surveys at 2 Waterbodies We Will Collaborate With the Kenai Watershed Forum and Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association to Survey the Floatplane Accessible Waterbodies in the Big River Lakes Area as a Partnership, We Seek to Survey All Big River Lakes Used by Floatplanes in Year 1 in Year 2, We Will Conduct Elodea Presence Absence Surveys at Four Additional Waterbodies Collaboratively With Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association Packers Creek Lake on Kalgin Island, and Three Unnamed Waterbodies South of the Mcarthur River These Four Waterbodies Are the Largest Within the Region Bordered by the Westside Road System Tyonek Beluga Highway to the North, and Lake Clark National Park to the South That Have Not Yet Been Surveyed for Elodea