The Alaska Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proud to announce that two of the seven awards presented at a recent national congressional reception and awards ceremony were awarded to our Alaska conservation partners. The event was sponsored by the Service's Fisheries and Habitat Conservation office in Washington, DC. These awards recognize groups for their work in fisheries conservation in partnership with the Service. Both of Alaska's recipients were honored for their work in fisheries restoration projects, one in the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Borough, and the other in North Pole, Alaska.
Since 2001, Matanuska-Susitna Borough Mayor, Tim Anderson, and Borough Manager, John Duffy, have teamed up with state and federal resource agencies in a broad program of aquatic and riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian habitat restoration at heavily used recreational fishing sites and at road crossings. The Borough's Department of Public Works, working with Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife, Coastal, and Fish Passage program staff, has installed 18 fish-friendly culverts or bridges at road crossings. The projects opened up more than 25 miles of previously blocked spawning and rearing habitat for five species of Pacific salmon. In addition, the Borough has played a leadership role in a variety of other projects to benefit fish and wildlife and their habitats, while providing diverse educational and employment opportunities for area citizens. The Mat-Su Borough also matched more than $700,000 in Service funds in support of a variety of projects, including construction of interpretive nature trails, a lakeshore teaching platform at a local elementary school, and an interpretive display at the local library; as well as streambank restoration activities at heavily trafficked recreational fishing areas.
In 2000, the Service and Alaska Department of Fish and Game began focused efforts to improve fish habitat in several sloughs near North Pole, Alaska. City of North Pole Mayor, Jeff Jacobson, and Alaska State Senator Gene Therriault have been steadfast supporters of fish restoration of the 15-mile Chena Slough, a tributary of the Tanana River. Together, they were instrumental in generating State and Federal grants totaling $700,000 to improve fish habitat and fish passage fish passage
Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.
Learn more about fish passage in Interior Alaska. Projects have included removing culverts that blocked fish passage, replacing them with bridges which immediately provided access for fish into upstream reaches of the slough. Senator Therriault was not afraid to get his feet wet or his hands dirty, often accompanying Service and State biologists into the field to recommend fish passage projects.
"With the help of such partners, and only with their willing help, we will be able to pass on to our children and grandchildren a legacy of natural resources we, and they, can be proud of," said the Service's Alaska Regional Director, Rowan Gould.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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