In March of 2018, more than 70 people, representing 31 organizations met to advanced watershed restoration and stewardship at the 2018 Southeast Alaska Watershed Restoration Workshop in Juneau, Alaska. The workshop was made possible by the National Forest Foundation's Community Capacity and Land Stewardship Program and organized by the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition.
Attendees took a crash course in science communication and then focused on topics that included:
- successful collaboration models,
- obstacles to scaling up restoration,
- novel funding strategies, and
- new science and tools to inform restoration.
Practitioners shared their experiences and lessons learned through breakout group discussions and presentations, including keynote talks by Jim Capurso (Fisheries Biologist, Region 6 US Forest Service) and Tim Beechie (NOAA NW Fisheries Science Center).
Located in Southeast Alaska, the Tongass National Forest produces more wild salmon than all other National Forests combined, and while most Tongass watersheds are in near natural conditions, some critical fish habitat is degraded and in need of restoration. As part of the workshop, attendees and the public were treated to an early viewing of The Salmon Forest, a new documentary produced by the Forest Service and the Sitka Conservation Society that highlights salmon habitat restoration and stewardship on the Tongass National Forest: salmonforest.com.
The event was co-sponsored by the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, The Nature Conservancy, and the Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership. All the workshop materials are now available on the Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership’s website: seakfhp.org.
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