Coordinated action to conserve coastal habitat in Southcentral
Alaska has captured national attention.  On Thursday February 7, 2013 at
the Alaska Forum on the Environment conference held at the Dena’ina
Convention Center, Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior for
Alaska, Pat Pourchot, presented the Matanuska-Susitna Valley Coastal
Conservation Partnership with a 2012 Coastal America Partnership Award on
behalf of the Obama Administration and Coastal America.

Coastal America selected the Alaska partnership to receive this national
award for its outstanding efforts to voluntarily conserve more than 6,000
acres of coastal habitat important to Pacific salmon and other wildlife.
The Alaska-based effort is one of only four collaborative teams throughout
the Nation to receive this prestigious award in 2012.

Coastal America (CA) was established in 1992 to conserve and restore
coastal watersheds throughout the United States.  CA protects the Nation’s
coastal resources by integrating federal actions with state and local
government and non-governmental efforts to pool community and agency
expertise to leverage voluntary conservation actions.

“Obama Administration representatives from eight key agencies unanimously
agreed that the Matanuska-Susitna Valley Coastal Conservation Partnership
is worthy of recognition”, said Carli Bertrand, Program Coordinator with
Coastal America. “It is the only conservation award of its kind presented
by the Administration,” Bertrand explained.

In 2010, the partnership formed a team of government agencies,
non-governmental organizations and private landowners to design a method
for assessing lands in the Mat-Su Valley for their salmon and habitat
values. The assessment was completed by the Great Land Trust, an
Alaska-based land trust, under a cooperative agreement with U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.  The Trust used this assessment to contact landowners to
gauge interest in voluntarily conserving their lands. A recent outcome of
this effort is the completion of a 4,800-acre Knik River Islands
Conservation Easement between Eklutna Inc. and the Great Land Trust. These
lands provide excellent habitat for Pacific salmon, migratory birds and
other wildlife.

 We are honored to work with the Great Land Trust, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and other agency partners to protect key salmon habitat
for our shareholders and the community, said Curtis McQueen, CEO, Eklutna,
Incorporated. “We thank Coastal America for recognizing our contributions”,
McQueen added.

Numerous cooperating organizations participate in this partnership effort,
including: Great Land Trust, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Alaska District, Eklutna Incorporated, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The
Conservation Fund Alaska, Alaskans for the Palmer Hay Flats, Alaska
Department of Fish and Game, Pacific Coast Joint Venture, Municipality of
Anchorage, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NOAA’s National Marine
Fisheries Service, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Matanuska-Susitna
Borough, Mat-Su Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership, and individual private
landowners.

 “Alaskans care deeply about salmon and aquatic resources and depend on
them for food and the economic health of their communities”*, said Pat
Pourchot. “Strong private-public partnerships are essential to future
health and sustainability of fish and aquatic resources in Alaska and
across the country,” Pourchot stated.

For more information contact David Wigglesworth at David_Wigglesworth@fws.gov