The Mat-Su Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership is hosting a riparian planting day at Jay Nolfi Fish Creek Park in Big Lake on Saturday, June 4, 2022 from 10 a.m until 2 p.m.

This family friendly event will include planting trees, shrubs and flowers along the streambank of Fish Creek to improve both stream habitat and the public space. Food will be provided by Floater’s Pub and other activities will be both educational and entertaining. Please fill out this interest form to help ensure enough food is provided: https://forms.gle/3eRmYrZKCHHWqcKf6

Work or gardening gloves are recommended, as are boots or shoes that can get wet and dirty. Some tools will be provided, but you can also bring your own shovel, rake, or wheel barrow.

Fish Creek supports five Pacific salmon species and the section of the stream adjacent to the Park is an important sockeye salmon spawning area. Plants along waterways create riparian buffers that help prevent bank erosion and pollution from entering the water. Plants provide shade and food inputs to streams that are important for healthy fish populations. Additionally, plants create habitat birds and other wildlife and improves the aesthetic value of the park.

Special thanks  to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for the technical expertise and project coordination. Thank you to the Knik Tribal Conservation District for donating the plants, and Floater’s Pub for donating food for the event, with additional support from Big Lake Community Council, Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association, Trout Unlimited Southcentral Alaska Chapter, and Susitna River Coalition.

Want to learn more about why healthy riparian areas are important for fish? Check out this Riparian Area Science Summary!

Questions? Contact grant.robinson@tu.org or jessica.speed@tu.org for more information.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish is offering a Streambank Rehabilitation Workshop in the Big Lake area. This workshop will be held over three days: two half-days in a virtual classroom setting and one full day outside in a hands-on setting.

The virtual classroom days will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 10-11, 2022, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The classroom will cover techniques for rehabilitation and restoring riparian habitat including bioengineering construction and plant materials, riparian and salmon habitat needs, bioengineering techniques, and case studies throughout Alaska. As the classroom will be held virtually there is no limit to the number of participants who can attend the classroom portion.

The hands-on day will take place in Big Lake on Friday, May 20 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Participants will get their hands dirty, and boots muddy while installing a portion of a streambank rehabilitation project using techniques and materials that they learned about in the classroom portion. Due to COVID-19, only 20 people will be allowed to participate in the hands-on portion. Sign up for this portion of the workshop will be on a first-come, first-serve basis (with a waitlist). It is required that participants attend both classroom days in order to participate in the hands-on day.

This workshop is free and open to the public but advance registration is required for the course. Registration for this workshop is open now and will close at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 4. To sign up for the 2022 Mat-Su Valley Streambank Rehabilitation Workshop or for additional information, please contact the program’s Habitat Biologist Jess Johnson at (907) 267-2403 or by email.