The NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation and the Recreational Fisheries Initiative are seeking to identify and support projects within coastal Fish Habitat Partnerships (FHPs) that protect or restore habitat AND engage recreational fishing partners.

Read full request for proposals here.

Proposals are due by February 10th, 2023

DID YOU KNOW? The Mat-Su Salmon Habitat Partnership offers project advice and potential endorsement for Partners working on Mat-Su Basin projects that conserve or increase knowledge of salmon and their habitat.  Download the Project Endorsement Application to learn more.

*Photo Credit: Matthew Boline, Trout Unlimited Alaska

The Deshka River hosts one of the most productive wild salmon fisheries in the Matanuska-Susitna Basin (Mat-Su) and has long been a place of cultural importance. It is also among the warmest salmon systems in the Mat-Su with summer water temperatures regularly exceeding thresholds considered stressful for both juvenile and adult salmon. This year’s summer site tour brought 33 people out on the Deshka River to share the collaborative scientific research happening there, and to provide community leaders with current information on stream temperature and potential impacts to salmon and their habitat in the Mat-Su – both today, and in the future.

Over the course of four stops, ten presenters shared background on the history of the Deshka as a significant Susitna drainage salmon producer, Dena’ina historical use, and a sportfishing perspective on salmon and stream temperature. Participants also received updates on ongoing stream temperature science from Cook Inletkeeper and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  These members of the Mat-Su Salmon Partnership have mapped summer and winter stream temperatures across the watershed and identified potential cold water refugia over the course of five years.  Presenters also highlighted efforts to better understand streamflow in the watershed to aid temperature models, conservation and further the understanding of hydrology on small Alaskan streams – all which is of significant importance for conserving cold water fish in a changing climate

The Deshka River is one of six rivers in the Susitna River basin designated as a “Recreational River” under the Recreational Rivers Act, which was passed by the Alaska State Legislature in 1988 to ensure recreational access and maintain cultural and ecological characteristics of these rivers. To close the presentation sessions, staff from Alaska Department of Natural Resources provided an update on the Susitna Basin Recreational Rivers Management Plan which is currently being revised and inviting public input.

Based on current available science, Mat-Su streams are among the warmest statewide with the Deshka River being one of the warmest in the Mat-Su – and predicted to continue warming. Fortunately, scientists have identified cold-water refugia in the Deshka River which may be critical habitat for salmon in these warming watersheds and an important tool to help retain the Deshka River as a salmon stronghold into a warming future. This is important information for community leaders to understand so they can help shape a prosperous future for fish – and the human communities that have and continue to depend on them.

Thank you to the generous supporters of this year’s site tour: Trident Seafoods, Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association, Cook Inletkeeper, Trout Unlimited, Susitna River Coalition, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, FishHound Expeditions and Chickaloon Village Traditional Council.

Special thanks to our presenters, as well as following boat operators: Drill Team 6 Fishing Excursions, Fishtale River Guides, Drifterz Paradise, Berg’s Frontier Fishing Guides, FishHound Expeditions and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Find an itinerary, map and presentation abstracts in the hand out

Read an article by Andy Couch about the tour in the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman

Learn more about the Deshka River temperature monitoring work in this fact sheet by Cook Inletkeeper and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Deshka River real time temperature monitoring site (located in between site tour stops #2 (river mile 4) and stop #3 (river mile 7/ADF&G weir).

Want to learn more about salmon habitat in a warming climate? Check back soon for more resources from the site tour and save-the-date for the Mat-Su Salmon Science and Conservation Symposium on November 14th and 15th, 2022. Registration and call for abstracts is open. Learn more here. Find updates on this website or sign up for our e-bulletins at bottom of www.matsusalmon.org.

The Western Native Trout Initiative (WNTI) and partners are proud to announce the 2022 Small Grants Program Request for Proposals. WNTI is an initiative of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and a recognized National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) that seeks to cooperatively restore and recover 21 western native trout and char species and sub-species across their historic range by funding efforts that raise awareness for the importance of native trout and focus limited financial and human resources toward the highest-impact, locally-led, on-the-ground projects. The WNTI overlaps with the area served by the MatSu Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership, WNTI’s focus is on trout and char species.

The focus of WNTI’s Small Grants Program is on projects with a strong element or primary focus on community outreach, education and/or volunteer engagement; or design/planning/monitoring work. Outreach is our top priority for this program and outreach projects will be ranked the highest, all other things being equal. WNTI’s Small Grants program funding is not intended to pay for a small portion of a large habitat restoration or construction project. Habitat restoration-related activities that are requesting support should primarily involve outreach, education, or volunteer engagement, a community outreach event or work day, or project design/planning/monitoring tasks.

Thank you to RepYourWater, Upslope Brewing Co., Basin+Bend, Wilderness Lite Float Tubes, Western Native Trout Challenge anglers’ registrations and donations, and individual donors for contributing funds in support of the Small Grants Program this year. Approximately $25,000 in funding is available for projects in the 12 western states that are WNTI’s focus.

Individual projects can be funded at a maximum of $5,000.

Applications are due by 5 pm Mountain time on May 27, 2022.  Project funds are awarded on a reimbursable basis and must be expended by December 30, 2023. 

READ THE FULL RFP