The 8th annual Mat-Su Salmon Symposium was November 18th and 19th at the Palmer Depot in Palmer, Alaska!
Stay tuned for more follow-up including presentation abstracts!
Wow! What a wonderful two days! Now in its eighth year the Symposium continues to be the most diverse gathering of its kind in the Mat-Su, bringing together a broad range of people to share information and exchange ideas about salmon science and conservation. We had an impressive suite of more than 30 presentations with a handful of short films, and were thrilled to have Richard Nelson as our keynote speaker!
120 people attended, sharing and learning about topics including economic value of salmon, hydropower and salmon, mapping Mat-Su waters and important areas for fish, prioritizing efforts for strategic conservation, climate change and resilience of salmon, water quantity and quality studies, habitat conservation and restoration, Susitna River salmon studies, invasive aquatic plants and an update on Partnership progress, science and strategic priorities. We held an additional free evening presentation for the general public by keynote speaker Richard Nelson that was attended by over 100 members of the community.
Photo credit: Liz McKenzie
Accomplishments of individual partners were also acknowledged and celebrated. Becci Anderson and Kacy Kreiger, of the Alaska Hydrography Technical Working Group recognized Jim DePasquale of the Nature Conservancy for leadership in recent mapping improvements to Mat-Su Streams. Kim Sollien of the Great Land Trust crowned Jeff and Gay Davis of the Susitna Salmon Center, Doug Hill of Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Mike Gracz of Kenai Watershed Forum, and Richard Nelson our keynote speaker, King Makers for their outstanding work conserving salmon!
This year’s theme was the wonder of salmon. Alaskan Richard Nelson, cultural anthropologist, award-winning author, radio producer and natural sounds recordist, highlighted the importance of telling the story of salmon and the good work of Partner organizations in ways that will reach people of all backgrounds. Everyone, including landowners, students, teachers, scientists, managers, fishermen, business owners, industry and more has a positive role to play in conserving Mat-Su Salmon.
Thank you to the many presenters, volunteers, and sponsors who make the Symposium possible – and such a great forum to tell the story of salmon!
Find more information about the Symposium in the following publications. Symposium Flyer, Agenda , Symposium Booklet, Film Flyer Presenter Guidelines.Have questions? Contact jspeed@tnc.org or call 865-5713.
2015 Presentations
Wednesday, November 18th
- Robertson, Andy: Mat-Su Basin NHD Update
- Woll, Christine: Salmon Habitat Mapping for Landscape-scale Planning in the Matanuska-Susitna Basin
- Smith, Corinne: The Economic Value of Salmon Habitat in the Mat-Su
- Holen, Davin: The Economic Geography of Salmon: A Conceptual Framework and Preliminary Characterization of the Spatial Distribution of Economic Values Associated with Salmon in the Mat-Su Basin Alaska
- Kocian, Maya: The Return on Investment of Mat-Su’s Open Space
- Communicating the Wonder of Salmon Through Film:
- Baby Salmon Live Here (Pat Race/The Salmon Project)
- King Maker in Chickaloon Village (The Salmon Project/Great Land Trust)
- Spring to Fall: A Season with Salmon (US Fish and Wildlife Service)
- King Maker in Hatcher Pass (The Salmon Project/Great Land Trust)
- Hidden Treasure (Liz McKenzie/Salmon World/The Salmon Project)
- Meiklejohn, Brad: Eklutna Dam Removal Project
- Mazzacavallo, Michael: Riparian Instream Flow Study for the Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project
- Cincotta, Christy: Tyonek Area Watershed Action Planning
- Mauger, Sue: Cold Water Habitat use by Juvenile Salmon Directing Conservation in the Big Lake Basin
- Frenchik, Tess: Prioritizing Riparian Habitat: An Update of On-the-Ground Conservation
- Dekker, Franklin: Efforts to Prioritize Fish Passage Barrier Removal and Instream Flow Reservations in the Mat-Su Basin
- Gilder, Cindy: Using Construction Opportunities to Increase Green Infrastructure
- Keynote Address – Nelson, Richard: The Miracle of Salmon (Link coming soon)
Thursday, November 19th
- McMillan, Matt: The Effects of Land Use and Climate Change on Lake Water Quality in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Alaska
- Gracz, Mike: Analyzing Peatland Discharge to Streams in an Alaskan Watershed: An Integration of End-member Mixing Analysis and a Water Balance Approach
- Robuck, Heidi: Fish Passage Design: Meadow Creek
- Stewart, Heather: Invasive Elodea: Management Actions in Alaska and the Future of the Mat-Su
- Schwoerer, Tobias: Expert Probability Elicitation Through Adaptive Choice: The Risk of Elodia Spp. for Salmonid Persistence in Alaska
- Speed, Jessica: Progress of the Mat-Su Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership: 2014-2015
- Davis, Jeff: Index Watersheds: Tracking Change Within and Across the Mat-Su Basin
- Smith, Corinne: Prioritizing Conservation Strategies of the Partnership
- Neufeld, Gayle: Fish Tracker: A GIS Tool for Analyzing Radio-tagged Fish Migration
- Falke, Jeff: Seasonal Movement and Habitat Use of Ranbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Susitna River Basin, Southcentral Alaska
- Davis, Jeff: Monitoring Juveniles Salmon in Mat-Su Basin streams
- Cleary, Pete: Inriver Run Abundance of Chinook Salmon, Susitna River, 2014
- Campbell, John: Spawning Distribution of Susitna Chinook Salmon in 2014
- St. Saviour, Adam: Northern Cook Inlet Chinook Salmon Marine Harvest
Thank you to our 2015 Symposium sponsors!:
Mat-Su Borough, The Salmon Project, Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association, Alaska Salmon Alliance, ConocoPhillips, Matanuska Electric Association, HDR, Resource Data Inc., Department of Natural Resources, Aquatic Restoration and Research Institute, Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership, The Nature Conservancy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Mat-Su College, Chickaloon Village Traditional Council, Great Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Mat-Su Conservation Services, Bullitt Foundation, Wallace Research Foundation & the Mat-Su Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership.
