The Copper River Knowledge System
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The Knowledge System
Ecotrust
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The 27,275 square mile Copper River drainage is under the ownership or jurisdiction of a multitude of federal, state and private owners. The ecology of the river system and the cultural integrity and survival of communities within this vast area depend on healthy runs of wild salmon. Salmon continue to spawn and mature wherever their nature directs despite the management and jurisdictional boundaries we have imposed on the region. With no integrated approaches to resource data and information exchange, and no current trans-boundary management planning efforts, important salmon habitat may be protected in one area, and at risk in another. There are valuable opportunities for key stakeholders to play a significant role in the long-term management of the entire Copper River watershed through collaboration and coordination. Wild salmon can be the unifying element that brings managers and stakeholders together to articulate shared expectations.
The areas of the Copper River Knowledge System (CRKS), Chugach National Forest (CNF), and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (WRST).
We can develop a "common-ground" stewardship program for the Copper River watershed that assures adequate protection of wild salmon habitat through a collaborative process that brings agency managers, Native Alaskans, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and community leaders together. Collaboration could establish a watershed wide model of resource use and management policy that would be innovative for Alaska, and would assure the long term viability of wild salmon populations.
In 2003, Ecotrust initiated a three-year project to help develop opportunities for trans-boundary, watershed scale management dialogue for the Copper River watershed. We are encouraging partnerships between regional stakeholders, including Alaska Native communities and entities, public agencies, non- governmental organizations, and other institutions to develop the components necessary to build a collaborative management model. Sharing information and knowledge on our resources in ways that can be easily accessed and understood is critical to the process.
The development of this DRAFT Copper River Knowledge System CD, an integrated data "knowledge" system for the Copper River, will help us begin to better understand the region, and may help encourage collaborative efforts to sustainably manage the watershed.
