‘Baby Salmon’ project to educate public

MAT-SU – Local organizations are banding together to give baby salmon a voice in regard to their “property rights” in Alaska’s waterways.

This summer, Envision Mat-Su created the Baby Salmon Live Here project and teamed up with the Matanuska Electric Association (MEA) and Mat-Su Community Transit (MASCOT) to raise awareness about salmon, their lifecycle, their habitat, and threats to salmon in the Mat-Su. Great Land Trust, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mat-Su Test Lab, the National Fish Habitat Partnership, Spenard Builders Supply, Once in a Blue Moose, Trapper’s Creek Smoking Company and Sportsman’s Warehouse are all sponsors of the project.

It may seem ludicrous to some that Alaskans don’t already know everything there is to know about salmon, but recent research indicates otherwise.

Last year, according to Envision Mat-Su Executive Director Liz Robinson, DHM Research surveys of local residents’ perceptions of all-things-salmon showed an alarming lack of knowledge or understanding on the part of the people.

“It's surprising, but so many respondents didn't understand the salmon lifecycle, or know that many salmon spend several years Mat-Su waters,” Robinson wrote in an email. “Folks thought there was no point/nothing they could do as individuals to help steward local habitat and didn't see the connection between healthy salmon spawning/rearing habitat and healthy adult salmon populations. Many also thought the local habitat quality was pristine, when in fact 6 of the 11 salmon stocks of concern are here in the MSB!”

To remedy these issues, Mat-Su Program Director Kim Sollien said, she and her fellow Great Land Trust employees helped out by using GIS mapping software to identify salmon habitats, then reaching out to private landowners to see if they would be interested in participating in a community education program.

“Wetlands and salmon are a big focus for us on conservation projects,” Sollien said, explaining Great Land Trust’s interest in Envision Mat-Su’s campaign.

But it’s personal, too. Knowledge of salmon, their lifecycle and their habitats is just “part of who we are” as Alaskans, Sollien said, and “what it means to live in the Valley.”

Inspired by the work the Nature Conservancy did replacing perched or too-small culverts and putting up signs on Edgerton Parks Road near Hatcher Pass a while back, Sollien said, the Baby Salmon Live Here project was born.

Envision Mat-Su has placed 15 signs “at strategic waterfront locations” all over the Valley, from Sutton to Talkeetna, which read “Baby Salmon Live Here.” According to the website, Cottonwood Creek, Cottonwood Lake, Moose Creek, the Little Susitna River, the Matanuska River, Billion Slough, the Palmer Hayflats and Wasilla Lake have all been confirmed as homes for the signs, and homes for salmon. Two additional interpretive panels will be installed on Big Lake, Robinson said, and each sign has a link and QR code to babysalmon.org.

“We’re all responsible for this shared community resource,” Sollien said, referring to salmon. “The first step is knowing where it is.”

As a mobile advertisement for the project, one MASCOT bus will be wrapped with a salmon info-graphic reminding people that “Baby Salmon Live Here.”

Envision Mat-Su also launched a social media campaign via Facebook. Users could “share” one of the organization’s graphics as a public post to get the word out about the project and be entered to win prizes donated from local businesses.

For more information visit babysalmon.org or the Envision Mat-Su Facebook page, and stay on the lookout for salmon signage around the Valley.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.