Projects funded in Alaska through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
In the remote village of Hoonah, located near the capital of Juneau in Southeast Alaska, the Huna Tlingit people and local residents have cultural roots that are deeply entwined in the land and waters surrounding their community. Recognizing the importance of protecting, conserving and maintaining the stream and forest habitats that are so integral to the Hoonah way of life, the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership (HNFP) was formed in 2015, and obtained funding from the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). This partnership has accomplished critical habitat restoration to improve salmon habitat and forest health, while also supporting economic development in the community.
- Year Awarded: FY21
- Lead Partner: Copper River Watershed Project
- Number of Partners: 13
- Funding Pool: State
- Participating State: Alaska
- Proposed NRCS Investment: $3.8 million
- Proposed Partner Investment: $4.2 million
The Copper River Watershed Project will restore access to an estimated 187.5 miles of streams and 527 acres of lake habitat to sockeye, chinook and coho salmon, providing significant benefits to subsistence, sport and commercial fisheries.
In addition to benefiting salmon habitat, the project will also reduce the likelihood of severe property damage during extreme flood events, making the watershed more flood resilient and improving the structural integrity of roads and infrastructure.
The work primarily involves removing undersized culverts and replacing them with stream-smart culverts that allow fish and other aquatic species to safely pass; and planting trees and shrubs along streambanks to reduce erosion, enhance biodiversity and improve aquatic habitat.
- Year Awarded: FY20
- Lead Partner: The Conservation Fund
- Number of Partners: 3
- Funding Pool: State
- Participating State: Alaska
- Proposed NRCS Investment: $1.3 million
- Proposed Partner Investment: $1.3 million
The Conservation Fund is partnering with the U.S. Air Force to protect critical wetland sites adjacent to Eielson Air Force Base through conservation easements. These easements are intended to 1) limit impacts to soil and water quality and quantity from forecasted military and urban expansion; 2) support state-wide and local food security; and 3) establish reliable funding for long-term resource conservation.
- Year Awarded: FY14 and Renewed in FY20
- Lead Partner: Sealaska Corporation
- Number of Partners: 6
- Funding Pool: State
- Participating State: Alaska
- Proposed NRCS Investment: $2.3 million and renewed at $1.8 million
- Proposed Partner Investment: $540,000 and renewed at $1.8 million
The Hoonah Native Forest Partnership blends highly inclusive collaboration, state of the art land management tools and an innovative, watershed-scale planning approach for balancing economic, social and ecological outcomes, including improved resource conditions for both national NRCS priorities (water quality) and State of Alaska priorities (stream and wildlife habitat).
- Year Awarded: FY18
- Lead Partner: Sealaska Corporation
- Number of Partners: 6
- Funding Pool: State
- Participating States: Alaska
- Proposed NRCS Investment: $2.07 million
- Proposed Partner Investment: $225,000
The Keex' Kwaan' Community Forest Partnership (KKCFP) blends collaboration, state of the art land management tools and an innovative, watershed-scale planning approach for balancing economic, social and ecological outcomes. The natural resource concerns of the KKCFP include economic, ecological and social values:
- Economic concerns are associated with the high costs of energy and the potential for timber and non-timber forest products to provide revenue to a historically impoverished and underserved community;
- Ecological concerns relate to the quantity and quality of fish and wildlife habitat and overall ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change; and
- Social concerns stem from the reduction of access to lands for clean water and traditional and cultural practices such as wild food, medicinal plant and firewood gathering.
- Year Awarded: FY18
- Lead Partner: Ahtna Intertribal Resource Commission, CRITR
- Number of Partners: 11
- Funding Pool: National
- Participating States: Alaska
- Proposed NRCS Investment: $1.7 million
- Proposed Partner Investment: $597,000
The Ahtna people have lived, subsisted, and stewarded the Copper River drainage for thousands of years and are concerned that the landscape remain resilient, and subsistence populations are sustainable. The overarching issue is maintaining ecosystem resiliency and subsistence sustainability in a fire climax ecosystem out of balance due to fire suppression and projected climate change. Specific resource concerns are to protect and enhance subsistence species habitats (moose and caribou), protect water quality for salmon, enhance resource access, reduce village energy costs, enhance subsistence berry production and habitat for native pollinators. Eight tribes will support the project through input of their traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom, which is being captured through a Tribal Resource Stewardship program with University of Alaska and participation of elders in the outreach program. Each tribe is developing a village-based stewardship plan around their villages for subsistence resource management that will be integrated with this project. The RCPP will implement the integrated plans developed with each village.
- Year Awarded: FY14
- Lead Partner: Tyonek Tribal Conservation District
- Number of Partners: 6
- Funding Pool: National
- Participating State: Alaska
- Proposed NRCS Investment: $1.6 million
- Proposed Partner Investment: $1.8 million
Tyonek Tribal Conservation District (TTCD) is facilitating an innovative, collaborated effort to complete planning, monitoring, and implementation of conservation practices, education, and outreach for Alaska Native Villages with an Alaska Tribal Conservation District (ATCD). The proposed project connects partners for the benefit of enhancing, preserving, and restoring habitat used for subsistence resources in the effort to preserve customs and traditions of Alaska Native people, thus achieving food security. Activities in the proposed project provide education, and outreach to ATCDs, complete planning, coordination, implementation, and monitoring of conservation practices benefiting wildlife and soil natural resource concerns NRCS priorities (water quality) and State of Alaska priorities (stream and wildlife habitat).