Copper River Strategy Group
The Copper River Strategy Group (CRSG) is made up of stakeholders of the Copper River watershed who have an interest in the status and well-being of the Copper River Basin. The CRSG focuses on issues related to salmon and salmon habitat, water and in-stream flow reservations, and development-associated impacts within our watershed. The CRSG meeting is open to all stakeholders of the Copper River watershed and the input and ideas of all is welcome.
The CRSG meetings serve to:
- Present project status reports and findings and solicit feedback on projects taking place in the Copper River watershed;
- Identify and present local-level, large-scale and small-scale issues and information needs that necessitate new and continued research;
- Develop project and program collaborations to address issues and information needs in the Copper River watershed;
- Facilitate cross-cultural and cross-boundary communication;
- Provide a venue for all participants to learn and acquire skills;
- Facilitate partnerships to increase the application and utilization of local observations and Ahtna knowledge in scientific research; and
- Maintain all aspects of ecosystem health — social health, environmental health, and economic health.
For the past five years, Ecotrust hosted the Copper River Workshop Series (CRWS) and the Copper River Strategy Group(CRSG) meetings. The CRWS was a series of two large workshops, hosted in Anchorage, that brought agencies, Tribes, Alaska Native corporations, non-government organizations, and other stakeholders together to discuss the status of Copper River salmon and salmon habitat. We received positive feedback on the workshop series, but folks requested that meetings be smaller and hosted in the Copper River watershed. As a result, since 2007, Ecotrust and other partners have hosted the bi-annual Copper River Strategy Group meetings in various locations throughout the Copper River watershed.
As of 2010, Ecotrust will no longer host the CRSG meetings, but provides financial assistance to an organization, or group of organizations, to host the next four meetings. The next meeting will be hosted by the Native Village of Tazlina, the Cheesh’na Tribal Council, and the Copper River Watershed Project in the Spring of 2011 (meeting date will be set in early 2011).
