Federal funds totaling nearly $142,000 have been awarded to protect and restore wetlands in projects planned by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Alaska Center for Conservation Science and Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
Region 10 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Oct. 20 that the Sitka Tribe would use its $59,365 grant to develop a tribal wetland program plan. The tribe, which represents some 4,520 members, currently has no coordinated strategy or plan to manager wetlands within some 6,500 square miles, including the western coast of Baranof Island, the southern half of western Chichagof Island, and many smaller islands.
Information collected from planning, capacity building, partnership building and validation would provide the tribe with data needed to make informed decisions about advocacy, conservation and wetlands management, the EPA said.
The Alaska Center for Conservation Science at the University of Alaska Anchorage is to use its $32,615 grant to update watershed maps for nine watersheds in the Matanuska-Susitna basin. The maps will be digital and provide better landscape information, as well as identify potential wetland functions, the EPA said.
Another $49,750 grant went to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources to increase the overall state of knowledge about wetlands in Alaska through improved collaboration.
An Alaska Wetland Collaborative is to be created to provide information sharing between multiple entities working on wetlands issues. Other state and federal agencies, local governments, tribal organizations, university researchers and non-governmental organizations will be invited to participate, the EPA said.
The proposal includes creating a wetlands project inventory and Alaska Wetland Collaborative website.
