I’ve never been a fan of scary movies. All the anticipation and fear of knowing that bad things are around the corner - and there’s nothing to do about it - is not my idea of fun. I think that’s why I’ve been committed to monitoring salmon stream health during this time of rapid change. I don’t want to fear the future or be surprised when scary...
As I read the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (IPCC Sixth Assessment, Summary for Policymakers 2021), I was surprised. Not by the content. We have been hearing about wildfire and floods and melting glaciers for years. We have read we have until 2030 to make real change in our carbon emissions. We know the world’s climate...
After a year of not seeing our longtime supporters due to the pandemic or the opportunity to meet new people with different perspectives at in-person events, we really wanted to hear directly from Alaskans. So, we developed a survey to understand community-specific concerns about threats to water resources—both old and new—as we consider future...
In my early years learning about the ecology of streams, I spent a few summers in the sagebrush country of southeastern Oregon. I was studying desert springs measuring water chemistry, collecting bugs and identifying plants associated with each little oasis. I was discovering the complex connections of the natural world at a very...
This summer we shared our latest paper on the importance of freshwater conditions for Cook Inlet Chinook Salmon and highlighted how important it is to understand stream-specific responses to climate change for better management of our valuable fisheries. Now we’d like to put the spotlight on other important research going on that is helping us...
A new study - led by University of Alaska researchers and in collaboration with Cook Inletkeeper - provides the first evidence that declines in many of Alaska’s Chinook salmon populations can be attributed in part to climate-driven changes in their freshwater habitats. Alaska Chinook salmon runs have decreased during the past decade, leading to...
Climate Crisis Sends Stream Temperatures Off the Charts As Alaskans suffer through the smoke, haze and danger of a record-breaking heat wave, Alaska’s salmon are suffering too. On July 7th, stream temperatures topped 81.7 F (27.6 C) in the Deshka River, a major salmon stream on the west side of Cook Inlet in the Mat Su Valley. Cook Inletkeeper...
