5  Applications

We applied our findings of where cold-water inputs were located towards education and outreach opportunities in the Central Kenai Peninsula region. We used a variety of methods including comments on public land management plans, direct mailers, cooperative planning with peer researchers, and communication with state and federal agency staff.

5.1 Comments on the 2021 City of Kenai Land Management Plan

We applied our findings of where cold-water inputs were located towards education and outreach opportunities in the Central Kenai Peninsula region. We used a variety of methods including comments on public land management plans, direct mailers, cooperative planning with peer researchers, and communication with state and federal agency staff.

We used the thermal features map layer generated from this project as a tool to help generate comments on a the City of Kenai 2021 Land Management Plan, which highlighted a number of parcels in the Beaver Creek corridor, and recommended parcel-specific actions (e.g. retain, sell, re-zone).

We created a separate map showing parcels highlighted in the plan, with management status available in a point and click format. The parcels were superimposed on a several layers highlighting ecological values such as wetlands and anadromous streams, as well as the thermal features identified in this project. Methods are described in a separate stand-alone document at https://rpubs.com/kwf/867931.

Access the City of Kenai Land Management Plan Comments Map here: https://arcg.is/1Oq9Kq.

In the online version of this document, access PDFs of submitted Public Comments at the download link below.

City of Kenai 2021 Land Management Plan Comments
Download Map of Cold Water Refugia features near Snowshow Gun Club.

5.2 Landowner Outreach

5.2.1 Letters

We composed a letter addressed to private landowners whose property contains cold-water features that flow into one of our study streams. This letter describes the nature of the project and the value of cold-water features to salmon habitat. Landowners are invited to contact the researchers if they would like more information about their specific property.

In the online version of this document1, access the letter to landowners with the download link below.

Download Landowner Outreach Letter

5.2.2 Postcard

We designed and mailed a postcard to landowners whose property contains cold-water features that flow into one of our study streams. The postcard notifies landowners that their specific parcels are of high conservation value, and encourages them contact project scientists to learn more about best practices.

In the online version of this document2, access the postcard to landowners with the download link below.

Download Landowner Outreach Postcard

5.2.3 Communication with local State and Federal Agency Staff

We met with state and federal agency staff to discuss the nature of our research and its applications to discuss use of this data.

  • In conversations with staff from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), we learned more about the process by which new research such as ours may be applied in the future. Emerging research on how water quality issues may affect freshwater fish habitat is typically first evaluated by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) before being evaluated in a regulatory context such as ADEC. With that in mind, our final reports will be made available to ADF&G staff..

  • On June 1, 2022 we met with staff of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge to discuss the nature of thermal infrared imagery gathered in summer 2022 for a separate U.S. FWS project related to adult Coho salmon movement. These data are currently being evaluated, and it is our hope that they may later also be applicable for the purposes of identify cold water refugia in the conservation priority corridors identified in the Mountains to Sea report (Morton et al. 2015)

5.2.4 Local interest in Conservation Easement

We also communicated with the Snowshoe Gun Club, one of the larger private landowners in the lower Beaver Creek corridor. The Club’s ground footprint currently is set back several hundred yards from adjacent riparian zones and can be considered compatible with fish habitat management.

The Club has expressed interest in placing a conservation easement on part of their current land holdings, and an adjacent parcel also set on Beaver Creek they hope to acquire that is currently in private ownership. We provided a custom map to highlight cold water refugia features on these parcels, available for download below Figure 5.1. Discussions will continue with the Club to determine interest in moving forward with a potential conservation easement.

Figure 5.1: Cold water refugia site highlights near Snowshoe Gun Club

  1. https://kenai-watershed-forum.github.io/kenai_thermal_imagery_v2/↩︎

  2. https://kenai-watershed-forum.github.io/kenai_thermal_imagery_v2/↩︎