Habitat Restoration Kayaking Expeditions
Kayak Trip 1
As summer started breaking through the snow in early June, teens from across Southcentral and Southwest Alaska spent ten days camping, kayaking, and stewardship in the Nellie-Juan College Fiord Wilderness Study Area of the Chugach National Forest. The students picked up more than ten bags of trash, hauled enough treated wood to build a small cabin, naturalized five fire-pits, and left seven separate beaches cleaner than they found them.
Kayak Trip 2
During the second Kayak-Based Habitat Restoration Expedition of the summer, a group of youth spent 10 days pulling invasive dandelions from fragile ecosystems in Prince William Sound.
Kayak Trip 3
On the third kayak trip of the summer, ten students from Anchorage, Whittier, Kodiak, and Girdwood completed an invasive species study in Eshamy Bay. The youth also picked up trash on Crafton Island, and pulled invasive poppies in Pigot Bay.
Marine Stewardship Expedition 2014
In June 2014, nine middle school students from across Alaska spent eight days aboard the Babkin Marine Research Vessel in Prince William Sound. The students engaged in hands-on learning about a range of topics including oceanography, plant ecology, fisheries and issues facing the Sound such as lingering oil from the Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill and coastal accumulation of marine debris. The students hiked into the Chugach National Forest from the coast to explore plant ecology. They also visited a fish hatchery, and went kayaking, tide pooling and fishing. The students dug up traces of oil from the now 25-year-old Exxon-Valdez oil spill, helped pick up marine debris, and assisted the Forest Service with river otter research.
Thanks to the Chugach School District, Babkin Charters, Prince William Sound RCAC, Gulf of Alaska Keepers, REI, Alaska Pacific University, Copper River Watershed Project, Center for Alaska Coastal Studies, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustees Council, Alaska Teen Media Institute, and the Anchorage School District for making these expeditions possible!