(Soldotna) - The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Division of Sport Fish is currently accepting applications for the 2019 Kenai Peninsula Habitat Restoration and Protection Cost Share Program. The submission deadline is 5:00 p.m. Sunday, September 30, 2018.

The Kenai Peninsula Habitat Restoration and Protection Cost Share Program administered cooperatively by ADF&G and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, is a financial incentive and educational outreach program directed towards private landowners and public land managers. The program provides technical expertise about restoration practices, state and federal permitting assistance, and funding for salmon habitat restoration and protection projects along streambanks on the Kenai Peninsula. Funds are limited and not all projects can be funded; however, if selected landowners could have up to 1/2 of the cost of their project reimbursed. Additionally, ADF&G staff provides educational opportunities to landowners, public land managers, and the public on the components and value of fish habitat. The program uses and funds proven bioengineering techniques such as coir logs, willow plantings, cabled spruce trees, root wads, and elevated light penetrating walkways to help stabilize, revegetate, and rehabilitate streambanks.

“The program has worked with over 600 landowners to restore and protect their streambanks,” stated Habitat Biologist Jessica Johnson. “By participating in the program landowners help slow the rate of streambank erosion, reduce the amount of sediment entering the stream, and provide essential juvenile fish habitat.”

For an application and additional information, please contact the program’s Habitat Biologist Jessica Johnson at (907) 267-2403 or by email at jessica.johnson@alaska.gov. Additional information is also available on the ADF&G Cost Share Program webpage. 

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