Copper River Stewardship Program
High school students from Alaska's Copper River Watershed are invited to apply for the Copper River Stewardship Program!
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2026 Program Dates June 5-15
Applications Due March 31, 2026 Here's more information, and the application form! 
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Donate to the Scholarship Fund! You can help make sure that cost is never a barrier for youth to participate in Copper River Stewardship Program!
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This hands-on program takes 10 youth from communities throughout the region on an in-depth adventure through the Copper River watershed. Participants meet with representatives from a wide range of fields and perspectives along the way, learning about what makes this watershed so special, as well as the challenges the region faces.
After completing their journey, participants create a unique project to share their experience with others. We hope you enjoy the projects we have posted here and invite your ideas and feedback for future stewardship programs.
All youth currently in 8-12th grade with significant ties to the Copper River Watershed are eligible.
Cost: $400, scholarships are available.
You can also contact the representative listed below from your region for an application or more information. Be sure to check out the projects below that show the highlights from past adventures!
Contacts:
Cordova: Lauren Bien, Prince William Sound Science Center, 424-5800 ext. 231 [email protected]
Kate Morse, Copper River Watershed Project 424-3334 [email protected]
Upriver: Robin Mayo, WISE, 822-3575 [email protected]
WHAT THEY LEARN...
"The rivers that run through our watershed are important to all of us. I learned how fragile the balance of it all can be, and what people in our region are doing to keep it in good shape. I also learned that teamwork is essential. It would have been impossible to do all of this without the help of many different people, and we all learned to work well together."
"The first is that the watershed is fragile, and a special thing that should be watched over and protected. If we protect the watershed, then that also is better for the environment, especially salmon that a lot of people depend on for food and money."
HOW THEY CHANGE...
"I got to know a lot of new people on this trip, and it made me much more open minded. I know that I will do everything I can to take care of this watershed in the future, and encourage other people to do the same."
"Right now I think that I have made a couple changes to my daily life. And maybe in the future if I choose to work for ADF&G, managing the salmon would be a career that I would consider, having not considered it before. And also I never knew that the people living around the upper Copper River depend on the fish more for food. That would certainly make my decisions different to provide more people with food."
STUDENT PROJECTS
Experience the day-to-day adventures of the Copper River Stewardship Program through these final projects created by the stewards:
2013 Copper River Stewardship Program Video
2012 Copper River Stewardship Program Vide0
2011 Copper RIver Stewardship Program Video
Gulkana River Days: A film created by participants on the 2010 CRSP who rafted the Gulkana River.
2017 Final Projects:
Oil Painting by Moses Korth
Slideshows by Jessie Hale and Joseph Hardy
| Jessie Hale's Slideshow |
| Joseph Hardy's Slideshow |
2018 Copper River Stewardship Program Final Projects
Lindsey Gordon's Oil Painting
| Cozmo Harder's Essay |
| Josephine Beauchamp's Poems |
| Taylor Dolge's Book |
| Warren Brower's Book |
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