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Restoring watersheds, strengthening community

In 2002, concerns over watershed health led Skagway area residents, business owners, the City of Skagway, the Skagway Traditional Council, the National Park Service, and others to come together to form the TIWC, a broad-based watershed stewardship organization. This community partnership is aimed at improving watershed conditions and therefore protecting the economic and social well-being of local area residents. We are now an independent nonprofit with one full time Executive Director, part time Education Outreach Coordinator, and an active Board of Directors. We share offices with the Skagway Traditional Council, at 11th and Broadway, please stop by and say hello!

Mission

The Taiya Inlet Watershed Council is a community partnership working to protect and improve the health of the watershed through education, communication, research and restoration.

Vision

The Taiya Inlet is a watershed of intense beauty, diverse plant and animal communities, dynamic physical processes, a colorful history, a vibrant economy and a small, but active, human community. The future of the watershed depends upon maintaining these characters, and thus the quality of life we value. The Taiya Inlet Watershed Council envisions an empowered community of educated, responsible stewards who work together to preserve and promote a healthy watershed.

Goals

• Collaborate with stakeholders to restore, protect and understand habitat for fish, wildlife, and other organisms
• Encourage and facilitate research opportunities in the Taiya Inlet watershed
• Promote community understanding and stewardship of the watershed through outreach and education
• Participate in community planning efforts to promote watershed stewardship
• Build organizational capacity
• Form a balanced and diverse partnership of citizens, businesses, and organizations.

Staff

Alicia Wendlandt, Executive Director

Alicia is thrilled to be the new Executive Director of the TIWC. Recently graduated from S.C.S.U. in Minnesota with a B.A. degree in Tourism, she was fortunate to study sustainability and environmental tourism in West Africa, Australia and Fiji. Her love of travel brought her to Skagway, Alaska in 2006 and the mountains have held her hostage ever since. Along with diving into this amazing opportunity with the TIWC, she spends her time as a river rafting guide, a volunteer with the Skagway Volunteer Fire Dept., working part-time at the new brewery in town and exploring every inch of these valleys with her love of hiking, camping and living the good life.

Sarah Red-Laird, Education Outreach Coordinator

Sarah Red-Laird is a new face in Skagway, but has a long history with the waters of Southeast Alaska. She spent many of her younger years on Prince of Wales Island trapping and fishing with Dad and the family dog, Beaver. She made her most recent move back to Alaska after getting her degree in outdoor recreation leadership. While not conjuring up ideas about how to get the community excited about the Taiya Inlet Watershed, she can be found volunteering for the Fire Department, fly fishing, snowshoeing, skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, rock climbing, or frolicking elsewhere in the outdoors with her boyfriend and yellow dog Sophie.

Samantha Staley, Alaska Conservation Foundation Intern

Samantha Staley is excited to be in Alaska for the first time, enjoying its incredible landscape and people. Growing up in the shadow of the Teton mountains in southeast Idaho, she's always loved the outdoors. Sam just graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.S. in Earth Systems at Stanford University, with a focus on land management. Taking a break from her Master's program, she is glad to be using GIS skills and community development tools outside the college classroom. You might see her hiking with Sarah's dog, sea kayaking, aspiring to be an amateur photographer/ artist/ musician, or trying to beat Skagway locals at cribbage.

Many thanks to Dakota Hankin, our outgoing Executive Director ~

In her year of leadership at TIWC, Dakota secured multiple grants that further TIWC's mission, as well as enhancing the overall sustainability of the organization. Amongst her achievements:

- Obtained $150,000 NOAA CBRP grant for Pullen Pond. - Obtained USFWS Grant for Dyea Flats Management. -Obtained City support and funding total of $43,000. -Secured administration funding for 2007-2008.

We wish her the best as the new Executive Director of the Skagway Development Corporation.

Board of Directors

Andrew Cremata

Andrew Cremata is an avid fisherman and 10-year Skagway resident.  He joined the TIWC to help protect and improve fish habitat and the life-sustaining waters in which they live.  He works year-round as a photographer and writer and works seasonally as a tour representative.

Andrew Beierly

Andrew Beierly has been a Skagway resident since 1952, and his experience watching the watershed change over this time is highly valued by the board. He worked for the railway for 20 years, and then the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park for another 20 years. He is now retired and enjoys fishing and checking out birds.

Sandy Snell-Dobert

Sandy Snell-Dobert works in interpretation and education for the National Park Service. From Yellowstone to Everglades and on to Klondike Gold Rush, her job has provided her with the opportunity to live in and experience many watersheds. She lives in Skagway with her husband, a black lab and a calico cat. They all, except the cat, enjoy kayaking, fishing and exploring the watershed.

Dan Fangmeier

Dan Fangmeier grew up in the land of 10,000 lakes, explored the country and the world, and then moved to Skagway in 2003. An ardent recreationist, he is keen to preserve and enhance recreational opportunities in the watershed. When not working or volunteering at the Skagway Fire Department, Dan can be found either in his kayak, on his skis, or rock/ice climbing.

Cris Siegal

Amy Labesky

Molly Coveno