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Round River has been working with Taku River Tlingit First Nation (TRTFN) since 1998. Our early efforts in the Taku centered around supporting a large-scale conservation area design for TRTFN territory. This all-encompassing process brought staff, students, and colleagues into the Taku and required ecological field research, Indigenous Knowledge interviews, on-the land programming, and extensive community engagement in the form of workshops, dinners, and countless hours spent together in collaboration. The first phase of our efforts culminated in the completion of the 2011 Atlin Tlingit Land Use Plan, which protected significant portions of TRTFN territory and outlined a vision for the future. During this period, the Taku shaped Round River’s conservation philosophy, illustrating what it means to commit to a place and people for a generation and teaching us how to be good partners to a community.
Today, we continue to support of TRTFN’s land stewardship vision, working with many of the same community members that we met decades ago. We provide technical support to initiatives that seek to further a holistic vision of conservation, while remaining firm in our belief that successful stewardship requires an investment in relationships and an on-the ground presence in a place. Our work in the Taku engages all elements of the organization, from senior staff to student researchers, as well as like-minded collaborators who see the promise of the Taku.
Our research efforts in the Taku occur at multiple scales. We support large-scale conservation design, species-specific stewardship, predictive climate change modeling, and local research and monitoring program design and implementation.
We work to support the vision and priorities of our long-term partners, Taku River Tlingit
First Nation. Our efforts are driven by Indigenous Knowledge, concerns, and perspectives, and we collaborate to ensure that our work is of local value and relevance.
TRTFN is advancing its Tlatsini vision for healthy lands and people through the declaration of an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA), which was officially announced in 2023. This work builds off the vision that was articulated in earlier efforts that preceded the 2011 Atlin Tlingit Land Use Plan and calls for the protection of 60% of the Taku Watershed, with the remaining 40% placed in special management. Round River has supported this work since its inception and continues to provide support to community engagement efforts, technical revisions, spatial analysis, and on-the-land programming.
The Salmon Resiliency Project is a collaborative initiative, led by TRTFN, to steward salmon ecology and salmon culture in the Taku River Watershed. As part of the initiative, we work with project partners to identify priority needs in the watershed, advance salmon stewardship initiatives, and support climate change adaptation. This work includes technical research, such as climate change vulnerability assessments and spatial analysis of the watershed, as well as community-driven programming to support a strong salmon culture in the Taku. We collaborate with TRTFN Land Guardians to develop and implement annual salmon harvest camps, where community members harvest and process salmon, while connecting with the watershed. The purpose of this work is to ensure that the Taku- a salmon stronghold- continues to support salmon and salmon culture. Project partners include TRTFN, Simon Fraser University, Flathead Lake Biological Research Station, and Taku Atlin Conservancy.
We work closely with TRTFN Land Guardians on project design and implementation, supporting research and monitoring needs throughout the territory. This includes Round River student programs, which work with Land Guardians to monitor regional wildlife populations and survey remote portions of the territory. We also provide program development support to meet the evolving needs and interests of the community.
Based in Atlin, British Columbia, our 6-week Taku River Watershed Program takes place in the traditional territory of our long-time partners, the Taku River Tlingit First Nation (TRTFN). Since 2003, our students have played an integral role in Round River’s conservation efforts, in both the Taku and the Yukon River headwaters. Students have contributed to research on wolves, grizzly bear, salmon, caribou, sheep, and mountain goats, as well as alpine vegetation surveys and ecological succession monitoring. Students have also worked closely with our Tlingit partners and contributed to projects to monitor traditional food plants, taken part in joint research initiatives, and worked on oral history documentation. The Taku River Watershed is the largest non-road-accessible watershed on the Pacific Coast of North America.
Will Tyson
Community Programs Director
Email: will@roundriver.org
Maggie Triska
Conservation Director
Email: maggie@roundriver.org
