A Fishing Guide Works to Properly Release a Trophy King Salmon Back into the Kenai River, Alaska.

Licensed Fishing Guide and Clients in Pursuit of King Salmon, Kenai River Alaska.

The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge assisted Kenai Peninsula College, Kenai River Professional Guides Association, and the Alaska Division of State Parks in the development and delivery of a course for fishing guides on the Kenai River in Southcentral Alaska.  The Kenai River Guide Academy is a five-day course that will be mandatory for guides under State Park regulations starting in 2007.  Two optional courses were offered in 2006, with the second completed April 28; five courses are already scheduled for later in 2006 or 2007.  Nearly 50 guides completed the first two courses and approximately 500 additional guides are expected to take the course within the next three years.  Participants are exposed to a variety of topics from fish life history information to land ownership and licensing and regulatory requirements.  Refuge Manager Robin West participates on the Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board, the Kenai River Guide Academy Board, and also facilitates a discussion of fishing ethics during the course.  The new course is the result of over two years of work responding to public and guide industry concerns about crowding and professional fishing operations on the Kenai River, often called "The World's Greatest Sportfishing River."  Comments from guides taking the first two courses have all been positive. For more information on the course, go to www.krga.org .