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There's $50,000 dollars buried in Dave and Betty Lowery's yard.

At least that's what Dave Lowery estimates.

Don't show up with metal detectors and shovels though. It's laid out for anyone to see -- in the trees and other vegetation the couple has inserted back into the banks of their Kenai River-front property for more than 20 years.

The Lowerys, along with a handful of other Kenai River property owners and managers, were recently presented with Eagle Awards from the Soldotna-based Kenai River Sportfishing Association. The awards honor their efforts to preserve and protect the river's banks.

Eldon Mulder, board chair of the non-profit conservation and sport fishing advocacy group, said the awards aren't given out every year.

"We started presenting the Eagle Award over a dozen years ago to recognize outstanding contributions from private citizens, organizations or government entities have played an important role in trying to protect and enhance the Kenai River," Mulder said.

At a ceremony held in mid-September the awards were presented to Betsy and Jeff Mailloux, who own property near Dot's Fish Camp in Sterling; Bess Sheldon and John Eakin, of Funny River off of McFarland Road; the Lowerys, who live near River Mile 24.5 off of Keystone Drive, and Andrew Carmichael, the City of Soldotna's director of parks and recreation representing the city.

Mulder said the recipients have undertaken a variety of different projects on their riverside properties that include the construction of light-penetrating board walks, shoreline rehabilitation projects and habitat protection.

Mulder explained the significance of the protecting shorelines, saying, "Salmon don't necessarily spawn along the banks, but the young salmon live and survive in their protection."

Without overhanging branches and grasses, the juvenile fish have few places to hide from the hungry mouths that prowl the Kenai.

The Lowerys began to address riverbank degradation on their own property about 20 years ago.

At the time Dave Lowery was active with group called the Alaska Sport Fishing Association.

He said the organization, often in conjunction with the Department of Fish and Game, would hold meetings featuring guest speakers knowledgeable on habitat protection.

"It didn't take my wife and I long to realize we needed to listen to these folks and go along with it," he said. "We could see the damage done and we were guilty of it."

The detrimental impact of overrunning the shoreline with boot treads and moored boats wasn't as widely understood not so long ago.

The Lowerys could see the writing on the wall -- or in this case the deteriorating shoreline on their property.

Since then they've done three distinct projects.

Initially they just tried to stem erosion along the banks by filling in areas and laying out "biologs," rolled mats of turf and soil ideal for planting seedlings in, along the shore.

Over the years the dense organic soils they used prevented ground water and runoff from flowing freely through the soil.

"They made the ground wet and retained the water rather than expelling it," he said, explaining that their shoreline started to bow outward into the river.

They fortified that project with "root wads," trees that are cut 10 feet off the ground, pushed over with the root mass still attached, and re-laid perpendicular to the current with the trunk buried as an anchor and the roots protecting the river bank.

This time Dave said he had the area backfilled with rock to allow ground water to leach through.

Most recently the Lowerys have added spruce tree revetments to their bank. The tree trunks are anchored into the shore while the branches reach out into the water, trapping silt and making a safe haven for small fish.

The bank restoration along with the installation of light-penetrating aluminum decking has cost the Lowerys about $50,000.

That's money well spent though, Dave Lowery said.

"To me, that's the primary thing any property owner on this river does," he said of bank protection. "Not protecting the riverbank is a disservice to this community. The more we put into this river the more we get out of it."

The award was an affirmation for the Lowerys of a job well done.

"It's a status symbol, and a good status symbol," he said. "In my mind everyone should work to have an Eagle award on their property."

The Lowerys haven't only just revitalized their own shoreline though.

Working with their up- and downstream neighbors, he estimated they've protected about 500 feet.

While his neighbors have been receptive to the projects, Dave said in his experience not all shoreline property owners are so willing.

"I know there's been some hard sells out there with people who kind of don't want to do it, or want it paid for," he said.

While riverfront property owners can expect to sink funds that come largely from their own wallets into their shoreline, a 50:50 cost share program is available through Fish and Game and the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife Services.

If projects meet the guidelines set out by the program, applicants can get 50 percent of the cost covered by funds from the two agencies.

Mulder said KRSA has contributed funds to these projects in the past, as well.

"This has been a wildly successful program because it's rare the government will help pay for a 50-percent improvement to your property," Mulder said.

Proposals for funding for 2010 projects are due on Oct 19. For information, call Mike Edwards of the Fish and Wildlife Service at 260-0125 or Dean Hughes of Fish and Game at 267-2207.

Dante Petri can be reached at dante.petri@peninsulaclarion.com.