Pat Creek Watershed is located on Wrangell Island in Southeast Alaska, about 12 miles south of the community of Wrangell. It supports Coho, Pink, Chum, and Sockeye salmon, Dolly Varden char, and cutthroat trout, and is an important recreational fishing area for locals. The valley bottom, including most of the riparian area, was logged in the 1960’s and ‘70’s. This has resulted in stretches of over-widened stream nearly devoid of large woody debris that is important for fish habitat.
From May 20 to July 15, large woody debris will be added to a 1 kilometer section of stream to increase habitat complexity and stabilize the stream banks. The project will take place east (upstream) of Pats Lake. An abandoned logging road will also be breached to allow the channel to naturally migrate across the floodplain. The Division of Forestry has already completed a portion of the project, decommissioning an abandoned road and removing five man made barriers to fish passage, opening up new habitat for fish.
“Our goal for this project is to improve habitat for salmon and trout that are important to the community and to the watershed as a whole,” said Angie Flickinger, the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition’s Wrangell based coordinator. “Thanks should go to the many partners that have played a role in this project: Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, AK Division of Forestry, US Fish and Wildlife Service, AK Department of Fish and Game, and US Forest Service.”
The public should be aware that there will be possible traffic delays east of Pat Lake on the Pat Lake Road (FR 6259) during the construction period, May 23rd-July 15th. Heavy machinery will be operating in and around Pat Creek to restore and enhance fish habitat for salmon and trout.
More information can be found at: www.alaskawatershedcoalition.org
Reader Comments(0)