News, Videos

Fish friendly makeover at Peterson Creek – timelapse video

Check out the cool timelapse video of Pederson Creek’s west fork receiving a fish-friendly makeover. Two undersized culverts were replaced with a larger 6’X8’X52′ embedded culvert designed to retain natural stream function and fish passage at the road-stream crossing. Partners: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition. Survey and Design: DOWL. Construction: Howell Construction. Species present in creek: Dolly Varden Char and Coho, Pink, Chum Salmon. Filmed May 11-16, 2016 using Brinno Construction camera.

Pederson Creek timelapse

Partner Event, Regional Event, SEAKFHP Event, Uncategorized

Climate Change in Southeast Alaska – April 12-15, 2016 in Juneau

Climate Change in Southeast Alaska – Informing Sustainable Management of Water Resources and Anadromous Fisheries, Spring 2016

April 12-15, 2016

Treadwell Conference Room, Baranof Hotel, Juneau, Alaska

Travel details (link to discount information)

Climate Workshop Agenda – Wed/Thurs April 13 and 14

Meeting Resources Link

Transboundary Environmental Data Workshop Agenda – Friday, April 15

Background

In 2014, the Tongass National Forest worked with EcoAdapt, with support from the Wilburforce Foundation, to conduct a stakeholder workshop and complete a climate change vulnerability assessment of aquatic resources including snow, ice, water, riparian vegetation, and fish. You can find this report here.

With support from the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative, the Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership, and State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, we plan to convene a workshop focusing on:

  • Effects of hydrologic regime shifts on rivers, streams, and riparian corridors
  • Effects of changes in the hydrologic regime on anadromous fish

Workshop Purpose

Bring scientists together with resource management practitioners to enrich knowledge, foster collaboration, and inform sustainable management of priority aquatic resources.

Anticipated Outcomes

  • Share progress and findings of relevant studies
  • Distribute analytical tools that could be used for resource management
  • Identify knowledge gaps and identify strategic actions
  • Integrate traditional knowledge into studies and assessments
  • Identify long-term data platforms for aquatic resources
  • Endorse a regional watershed classification to discern hydrologic regime shifts
  • Develop tools to predict changing ice and snow conditions and implications for hydrologic regimes
  • Develop tools to predict response of salmon habitat to changing hydrologic regimes in SE Alaska

Tentative Workshop Outline

April 12th – pre-meeting workgroups finalize meeting preparations

April 13th – Workshop Day 1

  • Morning: foundational presentations to all attendees
    • Brief overview of EcoAdapt report and other vulnerability assessments, and goals of the workshop.
    • Status of climate model downscaling in SE Alaska – respecting variability, understanding limitations and uncertainty, yet providing a common baseline for understanding climate change effects.
    • The STEK Science/Traditional Ecological Knowledge Lens
    • Monitoring a changing landscape
    • Adaptation planning, opportunities for collaboration, tools and resources
    • Overview of workgroups and expected outcomes
  • Afternoon:  key workgroup thematic presentations to all attendees
    • Streamflow, watershed classification tool
    • Freshwater temperature
    • Anadromous fish and Habitat Ecology
  • Evening social, poster session

April 14th – Workshop Day 2

  • Morning – workgroup thematic presentations
    • key workgroup thematic presentations to all attendees (continuation of Day 1 presentations)
    • workgroups meet concurrently on tangible outcomes, additional thematic presentations
  • Afternoon – workgroups report back to large group, identify future actions

April 15th – Transboundary Environmental Data Workshop (Agenda)– Workshop goals: Identify areas of collaboration in the collection, summary and distribution of water quality and quantity data in Transboundary Waters. Target audience: individuals with technical expertise or interest in the collection, distribution, and analysis of water quality and quantity data for SE Alaska. Workshop contact Terri Lomax, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (email: terri.lomax@alaska.gov phone: 907-269-7635); RSVP Amber Bethe (email: amber.bethe@alaska.gov)

Climate Workshop Attendees

Federal and state agency personnel, Tribal representatives, Scientists, Land managers and aquatic resource specialists, Non-governmental organizations

Climate Workshop Planning Team

  • Julianne Thompson, Tongass National Forest
  • Sheila Jacobson, Tongass National Forest
  • Michael Goldstein, Forest Service – Alaska Region
  • Gordy Reeves, USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station
  • Cindy Hartmann Moore, NOAA Division of Habitat Conservation
  • Don Martin, Forest Service – Alaska Region
  • Neil Stichert, US Fish and Wildlife Service
  • Gretchen Pikul, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
  • Ray Paddock, Central Council Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
  • Allison Bidlack, Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center
  • Sanjay Pyare, University of Alaska Southeast
  • Collin Shanley, The Nature Conservancy
  • Mark Kaelke, Trout Unlimited
  • Scott Harris, Sitka Conservation Society
  • Debbie Hart, Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership

Climate Workshop Meeting Contacts

Julianne Thompson – Meeting Chair, USFS 907-772-5873, jethompson02@fs.fed.us

Deborah Hart – Meeting RSVPs/logistics, SEAKFHP 907-723-0258 / coordinator@sealaskafishhabitat.org

Uncategorized

ADF&G Vintage Photos!

The Alaska State Archives has recently digitized a number of historic Department of Fish & Game photographs. It’s their objective to make these historic pictures available to assist researchers and further education about Alaska’s ecology and environment. The bulk of the more than 150 historic images scanned and placed online concern Alaskan fisheries. Photos from the 1930s to the 1960s document commercial and sport fishing practices, as well as cannery operations. Photos also include imagery of glaciers and the impacts on salmon streams/watersheds from commercial logging conducted during the 1950s in Southeast Alaska.

These photos can be accessed online from the below links. Thank you and we hope these photographs further education about the important work the Dept. of Fish & Game does in Alaska.

Dept. of Fish & Game (post-1959)
http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/search/searchterm/Alaska.%20Dept.%20of%20Fish%20and%20Game./mode/exact

Fish & Wildlife Service (pre-1959)
http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/search/searchterm/Alaska.%20Fish%20and%20Wildlife%20Service./mode/exact

For more information please contact:
Zachary R. Jones
Archivist II
Alaska State Archives
Division of Libraries, Archives, & Museums
Juneau, Alaska 99811-0525
zachary.jones@alaska.gov

unnamed

News, SEAKFHP Event

2015 Alaska Fish Passage Meeting – October 13-15

 

2015 Alaska Fish Passage Meeting – October 13-15, 2015 – Juneau, Alaska

The Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership (SEAKFHP) will host the 2015 Alaska Fish Passage Meeting October 13-15, 2015 in Juneau, Alaska.  This meeting will examine the state of the science and practice of maintaining and restoring fish habitat connectivity through road crossings in the region. With over 5,000 inventoried culvert barriers on fish streams across local, state, and federal ownerships, maintaining current fish passage regulatory policies, design and implementation approaches, and performance monitoring schemas are critical to maintaining habitat connectivity.  Interagency coordination and information sharing events reflecting the state of the science are keys for future success.

Inventories of fish passage barriers on Federal (USFS, FWHA), State (ADOT&PF), private (ANCSA Corporation) and municipal road systems in Southeast Alaska have been largely completed over the past 15 years. Advances and refinements in fish passage assessment, prioritization, design, and construction have also occurred across in the region as awareness of fish passage issues has increased. While progress has clearly been made, nearly ten years have passed since the last comprehensive review of fish passage management in Alaska. This meeting will convene leading Federal, State, and local engineers, transportation planners, hydrologists, biologists, and regulatory specialists to examine the plans, policies, and practice of fish passage management in the region.  As road infrastructure in Alaska improves and expands, maintaining and restoring fish passage at road/stream crossings will remain a top priority for both transportation planners and aquatic habitat managers.

For information on this meeting please contact Deborah Hart, SEAKFHP Coordinator at coordinator@sealaskafishhabitat.org.

Additional meeting resources can be found here

Site 3 photo series

News, NFHP Event, Partner Event, Regional Event, SEAKFHP Event, Videos

2015 AFS Fish Film Festival – August 18-20, 2015 Portland, Oregon

America’s Fish and Fisheries – Shared through the Camera Lens – A 2015 AFS Fish Film Festival

Over 60 short films will be featured during the first ever AFS Fish Film Festival.  America’s Fish and Fisheries – Shared through the Camera Lens – A 2015 AFS Film Festival showcases films that focus on the connections between people, fish and fisheries, the unique life cycles and habitat needs of different species, and how resource practitioners and ordinary people are helping conserve fish and their habitats across the nation. The films are from a variety of perspectives—including commercial and sport fishermen, subsistence users, researchers and managers, volunteers, landowners, and even fish themselves.

Films will be shown during the conference on Tuesday, August 18 –Thursday, August 20th. Films will be grouped into themes covering general conservation topics, habitat protection and restoration, fisheries enhancement, sport fishing, fisheries management, and fisheries research and education.

This festival offers a new way to share and understand the work and craft of AFS members and other fisheries professionals and stakeholders. It will provide an exciting vantage point to view successes and challenges in fisheries conservation, and most importantly grow appreciation for and awareness of our nation’s fisheries and the many ways in which we’re connected to fish and all the goods and services they provide.

The festival is hosted by the Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership (www.seakfhp.org), Western Native Trout Initiative (www.westernnativetrout.org), Sitka Conservation Society/ Sustainable Southeast Partnership (www.sitkawild.org/www.sustainablesoutheast.net) and The Salmon Project  (www.salmonproject.org).

Tuesday, August 18, 2015: 8:00 AM-5:20 PM – click here for day 1 schedule

Wednesday, August 19, 2015: 8:00 AM-5:20 PM – day 2 schedule

Thursday, August 20, 2015: 8:00 AM – 5:20 PM – day 3 schedule

For full conference information, click here.

You can find the film festival program here.

 

News, Regional Publication, Trainings

Just Released! The Beaver Restoration Guidebook

Just Released! The Beaver Restoration Guidebook
In 2013, the NPLCC partnered with U.S. Fish & Wildlife, NOAA, Portland State University, and the U.S. Forest Service to develop a comprehensive guide on using beaver for stream restoration. Throughout the past year, five sold out workshops were held to share information from this developing guidebook with over 200 land managers currently working with, or interested in, using beaver in restoration projects. Workshop participants provided input and feedback into the guidebook, and we are pleased to announce its finalization and official release.

The goal of this guidebook is to provide an accessible, useful resource for anyone involved in using beaver to restore streams, floodplains, wetlands, and riparian areas. It provides a practical synthesis of the best available science, an overview of management techniques, and case studies from throughout the western US.

Read & download the guidebook here.

Beaver Restoratioin Guidebook

News, Partner Event, Regional Event

Hydrographic Data Harmonization Phase III Workshop: Alaska-British Columbia-Yukon Juneau June 1-5, 2015

IJC Hydrographic Data Harmonization Phase III Workshop: Alaska-British Columbia-Yukon

 June 1-5, 2015, Juneau, Alaska

US Contact:                Karen Hanson: 801-908-5038 khanson@usgs.gov

Canadian Contact:      Judy Kwan: 604-664-9153 judy.kwan@ec.gc.ca

International Contact: Mike Laitta: 202-736-9022 Laittam@Washington.ijc.org

Start Time:                  1:00 p.m. Monday, June 1, 2015

End Time:                   12:00 p.m. Friday, June 5, 2015

The goal of this workshop is to populate the new subset of Subbasins (US8-CAN4units) that constitute the boundary region along the Alaska-British Columbia border  with seamless Watersheds (US 10-digit, WSC 6-digit codes) and Subwatersheds (US 12-digit, WSC 7- digit codes), standardized and interoperable with both Canadian and U.S. Federal, State and Provincial drainage area interpretations. All recommended delineations are based on standard topographic, hydrographic base layers and local data holdings. The structure of the workshop is interactive; IJC Task Force members prepare an ArcMap edit session and table in order  to capture comments and suggested edits for each of these aggregations. Particular focus is placed on confluences and ridgeline placement.

Harmonization of the 10-digit, and all 12-digit within a shared 10-digit is the focus of the workshop. Proposed delineations will be posted for participant review one month prior to the workshop.

SE Alaska Canada Hydro Workshop_map