an eagle perches high in a spruce tree with blue sky beyoond

The Starrigavan Creek watershed, located on the west side of Baranof Island on the north end of the town of Sitka, is home to anadromous and resident fish species including Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), steelhead trout (O. mykiss), pink salmon (O. gorbuscha), chum salmon (O. keta), cutthroat trout (O. clarkii), and Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma). Wildlife species using the area include Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemonius sitkensis), brown bear (Ursus arctos)—footprint on right, bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), American marten (Martes americana), and red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus).

This area is unique because it is connected to the town of Sitka by the road system. There are only about 26 a bear paw print in soft soil, wider than a man's hand

a bear paw print in soft soil, wider than a man's hand

miles of roads in Sitka that cover about 14 miles from north to south. The majority of the island is not accessible by road system. This makes transportation much easier and cheaper for projects in the Starrigavan watershed compared to others on the 1.8 million acre Sitka Ranger District.

The Starrigavan watershed was clearcut logged (739 acres) in the mid 1970s using ground-based equipment. Harvest was completed in upland and riparian areas, impacting stream banks directly by compaction and soil displacement and reducing large woody debris (LWD) available to streams in the watershed. Approximately 5 miles of logging roads were constructed for this timber sale.

Since then a portion of these roads have been converted to trails for recreational OHV use. Past and present sedimentation from these roads and trails have reduced the quality and quantity of fish habitat and likely reduced fish populations in the watershed. The harvest area encompasses approximately 484 acres in National Forest System land while about 255 acres is State of Alaska land.

The area is now characterized by second growth forest composed of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and red alder (Alnus rubra) in the stem exclusion stage averaging under 10 inches Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) and less than 50 feet tall. Much of the project area is devoid or severely lacking understory vegetation such as blueberry bushes or bunchberry.

In 1995, instream large woody debris structures were placed in two more miles of stable stream reaches identified (basinwide habitat survey) as debris deficient and key fish habitat.
In 1995, the City of Sitka helped install a new bridge, removed trash, and upgraded and maintained the first several miles of road.
In 1996, four old borrow ponds were enhanced to provide 1 acre of valuable juvenile salmonid rearing habitat. The ponds were enlarged and dug deeper to prevent ATV use and provide over-winter habitat for coho salmon, large wood (LW) was added to provide cover, and connections to fish streams were improved. The gravel removed from the ponds was stockpiled for trail construction.
Between 1995 and 1998, the local ATV group (Sitka Recreation Vehicle Association [SRVA]) and associated volunteers donated $98,000 worth of skilled labor and heavy equipment to improve the trail, remove junk vehicles and garbage, construct a trail bridge across an area where OHVs were crossing a stream with spawning salmon, reconstruct the parking lot, as well as conduct road and culvert maintenance actions for watershed and fisheries improvement.
Approximately 25 acres of upland stands were thinned and/or pruned on the experimental plots in 1997.
In 2005 and 2006 Forest Service employees thinned 35 acres of riparian management areas (RMAs).
The Forest Service contracted a private firm to thin an additional 36 acres of RMAs in 2008.

Stewardship Projects:
Stewardship projects are an exchange of goods for services. They provide a way to improve forested habitat for wildlife while enhancing the local economy and creating a byproduct. For example, the Sitka Ranger District allowed private individuals to collect firewood using the already cut and downed trees from the Starrigavan riparian thinning project. This opened up the forest floor while providing a needed product to the community. We also removed 80 trees from the area to be used in construction of a cabin for the Starrigavan Recreation Area.

You can hear a recording of the Raven Radio (KCAW) broadcast about this project here.

The cabin will be constructed by University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) students as a project and will be the first ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) cabin on the Tongass National Forest. Stewardship projects create win/win situations where we are able to manage natural resources on the National Forest and private individuals or groups get something they want too.

The work proposed will be in several phases over several years. We are actively seeking partnerships, grants, and agreements, both monetary and/or in-kind support, to complete these projects. The list of activities currently includes:

We are actively implementing riparian thinning treatments and construction of the recreation cabin using trees from the Starrigavan watershed. We are currently in the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process for several watershed and fisheries improvement activities which include:

The large wood placement and channel improvement projects are designed to enhance watershed function which will improve the quality and quantity of spawning and rearing habitat for fish in the Starrigavan watershed. The construction and improvement of rearing ponds will provide more winter rearing habitat for coho salmon. Roadbed and drainage work on the Nelson Logging road will improve safety of people using the road while also reducing sediment input to Starrigavan Creek and removing fish migration barriers.

Thinning projects remove red alder and increase spacing between conifers to get more light to reach the forest floor allowing "released" conifers to grow more rapidly and encouraging shrub growth. Shrubs are important for browse (food) by Sitka black-tailed deer and provide habitat for insects that may become food for fish. We want to create long term benefits to fish and wildlife habitats and watershed health while minimizing short term impacts to wildlife that use the area. Visit the Duffield Riparian Thinning Projecton web page for more information on this subject.

Another great aspect of this project is the opportunity to show the community some of the land management activities we do on the Sitka Ranger District. Since the Starrigavan watershed is one of the few places connected by road system to the town of Sitka, it is much easier to bring students from grade school to college level out to look at project work.

We plan to involve students in some of the monitoring plans associated with our activities. Since many people already take part in recreation activities such as riding OHVs, hiking, skiing, fishing, and hunting in the area, there will be many opportunities for people to enjoy the benefits of these projects.

We hope to find stewardship project opportunities to implement some of these projects or portions of them. The thinning/firewood project and the cabin project are a great start. Do you have an idea or a proposal? Please let us know.

Tongass National Forest

Starrigavan Watershed Integrated Resource Plan

Background