Fisheries Enhancement Project
The Sitka Ranger District recently finished construction of two fishpasses on Indian River, a remote stream that drains into the north side of Tenakee Inlet on Chichagof Island. The mouth of the river is located about a mile east of the community of Tenakee Springs, and is accessed by a well-maintained hiking trail. The project is part of the District's current strategy to emphasize fish enhancement work that will benefit recreation and subsistence fisheries.
A series of 5 falls occur within one mile of tidewater. The purpose of this fish enhancement work was to provide passage over the two larger falls for the stronger swimming, native fish species, including coho (silver) salmon and steelhead. Interestingly, smaller Dolly Varden char are strong jumpers and swimmers, and also will use the new fishpasses. It was not economically viable to provide passage for pink and chum salmon, which cannot negotiate any of the five barrier falls.
The fishpasses now provide access to an additional 35 miles of high quality stream habitat and 10 acres of connected pond habitat. This excellent habitat will provide an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 adult coho salmon annually for the subsistence, sport and commercial fisheries in the Tenakee Inlet area and southeast Alaska. Benefits include greater sport and subsistence fishing opportunities for coho salmon, steelhead and Dolly Varden char for residents and visitors to the Tenakee Springs area. The later run coho salmon will also provide an additional food supply for the area's dense brown bear population and other area wildlife.
A District crew consisting of crew leader Rob Miller, a blaster, and six Student Conservation Association (SCA) volunteers, began on-site work in 1998 to provide fish passage over the larger 16-foot barrier falls and a smaller 8-foot barrier falls a thousand feet further upstream. The crew blasted a series of four step pools in bedrock adjacent to the 8-foot falls to provide fish passage there. They also blasted a trench adjacent to the 16-foot falls to ready that site for additional work in 1999.
In 1999, a 10 person crew worked all summer, from early May through the end of August, to construct a "vertical slot" fishpass, consisting of 10 rebar-reinforced, concrete cells, each 1.5 ft higher than the other. This was built in the blasted trench next to the 16 ft barrier falls. The expected life span of the fishpass is 40 years. The 1999 crew consisted of two project co-leaders: Rob Miller (Hydrological Technician) and John Pickens (Engineering Technician), and eight SCA volunteers.
Over the two-year construction period, 14 SCA volunteers came from all around the country to donate their time to this natural resource project, saving the Government and public many thousands of dollars in labor costs. All summer long they worked in a completely remote location only for room and board, the opportunity to gain construction experience, and the satisfaction of doing a job well and seeing the final results of their labor.
Living conditions were rustic. The crew lived out of a remote camp, with three wall tents for sleeping and another for cooking. They worked eight 10+ hour days straight, with six days off between trips. Each trip, the volunteers took turns cooking for a day for the rest of the crew. They had to maintain an extremely clean camp due to the ever-present brown bears in the area.
The work was very difficult, challenging, and physically demanding. The fishpass site is in a remote gorge area, with no access for heavy equipment. A barge transported concrete, rebar, lumber and equipment to the shoreline near the end of an old logging road. From there, a helicopter was used to sling in gear to the work site. With the help of a generator, a small concrete mixer, and pionjar rock drills, all fishpass construction work was done by hand. This included building cofferdams, drilling holes in bedrock, placing rebar, building forms and pouring the concrete for the walls and entrances. The crew poured, by hand, over 100 tons of concrete to complete the vertical slot fishway.
The work required precise construction methods to insure the fishpass worked as designed. The crew did an incredible job to meet the great demands of completing this challenging project. Their dedication and positive attitude allowed them to work together to accomplish an amazing feat.
The leadership, hard work, and dedication of Rob Miller, field crew leader and John Pickens, on-site construction foreman, were instrumental in the successful completion of this project.
Cooperation with nearby communities and other agencies helped make the project a success. The City of Tenakee Springs coordinated with the Forest Service to make the project compatible with their planned small, hydropower facility near the site. Although the project's entire upstream habitat is on National Forest land, the lower fishpass is actually built right below the Forest boundary on State of Alaska land. The State is providing a long-term lease for the fishpass site. The Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (NSRAA) has helped stock juvenile coho in the upstream habitat. The stocking will more quickly seed the extensive upstream habitat, thereby providing the anticipated numbers of returning adult salmon sooner.More photos of the construction project Home | What We Do
