Reflections

Moose Creek Renaissance

How the Service’s Fish Passage Program and partners from the Chickaloon Native Village reopened more than 10 miles of salmon habitat to fish that had been prevented from returning to spawn for decades.

By Mary Price

In 2002, it came as a surprise to most folks that all was not well with Moose Creek. Its clear waters tumbled south from the rugged Talkeetna Mountains though a thickly forested river valley to the Matanuska River near Palmer, Alaska. But when tribal elders from the Chickaloon Native Village learned that the Service’s Fish Passage Program forms partnerships to help stakeholders remove barriers to fish passage, they had something to say. For centuries Moose Creek had produced abundant runs of sockeye, coho, Chinook, pink, and chum salmon. Yet for the past several decades, just a few Chinook and coho salmon were seen in the lower 3 miles each year. Something had gone terribly wrong.

Staff from the Service and the Village bushwhacked through thick vegetation to determine the cause of the problem. Around river mile 3, they arrived at a 10-foot tall waterfall. It was a scenic cascade in a beautiful wilderness setting, but this pretty picture was deceptive. This was actually the site of prolonged and extensive human-caused habitat alterations. The waterfall, which completely blocked salmon migration, had not always been there. Conducting a sort of scavenger hunt, the group discovered artifacts hiding in the brush: large timbers, machinery parts, and raised earthen rail/road beds. Mature cottonwood trees grew up between the rusty tracks of an old railroad.

What had happened here? More research led to the answer: In the early 1900’s coal deposits were discovered and a railroad was constructed along the lower 7 miles of Moose Creek, which was straightened and confined by levees to allow the track to be straighter. Meticulous hand-drawn survey maps from the time provide details of the creek re-routing. By the mid 1940’s the railroad line had fallen into disrepair from repeated flood damage, but by then a road was used to transport the coal. Later, in the early 1950’s, underground coal mining gave way to cheaper strip mining, resulting in significant loss of riparian vegetation and additional changes to Moose Creek’s floodplain contour. In 1983 the last of these mines was closed, though industry features such as levees, ditches, and elevated roadways/railroad beds remained along the creek.

Moose Creek had been transformed from a gently winding creek with abundant side channels and wide floodplains to a straighter, steeper, single channeled waterway confined by earthen levees. The “new,” faster-flowing creek carried more energy and scoured its bottom down to bedrock ledges, which eventually developed into a series of barrier waterfalls, the largest of which denied salmon access to more than 10 miles of spawning and rearing habitat.

The Service was pleased for the opportunity to help Chickaloon Village with funding and technical assistance to restore salmon passage and aquatic habitats on Moose Creek. Even though the stream now flows through mostly state and private land, tribal members felt a continuing deep connection with the creek. Chickaloon Village took the lead on the project, assigning Jessica Dryden and Brian Winnestaffer to manage the job. These young biologists provided the dedication, persistence, and long hours of work that were required for this successful restoration. Their Service coordinator was biologist Mary Price with the Anchorage Fish and Wildlife Field Office.

The months between the fall of 2002 and winter of 2005 were filled with planning, public education, fund-raising, surveying, and design work involving many agencies, restoration professionals, and local residents. By the spring of 2005, heavy equipment returned to the creek for the first time in decades, only this time it was here to help. The top priority was to re-establish a river meander in its historic location, and thus bypass the biggest waterfall, reopening access by salmon to more than 10 stream miles. Construction seemed daunting, as dozens of cottonwood trees were felled and tons of earth moved to construct a new channel 2,100 feet long by 45 feet in width, with floodplain benches on each side. Logs and boulders were recycled from the excavation to make in-stream fish habitat structures. Crews worked extra long hours to open the new channel by mid-June so the arriving Chinook salmon would have somewhere to spawn. The response on the part of these big fish was immediate and gratifying – several were observed swimming through the channel the day it was opened. A spawning survey conducted in late July recorded salmon more than 6 miles above the waterfall location. The banks in the project area were re-vegetated with native grasses and willows. “Phase 1” was complete!

Without pausing for breath, the team continued straight into the second priority restoration project – bypassing a series of partial barriers while improving fish and wildlife habitat quality. For this round, the Service was pleased to be able to add a new member to the restoration team: hydrologist Bill Rice. Bill had recently come to work for the agency’s Habitat Restoration Branch, and he designed Phase 2 of the restoration. Fortified by the previous year’s experience, and with Bill’s additional expertise and energy, the second round of planning, surveying, and design went smoothly.

Construction began in the spring of 2006, and the new channel was opened in late June. To bypass three partial barriers, 1,350 feet of river channel and floodplain were created. Features constructed to increase aquatic habitat complexity included log and rock vanes, root wads, boulder clusters, large log jams and a 300 foot long side channel. Woody debris was scattered on top of the flood plain (a common occurrence in natural systems). In addition to willow cuttings and grass seeding; ferns, wild primrose, high bush cranberry, and young spruce trees were transplanted. Chinook salmon again promptly cruised through the new channel to access the upper watershed, and coho salmon did the same in September.

Then, in August of 2006, a 100-year flood hit Moose Creek. All along its length, the stream responded dramatically by cutting new channels, abandoning others, and sweeping away numerous cottonwoods which formed into natural log jams. Fortunately, Moose Creek is mostly undeveloped and therefore fairly free to make such natural adjustments without harm to human life or property. But the restoration team was nervous to see if the project sites had survived. The channel created during Phase 1 had moved significantly, but was still stable. Phase 2, though only weeks old, experienced only minor changes. The projects had been designed to allow the creek to move as it must. Thus the recent human and natural alterations have essentially worked together to make Moose Creek a stream on the mend, with the promise of growing salmon populations for generations to come.

Mary Price is a Fish and Wildlife Biologist with the Anchorage Fish and Wildlife Field Office’s Habitat Restoration Branch.

Last updated: June 20, 2008
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