Fairbanks Fish & Wildlife Field Office
Habitat Restoration

In the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, we work with private and other non-federal landowners who wish to voluntarily restore fish and wildlife habitats on their land. This program emphasizes reestablishment of native vegetation and natural ecological systems that benefit fish and wildlife while meeting the needs and desires of private landowners. We offer informal advice on the design and location of potential restoration projects, and pay up to 50% of project costs. The Fish Passage Program provides technical assistance and federal funds to remove, replace, or retrofit culverts, weirs, abandoned dams or other structures that impede fish movement. This program also supports surveys of fish barriers within important watersheds. Funds may be used for projects on both public and private lands.

Footpath Crossing Beaver Springs - Before	Bridge Crossing Beaver Springs - After

For example, using the Fish Passage Program we worked with the City of North Pole to remove a causeway that blocked fish passage on Beaver Springs. The new footbridge provides resident fish habitat and fish passage. The bridge connects North Pole Elementary School to Fifth Avenue Park and provides access to a nearby riparian environment where school children perform experiments with aquatic life. Locally, the bridge is called the “wedding bridge” because so many residents have used it for weddings since it was built in 2001.

In addition, the Fairbanks Fish and Wildlife Field Office has been active in habitat restoration on the Chena Slough. Chena Slough provides excellent spawning and rearing habitat for Arctic Grayling. Up to one-third of the Arctic Grayling in the Chena River spawn in the lower reaches of Chena Slough. The Chena Slough Technical Committee and Chena Slough Neighborhood Committee meet several times a year to plan projects that will improve fish habitat in the Slough. If you want to participate in these planning meetings, contact Elaine Mayer at 456-0209 or email Elaine_Mayer@fws.gov

For a detailed description of specific projects and success stories, see these links:

• Twenty-Mile Slough at Old Valdez Trail
• Twenty-Mile Slough at the Monetti Crossing
• Bio-Engineered Streambanks Restoration Chena River at River Bend Estates
• Beaver Springs/Chena Slough at the Doughchee Road
• Piledriver Slough at Ingrid Drive
• Bio-Engineered Streambanks Restoration Chena River at Chena Acres

For more information about our Partners for Fish and Wildlife or Fish Passage projects in Alaska, please see the Alaska Region Habitat Restoration page or contact Elaine Mayer at either Elaine_Mayer@fws.gov or by phone at 907-456-0209.

Last updated: August 1, 2008