Brilliant green vegetation hugs a small creek bed. Rays of sunlight filter through the leaves and strike the water.

Pacific Salmon Resiliency

One of BLM’s focuses under the Gravel to Gravel Keystone Initiative is to improve the health of watersheds that have been impacted from past land uses or that may have invasive plant species within the riparian areas. Many of these impacts have occurred in headwater streams, which comprise the most stream miles in a watershed and contribute to the health of downstream waters. By improving the condition of headwater areas that provide habitat for resident fish we also contribute to the health of connected habitats where salmon spawn and rear. Below is a description of the work we are doing within this critical aspect of the Keystone Initiative.

Stream Restoration

BLM-managed public lands in the upper Yukon River portion of Alaska have been the focus of applied research and the application of new techniques regarding stream reclamation since 2013. Many stream reclamation focused demonstration projects have been implemented over the last ten years and serve as outdoor classrooms for agency staff, industry stakeholders, and the public. In addition, the BLM has developed several resources to improve project success across the region including the publication of an interagency Stream Design Guide and Stream Reclamation Basics brochure. Despite these successes, significant restoration opportunities remain across the BLM Restoration Landscapes and throughout the surrounding Norton Sound-Yukon-Kuskokwim region.

With the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, the BLM has been able to secure funding necessary to continue refining stream rehabilitation techniques while also improving riverscape health through targeted restoration work in the upper Yukon River region. Expanded work within other areas of the Gravel-to-Gravel Keystone Initiative region is also expected to begin in 2025. Details about these projects are included below.

A person in an orange reflective vest and white hard hat directs heavy equipment operator along stream bank. — Placing vegetation mats, as displayed here, creates "instant" streambanks along a newly constructed section of stream previously impacted from mining. BLM photo

Wade Creek Watershed

Wade Creek is part of the Fortymile Wild and Scenic River and has a rich history of placer mining dating back to the mid-1800s. Evidence of current and historic placer mining in the watershed remains today. Numerous sections of the creek are located on closed federal claims. Decades later and after mining has long ceased, these areas remain in a degraded state.

Restoration efforts along Wade Creek are complex based on the pattern of existing (recorded) and closed federal mining claims and constraints imposed by the Taylor Highway which parallels the creek along the valley bottom.

The BLM funded habitat enhancement projects have been largely successful at refining stream reconstruction techniques and improving stream function yet one project failed during a high-water event three years after construction. Leveraging the knowledge learned from our project’s success and failures is a basic tenet of adaptive management – what we can do better next time. We continue our work to rehabilitate habitats on closed federal claims within the Wade Creek watershed. This work improves conditions within the wild and scenic river unit and also benefits the local community and recreational users.

More restoration work is needed as the degraded conditions along Wade Creek contribute to repeated closures and routine maintenance to the Taylor Highway. Improving stream functions within the watershed will reduce impacts to existing highway infrastructure – which can be seen at Mile Post 86 on the highway. Additionally, the Taylor Highway area receives significant visitation by tourists during the summer, yet there exists minimal outreach or wayside exhibits explaining the region’s rich mining history and how science is being used to restore stream health.

Starting in 2025, the BLM will be developing a strategic and stepwise approach to restoration. Reducing erosion and sediment inputs to the stream from historic mine tailings will be a near term focus. Long term efforts will focus on rehabilitating instream habitats and improving floodplain revegetation. The Taylor Highway parallels Wade Creek for most of its length, so the BLM is working with stakeholders to develop information kiosks that will help tell the mining history of the area, as well as the challenges associated with restoring stream and floodplain conditions.

Since 2015 numerous sections of Wade Creek have been treated to improve habitat conditions. In 2024, efforts were largely focused on planning and preparation for work in 2025 and beyond. Additionally, the BLM began implementation of a comprehensive monitoring program to assess the effectiveness of restoration within the watershed.

Before and after photos of Wade Creek in Alaska. — A before and after comparison of habitat enhancement at Wade Creek. The image on the left is before work began in 2018. The image on the right shows increased vegetation and improved floodplain connectivity six years after rehabilitation work was completed. BLM photos

Nome Creek Watershed

Nome Creek is a popular grayling fishery in the White Mountains National Recreation Area and a major tributary of Beaver Creek Wild and Scenic River. This area often sees high levels of visitation due to the nearby BLM designated campgrounds (Ophir Creek and Mt. Prindle). 

Like Wade Creek, Nome Creek has a rich history of placer mining. Located in the White Mountains National Recreation Area and in the headwaters of Beaver Creek National Wild and Scenic River, Nome Creek is the focus of several habitat improvement projects. Much of the past work is summarized in BLM Open File Report 113 (BLM 2007), which also includes recommendations for continued work to improve stream and floodplain functions. Much like Wade Creek, this project seeks to continue the stabilization of closed federal claims/abandoned mine lands in the watershed and address stream alignment issues which contribute to erosion of the Nome Creek Road and potential damage to the bridge. Unlike Wade Creek, Nome Creek is less complex with limited infrastructure in the valley and no remaining Federal mining claims.

Initial work began in 2023 with over 1,000 feet of stream channel restored to enhance habitats for Arctic grayling using a combination of proven techniques as well as some experimental methods similar to Wade Creek. The project also involved channel realignment to reduce impacts to the road and bridge supports. Work this year and into the future will involve restoration of both stream and floodplain conditions using a variety of methods. Like Wade Creek, the BLM developed a comprehensive monitoring program to assess the effectiveness of restoration along the 8-miles of stream planned for treatment.

Before and after shots of creek. — Left Image: Lower Nome Creek section prior to realignment and restoration. Extensive bank erosion and limited pool habitat dominated this section of stream. Right Image: Lower Nome Creek section after realignment to improve flow through the bridge span and improve the quality of pool habitats and bank stability.

Before and after photos of Nome Creek. — Left Image: Lower section of Nome Creek prior to realignment and restoration. Shallow stream conditions with limited habitat for Arctic grayling. Right Image: Lower section of Nome Creek one month after restoration. Increased pool abundance and vegetated streambanks to improve habitat for grayling. BLM photos.

Harrison Creek Watershed

The Harrison Creek project would continue restoration of approximately 10-miles of placer-mined stream channel on abandoned mine lands within the watershed in the Steese National Conservation Area. Harrison Creek, a major tributary to Birch Creek National Wild and Scenic River, was extensively placer-mined for gold starting in the late 1890s. These mined areas were abandoned without adequate reclamation.

In 2001, BLM initiated restoration efforts in the Harrison Creek watershed but were only able to complete restoration work on 1.5 miles of stream due to limited funding. The 2016 Steese Resource Management Plan specifically identified Harrison Creek as a High Priority Restoration Watershed noting that biological and physical processes and functions do not reflect natural conditions because of past and long-term human-caused land disturbances. This project would continue restoration efforts on closed federal claims in this high value watershed and activities in 2024 would begin with an assessment of conditions and the development of a restoration treatment strategy.

Two people hold a chinook salmon to assess age, sex and length of fish. — BLM staff assessing age, sex and length of salmon. BLM photo

Eastern Interior Invasive Species Management

BLM and partners will be conducting comprehensive invasive species inventories in the Steese National Conservation Area, White Mountains National Recreation Area, Fortymile Wild and Scenic River Corridor, and adjacent BLM-managed public lands. The focus of the inventories will be on Beaver Creek, Birch Creek-Ikeenjik,* and Fortymile* wild and scenic rivers’ corridors (including upstream areas which may serve as sources of seeds and other plant propagating organisms), as well as roads, trail systems, and mined lands. Necessary near-term treatment and control of discovered infestations will be prioritized. The invasive species inventories will provide the information needed to develop an invasive species management plan for each planning area (White Mountains NRA, Steese NCA, and Fortymile WSR), as recommended in their respective Resource Management Plans. This project will be conducted through a multi-year cooperative agreement.

Salmon River Watershed

The Salmon River drainage has been mined nearly continuously since 1927. Hand mining operations began in the shallow gravels of Clara, Squirrel, Fox Gulch, and Platinum Creeks in 1927. In 1933, an Anchorage prospector, Walter Culver, obtained leases and options on most of the mining claims in the area, and turned them over to the Northland Development Company and Olson & Company from Flat-Iditarod, Alaska. In 1934 the Northland Development Company shipped a dragline excavator, trestle sluice box, caterpillar tractor and the rest of the equipment and supplies necessary to set up a complete and self-sufficient modern mining camp in Goodnews Bay.

Early in 1935 the Goodnews Bay Mining Company was incorporated, consolidating and acquiring title to over 150 claims. Platinum developed as a "company town," with a store, water, and electricity supplied by the mine. Exploratory drilling indicated deep reserves of platinum, that were too deep for the dragline. A dredge was purchased in 1937, which allowed the mining of considerably more ground. The digging ladder of the dredge carried a line of 94 buckets, each with an 8 cubic-foot capacity. The dredge could dig fifty feet below the water level to reach the platinum-bearing gravel lying on the bedrock.

Tailings were discharged from the dredge by a 140-foot long stacker, which created the formation of formidable tailing piles up to 70 feet in height. The dragline and the dredge worked together to access deep gravels. The dragline was used to remove the overburden to permit the dredge to reach bedrock. During World War II, when most gold mining operations were shut down, the platinum mined by the Goodnews Bay Mining Company was listed as critical and the mine was one of the few that continued to operate through the war.

Photo of Salmon River's dry bed. — The scope and scale of mine tailings encroaching on the Salmon River is immense. This image shows not only the tailings but also an intermittent section of the river which limits fish passage seasonally. A BLM fish biologist can be seen in the distant background collecting data. BLM photo.

The Goodnews Bay platinum mine produced about 650,000 ounces of platinum. The dredge and dragline created about 44 million cubic yards of tailings and waste rock; the magnitude of which is difficult to comprehend. The 44 million cubic yards of tailings would cover the area of a football field over 27,000 feet deep, exceeding the vertical height of Denali!

Photo from inside the cockpit of a helicopter overflying dry riverbed — BLM photo taken from a helicopter flying above the Salmon River towards the bay. The extensive mine tailings constraining the stream and old mining equipment are easily visible on the landscape.

All five species of Pacific Salmon have been documented in the Salmon River. However, since the Salmon River watershed is covered with tailings, migratory fish access to six tributaries has been seasonally limited and, in some cases, blocked altogether. According to the USGS National Hydrography Dataset (NHD), the drainage network comprises 59 miles of streams. Currently, during the summer months, fish only have access to approximately 7 miles of stream habitat. The intermittent sections of stream not only block adult migration to spawning areas, but also isolate juveniles, contributing to mortality.

Image composition of dried stream bed with another zoomed image looking at a dead salmon fry in a pool. — Images from a dewatered section of the Salmon River during the spring of 2019. Isolated puddles of water stranded juvenile salmon and resident fish leading to their demise as water levels continued to diminish.

In collaboration with partners, the BLM and FWS are planning a multi-year effort starting in 2024 to close key data gaps necessary to develop and implement a restoration plan that improves watershed conditions and provides salmon and other fish species full access to spawning and rearing habitats in the watershed. In 2024 several site visits to Salmon River occurred. Additional data collection is planned for the next several years to serve as the basis for the development of a comprehensive restoration plan.

*Selected as official Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Restoration Landscapes