132 ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR II^-DUSTRIES IN 1919. 



It is a quarter of a mile in a straight line and several times as far 

 by the windings of the crook from the lake near the railroad station 

 to the first lake in the ralloy above the town. This lake is about a 

 quarter of a mile long and shallow. No salmon were seen and no 

 evidences of their presence at any time were discovered. Salmon 

 were traced up the creek something like one-half or two-thirds of 

 the way to this lake. Some were found spawning at a point where a 

 large cold spring emptied into the creek. In passing through a 

 tract which has been cleared for farming purposes and which lies 

 somewhat more than halfway from the town to the first lake, the bed 

 of the creek is very badly filled up with debris and brush. It has 

 been used as a dumping ground and a mass of brush and cuttings 

 taken from the cleared land has been thrown into the creek, consti- 

 tuting an effectual barri(>r to the passage of the fish. It is evident 

 that it would be impossible at the present time for salmon to ascend 

 bej'ond tliis point. It was stated that previously they used to go 

 up to the lake itself. Several schools of young salmon were seen in 

 the creek, but in all no large number of them was found. A resident 

 on one piece of land through which the creek passes stated positively 

 that there were very many more fish there this year than last year 

 and that everybody had enough fish for their purposes. 



It is evident thait unless some attention is paid to this stream by 

 local authorities it will soon cease to be of any significance what- 

 ever as a resort for spawn'ng fish. The clearing of the land and the 

 fi.lling of the channel, which is a convenient rece] tacle for any 

 material to be disposed of, have limited the fish to a fraction of the 

 territory which they probably utilized previously. Furthermore, on 

 the bank of the lake which lies near the railroad track just below the 

 town is a large oil tank from which, according to apparently reli- 

 able reports, drip and waste spread at times over large parts of the 

 water surface. Evidence was readily found showing damage done 

 to the life of the lake by this means. It is clear that while this 

 might not interfere very much with the spawning of the salmon, 

 especially when the water level was high enough to permit the 

 spawning fish to pass promptly through the lake and up into the 

 creek beyond the town, yet it would be a very serious condition 

 for the young fish when they drop out of the creek soon after they 

 emerge from the gravel in the spring and seek to find in the lake 

 means of livelihood during the considerable period of growth before 

 they turn downstream into the river on their trip to the sea. All 

 in all this region, which serves at present as a good spawning ground 

 for 1,000 to 2,000 fish and which yields probably a catch several 

 times as large to natives and citizens for various purposes, is likely 

 to be seriously depleted within a short time if indeed the mn of 

 salmon in it is not entirely destroyed. 



LOWER KLUTINA RIVER, 



The Klutina River is an exceedingly rapid stream for some dis- 

 tance above its junction with the Copper Iliver at Copper Center. 

 It shows almost a constant succession of rapids, and the bed con- 

 tains many large rocks, so that it would be difficult to make any 

 detailed study of the stream, but this is not important because its 

 character evidently precludes the possibility of its being utilized as 



