259 



R i : v ^e ed 



June 30. 1989 



replaced bv culvert : ost a 1 ' at : ons m spauni.-.q nabitat. These 

 are very comiicn onqoing chronic problems which ijsurp much of 

 our staff time (that is. uhen ue find out about them). 



R j s h '.' r e e - ! 



f ai 1 ur 

 Forest 



c 3ns t r 

 Ranqer 

 the f l 

 and na 

 units 

 o: i e : t 

 Strv i c 

 au i ck 1 

 hab l t a 



C »" the 



uater 

 coup 1 e 

 t c r r e n 



the b a 



ceiou 

 sec ;me 

 unavo l 



e occur 



Serv i c 

 uc t l en . 



that t 

 sh hab i 

 ss uas t 

 or dele 

 l n g bio 

 e ?roce 

 1 as po 

 t . Roa 



r o r rn a l 

 iua 1 1 1 v 



of mon 

 t f rom 

 nks of 

 the roa 

 nt at ion 

 dabl e. 



In 'ate November or early (December 1983 a massive 

 red in a fresh clear-cut above Rush Creek on 

 e lands near Thome Bay- Prior to 



Forest Service biologists to id the District 

 his road and the steep-sloped units jeopardised 

 tat belou. ana predicted uater quality problems 

 l n g . Thev requested relocating the roads anc 

 ting them from the area entirely- Uhen the 

 loqists transferred to other places, the Forest 

 eded uith roadinq and cutting of the area as 

 ssible. in spite of the harards tn fisheries 

 dirig and bridge construction took place outside 

 ly expected timing windows, and the predicted 



problems and mass uastmg occurred uithin a 

 ths after roading and logging. The debris 

 this slide removed the road, and terminated on 

 R'jsh Creek, located a couple of hundred Feet 

 d- 'Jitn this soil failure (and others) hr-tvy 



into salmon spawning habitat at Rush Creek uas 

 and uili remain a chronic p-oblem. 



soil 



East rprk rtaney Cr eek: In November of 1983 staff became ajar? 

 of a D~id}e replacement in cono habitat unich had recently 

 Deen doungraded to a culvert- Forest Service fisheries staff 

 nad requested that timing for bridge replacement at this site 

 be from flay 15 to September I. Houever , the log stringer 

 bridge uas replaced uith a 9-foot diameter culvert on October 

 4. during or follouing adult echo salmon ret urns/spauning . 

 This required excavation o f streambed materials to bed the 



cu 



vert, uith heavy downstream siltation a lively resuit. 



U ar .j Creek : Another recent unnecessary conflict involved 3 

 "fisheries enhancement" project the Forest Service initiated in 

 ear'y August 1988 at Uard Creek near Ketchikan. It uas the 

 Forest Service's intent to dynamite trees and streambanks along 

 this high-quality salmon and s tee 1 head system to create neu 

 rearing habitats for juvenile coho. The Habitat Division of 

 the Alaska Department of Fish and Game heard about the project 

 from a citizen's complaint aoout tuo ueeks before the scheduled 

 b'astinq, and after evaluating the proposal and opposing most 

 aspects of it, requested denial of potentially harmful aspects 

 of the activities proposed. 



It uas recognized by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game 

 that the Uard Creek system had abundant unused rearing 

 habitats, and that insufficient rearing areas did not seem 



