Wildlife Habitat
The focus of projects in some districts
is the conservation and improvement of
wildlife habitats. A variety of wildlife,
from migratory waterfowl to Kodiak bears,
benefit.
Windbreaks and tree planting slow wind
and provide shelter and food for wildlife.
Planting a mixture of tree species helps
prevent total losses to disease and severe
weather; it also provides food, nesting
areas, and cover for a variety of wildlife.
Farmers are installing grass, tree, and
shrub plantings, ponds, and other wildlife
habitat at record rates. Some farmers plant
or leave food plots of corn, millet, or
other grains specifically for wildlife
preservation.
Moose Resource and Habitat
Enhancement
Anchorage and Alaska SWCDs have
teamed on a project to enhance moose
habitat and reduce the number of
moose-vehicle collisions. Working with
the Alaska Moose Federation, the SWCDs
and their other partners completed a
study about moose-vehicle accidents that
concluded that such accidents cost
Alaska residents at least $13.9 million
per year. Improved habitat coupled with
responsible road construction are the
goals of the project. Partners include
Alaska Fish & Game, Statewide Moose
Safety and Rebuilding Task Force,
several organizations and Native
associations. Plans for 2007 include
adding a burn component to the habitat
enhancement effort.
Chistochina Moose Habitat
Restoration
Alaska SWCD is working with Alaska
Fish & Game, Cheeshna Tribal Council and
the Bureau of Land Management to crush
about 50 acres of over-mature willow and
spruce in swaths in sample locations in
the Chistochina River area. The
objective is to encourage new growth
that is more palatable to moose, in an
effort to improve moose habitat and
populations. This was an inexpensive
demonstration project to test the
effectiveness of willow crushing. Plans
for 2007 include additional restoration
efforts.
Harding Lake Channel
Rehabilitation
Through NRCS’s Wildlife Habitat
Incentive Program (WHIP), Salcha-Delta
SWCD has been working toward a solution
to low water levels at Harding Lake. A
long list of partners, including state
departments and federal government,
University of Alaska Fairbanks, BLM,
Fairbanks Northstar Bureau, the Harding
Lake Association and volunteers, helped
facilitate and continue this project. In
006, a 1.75-mile trail was hydroaxed to
allow for construction of an ice road to
install a sheetpile diversion (completed
in early 2007) on Rogge Creek, which
will allow water from the creek to
replenish the receding lake. The
improvement will restore fish and
wildlife habitat at Harding Lake.
Mission Lake Tide Gate
Kodiak SWCD, working with Alaska Fish
& Game and Kodiak Island Borough, as
well as NRCS, helped create a tide gate
to allow salmon to enter Mission Lake to
spawn. The project also reduced the
amount of seawater entering the lake and
mixing with the fresh water during high
tides, and reduced the erosion within
the drainage area.
ACWA 07
Homer SWCD is engaged in an ongoing
project through the Alaska Clean Water
Action to address water quality issues
on Deep and Stariski creeks and the
Ninilchik and Anchor Rivers (See Water
Quality Monitoring, Page 3). Another
aspect of the project is to determine
how changes in water conditions are
affecting wildlife habitat, including
juvenile fish. A further effort is
identifying ATV crossings that have the
greatest impact on habitat and water
quality. These facets of the project
will likely be expanded in 007. Wasilla
SWCD.
Salmon Migration Improvement
Two of several Wasilla SWCD projects
that combine education, watershed
stewardship and wildlife habitat
enhancement (see respective pages), the
Crocker Creek Step Pool Maintenance and
Coles Road Culvert Mitigation projects,
improved salmon migration by removing
obstacles. Under the direction of SWCD
and US Fish and Wildlife staff, students
built step pools at Coles Road to
mitigate the perched culvert.
Maintenance of the step pools installed
in 005 improved fish access on Crocker
Creek.
Land Rehabilitation for Wildlife
Habitat
One of the facets of Salcha-Delta’s
Land Rehabilitation and Maintenance
program (see Erosion Control, Page 10),
done with US Department of Defense, is
to improve the wildlife habitat on
military lands. This includes
rejuvenating moose browse, establishing
bison graze and containing invasive
weeds.
