Autumn 2025 Yukon River Drainage Salmon Habitat Restoration Online Newsletter
Introduction to the Autumn 2025 (2nd) Edition
We are happy to bring you the second (Autumn 2025) edition of our newsletter covering habitat restoration activities and topics related to Yukon River drainage salmon! This edition is full of updates from activities that occurred during the 2025 summer season. Below are some reminders about the newsletter goals and scope. Please read these before…
Alaska Department of Fish and Game Activities
2025 Alaska Department of Fish and Game Activities Fish Passage Surveys The 2025 season brought great progress for the ADF&G restoration team. With the kickoff of our three-year Yukon drainage culvert survey project, our technicians were able to survey 142 culverts, with a focus on the Fairbanks area, Steese Highway, and the Elliot Highway out…
Summer 2025 USFWS Restoration Work
Summer 2025 USFWS Restoration Work Implementing local projects and connecting with partners on habitat restoration in the Yukon River drainage This season USFWS and local partners, including Tanana Valley Watershed Association, Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and others focused on surveying habitat, monitoring, implementing…
Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association Work
YRDFA’s Work on the Yukon: The Clearinghouse Project & The Watershed Ecosystem Action Plan Project The Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association (YRDFA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting wild fisheries and supporting the traditional ways of living that have long sustained communities along the Yukon River. Two big projects we’re focusing on right…
US Bureau of Land Management Activities
US Bureau of Land Management Activities For over a decade, the BLM has been actively restoring stream habitats degraded by historic mining practices, while also improving reclamation techniques for active placer mining operations. In recent years, restoration has incorporated a range of methods—from intensive interventions using heavy equipment to low-tech, hand-built structures & revegetation techniques…
UAF Cripple Creek and Nome Creek post-restoration invertebrate studies
UAF Cripple Creek and Nome Creek post-restoration invertebrate studies Dakota Keller, biology masters student at UAF, is currently studying the potential changes in aquatic insect and invertebrate communities following stream restoration practices on Cripple Creek, in Fairbanks, and Nome Creek, in the White Mountain Recreation Area. Both of these streams have a legacy of gold…
Trout Unlimited Efforts and Outreach
Trout Unlimited Efforts and Outreach Trout Unlimited was involved with stream restoration work at Wade Creek near Chicken, AK, and has engaged more on Yukon River drainage salmon conservation issues. This reflects TU’s designation of the Yukon River as one of their “Priority Waters” for conservation. Click on the links below to read more. Click…
UAF International Arctic Research Center habitat and species interactions research
UAF Research on how habitat quality, temperature, and species interactions may influence the outcomes of restoration projects A team led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks International Arctic Research Center conducted the first field season on a project examining cumulative effects of habitat quality, stream temperature, and species interactions on salmon in the Yukon River…
Yukon Territory Updates
Yukon Territory Updates Canadian colleagues have reported a fairly quiet 2025 season for Yukon River drainage fish habitat restoration activities. However, if we missed covering a project, please email us at kfraley@wcs.org so we can add the information Eagle Gold Mine Rehabilitation In our spring newsletter, we covered the Eagle Gold Mine disaster that occurred…
UAF Coal Creek Invertebrate and Fish Bioenergetics Studies
UAF Coal Creek Invertebrate and Fish Bionergetic Studies Coal Creek is a former placer mine located on the upper Yukon River, roughly 60 miles upstream from Circle, Alaska. In addition to its role as an important cultural and historical site, Coal Creek represents potential rearing habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), a species that…
Recent Relevant Scientific Publications
“Monitoring for fisheries or for fish? Declines in monitoring of salmon spawners continue despite a conservation crisis” “Food security crisis in the Yukon River Basin: where have the salmon gone and what can be done?” “Restoration of urban salmon habitat has limited effects on a key ecosystem function” “Population responses of Chinook salmon to two…
“Legacy Mine Cleanup Act,” which could be utilized to rehabilitate streams affected by historic mines, advances in the U.S. Senate
“Legacy Mine Cleanup Act,” which could be utilized to rehabilitate streams affected by historic mines, advances in the U.S. Senate A bipartisan bill which would clear hurdles for environmental cleanup at old, abandoned mine sites throughout the U.S. has advanced from the Natural Resources Committee of the Senate and may now receive a vote on…
Are we missing any projects, or does any of this information need to be corrected? Please contact kfraley@wcs.org if so!
Arctic Beringia Fish Ecology 