Fairbanks landowners can claim 50% reimbursement for salmon habitat

If you own land along the Chena, Salcha, Tanana, or any other salmon stream in the Tanana Watershed and you've been watching your streambank erode, the state will help pay you to fix it. The Fairbanks Habitat Rehabilitation & Protection Cost-Share program — a joint effort of ADF&G and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — will reimburse up to 50 percent of the cost of streambank rehabilitation projects that also benefit salmon habitat. Proposals are due July 14.

The approved techniques are structural and ecological at the same time: coir logs (natural coconut-fiber rolls that hold banks while plants establish), willow plantings, cabled spruce trees that create overhanging cover for fish, rootwads installed in the streambed to build complex habitat, and elevated walkways that keep foot traffic from compacting riparian soil. These bioengineering approaches mimic the natural structure of healthy salmon streams rather than the rock revetments that armor banks but reduce habitat value.

"This program works to protect salmon habitat by working cooperatively with land managers and landowners who may be experiencing erosion or habitat degradation on their property," Habitat Biologist Jessica Johnson said. "These issues can be common in heavy-use areas such as the Chena, Salcha, and Tanana River."

The program sits inside a larger Alaska conservation framework. Cost-share habitat work like this typically draws from federal channels including the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund — a NOAA Fisheries program that has provided more than a billion dollars to Western states and Alaska since 2000 — and the Sport Fish Restoration Act, funded by federal excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat fuel. The Tanana River is a major Yukon tributary, and Yukon Chinook returns have been in long-term decline. Habitat protection on Tanana streambanks is one piece of the response, alongside harvest restrictions, predator management, and ongoing investigation of ocean-stage mortality. The cost-share program is the part any Tanana Watershed landowner can directly participate in.

For proposal information, contact Johnson at (907) 267-2403 or [email protected]. A free two-day Streambank Rehabilitation Workshop is also scheduled for July 15-16 in Fairbanks; pre-registration is required.