Interior awards Ketchikan air service $15,510 for Unuk River salmon sampling flights

The Department of the Interior awarded Misty Fjords Air and Outfitting Inc. $15,510 on Aug. 11 for on-call fixed-wing flights supporting U.S. Geological Survey salmon research on the Unuk River through Dec. 1. USGS collects water-quality samples every six to eight weeks, weather and aircraft permitting.

Congress directed USGS in 2018 to partner with local tribes and other federal agencies on a water-quality strategy for transboundary rivers affected by mining. Unuk collection began that year. USGS also gauges the Alsek, Taku, Stikine and Salmon rivers. Salmon fisheries in those watersheds contribute an estimated $1 billion a year to the regional economy, according to USGS.

A Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska resolution backs "an immediate temporary pause in permitting, exploration, development, and expansion of BC mines" until a binding international watershed agreement exists. This account is drawn from federal records and that resolution, and contains no response to it.