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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090111101101im_/http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/news/thisweek/images/newheadersmal.jpg)
Alaska District, Volunteers Build Bridges for Salmon
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090111101101im_/http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/news/thisweek/images/akpalmersalmonlarge.jpg)
Workers hammer together one of two bridges built
over the weekend to protect salmon streams from all-terrain-vehicle
crossings. Photo courtesy of Catherine Inman. |
MAT-SU -- With one of the longest, most grueling migrations of any species,
salmon swim thousands of miles past predators, commercial fishermen and anglers
to make it back to their spawning grounds. The
Palmer Soil and Water Conservation
District, along with roughly 20 volunteers, is making that long migration
just a tad easier.
Over the weekend, volunteers from Job
Corps, Ya Ne
Dah Ah School and residents near Buffalo Mine Road hammered together two
small all-terrain-vehicle bridges over Upper Wasilla Creek. The project took
place on the state-owned Moose Range, a large tract of state-owned land off
Buffalo Mine Road.
During the summer, ATVs cross salmon streams and gradually erode banks, to the
point where some streams are too wide and shallow for fish to cross.
Catherine Inman, director of the Palmer Soil and Water Conservation District,
said the 20-foot-long timber bridges will allow salmon to migrate, while
providing easy stream crossings for ATVs. The bridges were built a couple of
miles from Buffalo Mine Road and 15 snow machines hauled the lumber.
"It's a complete win-win for the community," she said.
Dale and Bonnie Zirkle own the Moose Wallow Bed and Breakfast and first
approached Inman with the idea. Inman said the conservation district agreed to
sponsor the project with $1,500. One more bridge is planned for construction
later this winter.
Mike Shields, a retired parks service employee, designed the bridges, which
Inman said will be instrumental in restoring the streams. More bridges may be
built in the future, but Inman said volunteer efforts will determine the outcome
of the project.
"Volunteer labor and design work on this project was astounding," she said.
"We're not in the bridge-building business but we're starting."
Story by Joel Davidson of the
Frontiersman.
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