Fish Creek Delta scoping 2021 Richard Carstensen Discovery Southeast for Southeast Alaska Watershed Council Fish Creek delta on 2013 CBJ LiDAR DEM. Extreme High Water (20.8ft) in red. Preface 20200722 Place names convention: In my writing & cartography since publication of Haa In the 'first covid winter,' early 2020, I began talk- the two projects are quite different. While much L’éelk’w Hás Aani Saax’ú: Our grandparents’ names on the land (Thornton & Martin eds ing with Rob Cadmus and John Hudson at South- has been deleted, even more has been added. 2012), I’ve used Lingít place names whenever available, followed by translation in italic, east Alaska Watershed Coalition (SAWC) about There are 3 parts to this document: and IWGN (important white guy ) in parentheses. Example: Kadigooni X’áat’, island with potential habitat improvements to the delta of Fish 1 Scoping contains background materials, spring water (Spuhn Island). Where Lingít went unrecorded I default to IWGN, and may Creek. This has led to a SAWC-DSE collaborative and a fairly comprehensive 'bedrock-to-bugs' acknowledge its inadequacy with "(noTN?)," : Lingít toponyms are problematic study and synthesis for a 194-acre project area, natural & cultural history overview for the delta Bad news for Fish Creek. : although boring and generic, at least it's not an IWGN. outlined on the following page. project area. Good news For a 2010 trailhead-sign interpretive project 2 Journal entries are field notes from past with CBJ Parks and Recreation, I started a fairly visits. These are not as geographically exten- Contents detailed, informal 'scoping document' with field sive as those in the 'parent' document, which notes and background materials for the larger Fish Part 1: Scoping ................................................... 2 includes, for example, upper Fish Creek and Discovery's history on the delta .....................................................2 Creek watershed. Elements of this current docu- Eaglecrest. Cartography .......................................................................................4 ment are simply carried over from that earlier one. 3 Appendices include references, corre- Geography & ownership ..................................................................7 Bedrock geology ...............................................................................8 However the geographic scope, project goals, and spondence, etc. Surficial geology ...............................................................................9 available resources (eg, LiDAR, new aerials) for Air photo historic series .................................................................14 Vegetational communities ..............................................................30 Uplift succession ............................................................................31 Part 1: Scoping Mammals ..........................................................................................33 Birds .................................................................................................36 Western toad ...................................................................................38 Discovery's history on the delta habitat diversity, and there are few sites in Áak'w Dredge ponds ..................................................................................39 Hydrology and fisheries .................................................................41 Discovery Southeast (DSE) has a long history at Fish Aaní with a richer assortment in one small area Human history .................................................................................43 Creek, beginning with our first natural history programs than Fish Creek delta. Thousands of students have Part 2: Journal entries...................................... 59 20010112 Mapping for CBJ ............................................................59 at Harborview Elementary in 1989. Of all schools in CBJ learned tracking skills at Fish Creek since our 20090412 Signage scoping ...........................................................65 20090419 Photopoint hunt .............................................................73 (City & Borough of Juneau), Harborview—our 'birth- first trips here in 1989. 20091017 Visiting teachers ............................................................75 20100528 Stereo oblique ................................................................78 place'—is most challenged by natural settings for outings 2001 Mapping for CBJ In 2001, CBJ contract- 20100917 Brochure ground-truthing .............................................79 on foot. Fortunately, Harborview's energetic master ed a mapping study from DSE at Fish Creek Natu- 20140509 Fish Creek estuary ........................................................94 20140616 Return to uplift meadow ...............................................97 teachers had great parental support, and mobilized car- ral Area Park. I produced map overlays for 1) land- 20150623 Fish delta with GHF ....................................................100 20150905 Pink spawning .............................................................101 pool expeditions. Fish Creek delta quickly became one of forms (bedrock and surficial geology;2) vegetation 20190122 Ice coring with SAWC & ADFG ..................................103 20190329 Fish delta with SAWC .................................................103 our favorite destinations. types; 3) mammals, and; 4) birds. Juneau master- 20200425 Bird-&-toad check .......................................................104 20200805 Metamorphosis ...........................................................105 DSE activities are dictated by season. From the begin- birder Paul Suchanec provided a comprehensive 20200818 Dike trail & Salmon Creek ..........................................112 ning, Discovery’s core Nature Studies theme in winter bird checklist for the site. Original report is not 20200819 Honsinger to Sunny ....................................................132 20200906 Sunnyday visit .............................................................142 has been tracking and sign interpretation. Only on snow downloadable, but I incorporated most of it into the 20200915 Fish Creek (& Ditchtrail) ...............................................143 20200923 Veg mapping with RC&JH ..........................................144 can we easily track light-footed creatures such as weasel 2010 scoping document described below, and much 20210826 Walkthrough focus group ..........................................145 and shrew. Diversity of animal sign correlates with has carried over into this one. Appendices ..................................................... 147 References .....................................................................................147 2 • Fish Creek delta scoping Correspondence .....richard.carstensen@gmail.com.....................................................................148 DSE's Diane Antaya, then lead naturalist at Harborview, projected these habitat maps in her class summary sessions by way of review for tracking field trips. It was a good exam- ple of the way Discovery links research and education. 2003 Hotspots study In 2002 and 2003, DSE conducted a year-long study of bird concentrations on Mendenhall Wetlands for US Fish & Wildlife Service. Bob Armstrong, Mary Willson and I counted birds at standardized locations throughout the refuge and marginal lands. Fish Creek estuary was a core 'hotspot' of bird activity. Our work led even- tually to designation of the Wetlands as a Globally Important Bird Area (IBA). In 2009, along with writer/editor Marge Hermans Osborn, we published The Mendenhall Wetlands, a globally recognized Important Bird Area, printed and distributed with funding from Southeast Alaska Land Trust (SEALT). Although it features birds, this full-color 82-page book offers the best existing natural history overview of the Wetlands, in which Fish Creek plays a prominent role. 2004 SEALT vegetation map In 2004, SEALT, in collaboration with CBJ and ADF&G, commissioned from DSE a detailed vegetation mapping and analysis of accre- tion for the entire Refuge and adjacent lands. Primary incentive was better understanding of how accretion would affect ownership issues along Refuge margins. The project includ- ed CBJ’s Fish Creek properties. I revised veg-types of my earlier 2001 mapping to fit a system that more comprehensively describes vegetation throughout the Wetlands. Even today, 16 years later, this Land Trust map remains the most detailed and complete vegeta- tion delineation for any Southeast Alaskan tidal marsh, and a model for veg-mapping badly needed elsewhere. 1 2007-10 Signs project For CBJ P&R (Parks & Recreation), Discovery created inter- pretive signs in 10 watersheds including Fish Creek. This CBJ Natural History Project had 3 deliverables: 1) Three-panel trailhead signs. PDF versions of these are available from JuneauNature. 2) A 76-page guide, Natural history of Juneau Trails, available in local Our project area encompasses all but the northeastern portion of bookstores. 3) Four-fold brochures with maps and interpretive-station notes. CBJ's Fish Creek Natural Area Park, draining into the adjacent 'subshed' of 'Sundown Creek.' Although we mostly address the An additional, informal product of the signs project were long scoping documents for delta, a short reach upstream of Douglas Highway bridge is includ- ed for reasons of hydrology and connectivity. 1