ALASKA—A federal agency. An Alaska Native corporation. A federally recognized tribe. A local nonprofit.

Joining forces, these four entities recently brought more than a dozen people together to restore an unnamed stream at a popular campground in Ketchikan.

First, 12 trees provided by the Cape Fox Corporation were harvested and transported to the Last Chance campground. Once there, Tongass National Forest staff collaborated with members of the Ketchikan Indian Community and the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition to place logs in the stream, improving the spawning and rearing habitat for fish. This activity increases complexity in the stream, which makes for a more suitable environment for fish habitat.

A bonus for Ketchikan Indian Community’s four-person tribal stewardship crew was the opportunity to learn from landscape architects, botanists and archaeologists about how to carefully and thoughtfully place the logs to create the most improvement in the 800-foot section of stream.

“It was a great benefit to our crew, getting to work with everyone out here in the woods and observe their expertise,” said Clarence Peele, a Ketchikan Indian Community crew leader. “We learned a lot about fish habitat and how to build up fish counts in streams for years to come.”

Crew members referred to the stream prior to the work as a bowling alley, completely devoid of wood structures. The wood had been removed by campers for firewood over the years.

“Working directly with the tribes on Indigenous lands to restore damages from the past was a wonderful collaboration,” said John Hudson, a restoration biologist for the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition.

While the improvements provided important benefits to the stream and the aquatic life it supports, Forest Service project leader Robert Miller saw a greater benefit from the collaboration.

“Vitally important to helping restore these lands is to teach our youth, our next generations, how to do the work,” said Miller, a fisheries biologist for Tongass National Forest. “Putting wood in the stream is good, but working and learning with our different partners out here is priceless.”

The project was funded by the Southeast Watershed Coalition through the America the Beautiful program and several other grants.