FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 1998
Contact: Jack Phelps, Executive Director
(907) 225-6114 or 723-5040
Research Shows Buffers Are Protecting Salmon Habitat
A report presented today to Commissioner John Shively of the Alaska Department of
Natural
Resources, concludes that the riparian management system on private timberlands in coastal
Alaska is adequately protecting salmon habitat near timber harvest areas. The report, by
Martin
Environmental, Inc., of Seattle, is the result of analyzing 4 years of data, gathered on
15 selected
streams in Alaska’s coastal forest, according to Jack Phelps, executive director of
the Alaska
Forest Association. The study was paid for by AFA, Sealaska Corporation, Koncor Forest
Products, Klukwan Forest Products, Atikon Forest Products, the Environmental Protection
Agency and the state Division of Forestry.
The study, titled “The Effectiveness of Riparian Buffer Zones for Protection of
Salmonid Habitat in
Alaska Coastal Streams,” monitored streams in both logged and unlogged watersheds,
and focused particularly on the effect stream buffers have on the amount of large woody
debris (LWD) that gets into or will likely get into streams after logging takes place
nearby. Large woody debris is important because it contributes to the formation of pools
that salmon need during their early life before they migrate out to sea.
“Sealaska and AFA launched this study in 1993 because an important feature of the
Forest
Practices Act was the requirement to monitor the effectiveness of the Act’s
provisions. The timber
industry wanted to ensure that monitoring would, in fact, take place and that it would be
based on
the best science available,” said Phelps. The monitoring program included analysis of
stand
composition in the riparian zones, stream channel characteristics, LWD, stream shading,
spawning
gravel conditions, and sedimentation.
“The Martin study especially examined changes within the buffers, and looked at how
large woody
debris gets into streams and interacts with channel structure to form and maintain fish
rearing
habitat,” Phelps said. “We are pleased that the findings in this study confirm
the information we had in 1989 when we were rewriting the Forest Practices Act. Buffers 66
feet wide on either side of these streams are not only adequate to provide habitat
protection, but they are of optimum size to ensure the continued supply of LWD needed to
form the all- important rearing pools.”
“The research involved data gathered on the ground using conventional methods and
research
design, but also included new technology that provides a highly accurate photographic
record of the dynamics of riparian buffers, according to Phelps. “The low elevation
stereo photography that was used in this research is cutting edge stuff,” Phelps
said. “We are excited that our study was used to pioneer this new technology. It is
now being used in other parts of the country, and is likely to become a standard tool in
this type of research.”
A summary of the report’s findings is attached.
* * * *
Related Article: under Editorials
Congressional Action Needed to Save Alaska’s Starving Timber
Industry
Keeping the Public
Informed
Opinions & Editorials | Press Releases | Testimonies | Top of the Page |