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Pullen Creek Restoration

Project Background

Situated between Skagway's busy harbor and downtown, the intersection of Pullen Creek and Congress Way offers many opportunities for stream habitat improvement.. Heavy foot traffic has trampled and eroded streambanks, and salmon movements are restricted by channel modifications, stream flow alterations and undersized road culverts. This popular area of Skagway is literally being "loved" to death.

The Pullen Creek/Congress Way restoration site is a venue for educating up to a million visitors annually about fish, aquatic habitat, and watershed stewardship. Working to implement the community's vision for this site, the restoration project includes larger culverts for greater fish access, a fully restored stream channel and banks, interpretative signs, paths and a viewing platform that will provide a vantage point for watching fish spawn in the stream. Angling access will be provided, and safety of the area will be increased dramatically witht he construction of pathways to direct pedestrian traffic away from the railroad tracks. These pathways and viewing platforms will ensure the restored area is not degraded again by heavy foot traffic.

Update: Fall 2007

We are pleased to announce that a great deal of fundraising and on-the-ground restoration has now been completed on Pullen Creek. TIWC replaced two undersized and improperly placed culverts. In order to accomplish this, TIWC, working closely with the Municipality of Skagway and other stakeholders, first needed to reconfigure utility lines to allow the lowering and proper placement of a culvert that crossed directly under a busy road that leads to the harbor and Skagway's busiest cruise dock. A pump station was purchased and installed to re-route the utilities and we are proud to report that all construction has been completed for this portion of the project as of November 2007. As a result of this work, the water velocity has slowed and the wider culvert allows for improved juvemile fish passage and overall fish happiness. Funding has been obtained and signs have been built locally for interpretive use from the Mountaineers Foundation, and restoration of the channel above Pullen pond is set to begin in the spring of 2008.

Project Goals

• Improve fish and wildlife habitat and passage through revegetation and channel modification
• Improve fish passage through the culverts under Congress Way and the railroad tracks
• Revegetate streambanks and enhance riparian habitat
• Protect streambanks from future degradation
• Improve channel which accomodates flows from Dewey Lakes hydroelectric project while providing increased habitat features not currently available to fish
• Increase sediment transport through culverts
• Increase fish habitat complexity/spawning substrate availability
• Control access to streambanks
• Provide accesss for fish viewing, sport fishing, and other streamside activities
• Improve traffic flow so pedestrians will be drawn away from tracks
• Improve aesthetic and educational value of area for residents and tourists

Project Supporters

Financial and in-kind support has been generously provided by the NOAA Community-based Restoration Program, the USF&WS Coastal Conservation Program, Southeast Conference, the Mountaineers Foundation, FishAmerica Foundation, White Pass & Yukon Route Railway, City of Skagway, and Alaska Power & Telephone.