Blood, Sweat, and Tears --- Working to Improve Stream Rehabilitation on Placer-Mined Landscapes of the Last Frontier
Matthew S. Varner
US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
Anchorage, Alaska
Placer gold mining in Alaska began in the 1800s and continues today under the 1872 Mining Law. Repairing streams affected by mining wasn’t a focus until environmental laws and regulations materialized in the 1970s and 80s. Despite a regulatory emphasis on the rehabilitation of fish habitats, miners had little success rebuilding valleys and stream habitats turned upside down from mining. The lack of hydrologic and geomorphologic data, coupled with the harsh Arctic environment and sociopolitical perceptions, obscured potential paths to success and stream habitats suffered as a result. The advent of BLM’s National Aquatic Monitoring Framework – Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (NAMF-AIM) program in 2012 and implementation across the West was transformative for regions of Alaska. This probability-based stream assessment program helped to close key data gaps, improved the public’s understanding of regional reference conditions, and served as a key communication tool with a range of stakeholders. Comparison of mined sites to reference condition provided insight on reclamation deficiencies and was foundational to policy changes and efforts to improve outcomes on the ground. Using this information, the BLM embarked on a multi-year effort to design and construct projects to ‘test’ techniques. These outdoor classrooms provided opportunities for engagement with stakeholders, allowed the agency to refine methods, and led to the creation of a technical assistance program where BLM provides guidance on the development and implementation of stream habitat rehabilitation plans. This model has allowed the agency to move away from a negative relationship with industry where noncompliance and litigation were commonplace to a more collaborative association. Improved stakeholder expectations and a focus on habitat rehabilitation prior to mining has resulted in significant improvements to the recovery trajectories of mined streams and the rehabilitation of fish habitats. The BLM has also been able to leverage the NAMF-AIM data to assess legacy mine sites for future restoration and in support of regional stream quantification tool development. This data driven and applied science approach to programmatic restoration may be a useful model to consider for similar challenges in other regions.
About Matthew S. Varner
Matt Varner is the Aquatic Resources Program Leader and a Fisheries Biologist with the Bureau of Land Management in Alaska. Over the last 20 years, Matt has worked on a variety of fish habitat conservation issues with much of the last 14 years in Alaska being focused on regional stream habitat assessments and the development of innovative approaches for rehabilitating streams impacted by mining. Matt earned a BS is Fisheries and Wildlife Management from West Virginia University.
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