State, feds and land trust work together to acquire 93.5 acres for conservation

Oil spill trust fund used to buy fish habitat on valuable salmon stream

By Michael Armstrong • February 24, 2021 2:30 am
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This undated photo shows a section of Deep Creek near Ninilchik, Alalska recently acquired by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game with the assistance of the Kachemak Heritage Land Trust to protect hunting and fishing in the area. (Photo courtesy of Kachemak Heritage Land Trust)
This undated photo shows a section of Deep Creek near Ninilchik, Alalska recently acquired by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game with the assistance of the Kachemak Heritage Land Trust to protect hunting and fishing in the area. (Photo courtesy of Kachemak Heritage Land Trust)

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recently acquired 93.5 acres of fishing and hunting access on Deep Creek.

According to a press release from the Kachemak Heritage Land Trust, Fish and Game the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the Bureau of Land Management, and the land trust worked together to acquire the private land.

Fish and Game had operated a fish counting weir on the property since the 1990s, part of its programs to manage Deep Creek fisheries for salmon. Purchasing the land will preserve access to the fish weir counting site, Mike Booz, Fish and Game area manager for the Lower Cook Inlet Management Area, said in the press release.

“We are very excited about ADF&G acquiring this parcel,” Booz said in the press release. “This was an amazing collaboration between the land trust, state of Alaska and private landowners. In addition to being excellent habitat for fish and wildlife, it will also provide legal public access for sport fishing in Deep Creek that is not currently available in this upper section.”

The land was purchased with Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council funds as a habitat protection project to protect salmon, birds and mammal species injured by the 1989 oil spill and to enhance public recreational opportunities on Deep Creek. Acquiring the land helps provide and protect habitat for Dolly Varden, king, pink, and coho salmon, as well as steelhead.

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