We are gearing up for another great field research summer in Tlingit Territory. Our field-based research efforts on the Taku project support a diversity of immediate and long-term goals identified by the Taku River Tlingit to increase their ability to act as stewards for their Territory. These projects train Tlingit personnel in a wide array of field methods and monitoring protocols, while providing baseline data for informing management decisions and for long-term monitoring of ecological integrity. We have established a suite of monitoring projects that include species or systems that can indicate either short-term or long-term changes in ecological conditions. These efforts include the completion of three years of field work for a grizzly bear population assessment. We used non-invasive hair-snaring sampling to collect individual DNA samples which identified over 200 individual grizzly bears in the Taku watershed. This baseline work will provide information about the current status of grizzly bears within the Taku watershed, as well as baseline population information for repeated surveys in a long-term monitoring effort. Additional biodiversity monitoring and research include trumpeter swan productivity surveys, amphibian presence and relative abundance surveys, carnivore, ungulate and mid-sized prey snow-track surveys, forest owl presence surveys, aquatic invertebrate biodiversity surveys and boreal lake bio-monitoring collaborations. Our goal is to establish effective and efficient monitoring protocols and indicators that can provide information about immediate and local environmental conditions, as well as monitor the maintenance of regional and long-term ecological integrity.

We also are continuing to provide support and expertise to the Tlingit as they advance their conservation-based land planning efforts. We are currently working with the TRT Land and Resources Department to combine cultural values and ecological values across the TRT Territory to inform the development of landscape designations. Additionally, we are increasing our understanding of woodland caribou habitats within the Territory, using LandSat imagery and existing radio-telemetry monitoring of the threatened Atlin caribou herd. This work will provide important information on the distribution and quality of critical caribou habitats as the Tlingit consider land designations and expand their resource management efforts.

Salmon have been a keystone species for the Tlingit and the region for time immemorial. We are investing in several research and conservation efforts to ensure the continued integrity and security of the wild salmon populations of the Taku River. These efforts include initiating research on the complex terrestrial and aquatic community influences of salmon within the boreal Taku watershed. This research aims to inform the development of ecologically-effective salmon harvest management systems that consider the need for adequate salmon returns to maintain the robustness and diversity of both the terrestrial and aquatic communities of the Taku. Related to this effort is work we are undertaking to identify the unique and potentially vulnerable runs of Chinook and sockeye salmon; these unique stocks must be recognized and harvests managed to ensure their conservation. We are also actively investigating traditional and low impact forms of salmon habitat management (e.g., temporarily removing beaver dams blocking salmon from spawning grounds) as viable and more acceptable alternatives to the growing pressure to use artificial and commercial means of “enhancing” the already abundant wild salmon populations of the Taku. The Tlingit have a long history of valuing and conserving the globally significant Taku wild salmon; these research efforts support them in maintaining their leadership role in Taku salmon conservation.

—Dr. Kimberly Heinemeyer, Conservation Scientist