donlin gold snow gulch effort shows mine restoration value
channel into a more natural meandering one; enlarg- ing and deepening a pond to increase aquatic habitat and reduce low-oxygen conditions in the winter; designing shorelines to promote aquatic vegetation and shallow habitat critical for juvenile fish; and cre- ating hundreds of feet of new stream but returning the water into its historic channel. In 2024, the restored areas were opened to fish access, and monitoring began, showing early signs of success. Hear more from Chelsea Clawson, a habitat biologist with ADF&G, on the progress at Snow Gulch. Q: What is Snow Gulch, and why is restoration important here?
COURTESY DONLIN GOLD For the past five years, Donlin Gold has worked to restore aquatic habitat just north of the proposed mine site in an area called Snow Gulch. The vision for the project is to make an area transformed by nearly 80 years of placer mining more hospitable to fish and other wildlife. Although Snow Gulch was reclaimed properly after placer mining ended, Donlin Gold saw an opportunity to make the area more ecologically productive and developed a detailed plan, which was authorized through permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) in 2018. The plan includes making improvements to the Snow Gulch channel, changing a straight drainage
Clawson: The construction of the proposed mine
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facilities will require the placement of fill in wetlands, including the elimination of nearly all of American Creek and a portion of Anaconda Creek, where there will be some loss of fish habitat. Snow Gulch and other sur- rounding creeks, however, have already been impacted by historical placer mining. At one time, the lower reach of Snow Gulch probably had good fish habitat for coho salmon rearing, but that was lost due to that historical placer mining.
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THE ALASKA MINER - THE MAGAZINE OF THE ALASKA MINERS ASSOCIATION
FALL 2025 | ALASKAMINERS.ORG
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