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Temperature Monitoring
As part of the state-wide stream temperature monitoring program, AITRC deployed remote temperature loggers in the major tributaries to the Copper River and various other feeder streams. As ambient summer temperatures significantly affect non-glacial stream temperatures, emphasis was placed on the Gulkana River system. Partnered with USFWS, AITRC helped collect data from 119 remote loggers in the Middle and West Fork Gulkana above Sourdough. An MOU is in place for AITRC to take over this project.
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This summer the Fisheries Team floated down the Middle Fork Gulkana River from Dickey Lake to Sourdough and the West Fork Gulkana from Bear Lake to Sourdough.
Their goal: to retrieve water temperature data that has been collected year-round since 2023.
Monitoring the Gulkana River is especially important because it is a major salmon-producing tributary of the Copper River, providing critical spawning and rearing habitat for Chinook, sockeye, and other species that sustain subsistence, sport, and commercial fisheries. Unlike many nearby rivers, the Gulkana is not glacier-fed, which makes it more vulnerable to warming temperatures and climate change impacts. Understanding these changes is key to protecting salmon and the communities that depend on them.