The chilkat indian village project will perform baseline monitoring, and corresponding data analyses and capacity development, for portions of the chilkat watershed that would be impacted by the…

The chilkat indian village project will perform baseline monitoring, and corresponding data analyses and capacity development, for portions of the chilkat watershed that would be impacted by the palmer project mine development from the headwaters of the klehini to the outlet of the chilkat river. The palmer project is currently in the advanced development phase. While the entire aquatic ecosystem in this part of the chilkat watershed could be negatively impacted by mining development, the salmonids that reside in the chilkat watershed that could be impacted are all five species of pacific salmon, dolly varden, cutthroat trout, and steelhead. The collection of baseline monitoring data will be analyzed for water quality, sediment, and fish tissue at six sites downstream of the palmer project which will include USGS stream-gaging in the klehini river station. Indigenous knowledge will be collected from tribal members about salmon presence and observations of potential impacts from land use and climate change.