By Steve Williams

River Adventures can run its jetboat tours in critical Upper Chilkat River salmon habitat, according to a ruling by Department of Natural Resources commissioner Tom Irwin.

Irwin’s decision overturns a previous closure of the area, the so-called "secondary route" from just below the Kelsall River Delta to Turtle Rock, by DNR in 2003. The measure, a recommendation of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, was included in the 2003 revision of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve management plan.

Irwins’s May 10 decision is the final administrative ruling on an appeal of the closure by River Adventures owners Duck and Karen Hess. River Adventures can run the route, which doubles the range of the popular tour, from June 1 through Sept 1.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game asserted in 2003 that the tours, conducted in 30-passenger river boats powered by twin 125-horsepower outboards, would likely damage Upper Chilkat salmon habitat any time.

"There is unlikely to be a time when large motorized tours in the delta area can occur without impacting fish habitat in this sensitive and highly productive area," wrote Chip Dennerlein, director of the ADF&G’s Habitat Division in May 2002.

But analysis since then shows that allowing the jetboats into the secondary route from June 1 to Sept. 1 "would reasonably balance biological concerns with the economic and social benefits of commercial tourism," Irwin said in his ruling.

And Fish and Game now concludes that it’s okay to run the tours in the Upper Chilkat as long as it’s not during critical spring and fall spawning and rearing times.

"It is a fact that these large boat wakes are disturbing critical salmon habitat. ADF&G is not recommending a total closure of large motorized commercial tours, only that the most sensitive and productive area in the Upper Chilkat be protected. ADF&G supports commercial tourism, including (large commercial) jetboat tours, in the preserve, and recognizes the economic and social benefits of this activity."

River Adventures’ big jetboats produce wakes "10 times greater than that created by smaller boats," and create "larger shear stress and energy dissipation than naturally occur along the Chilkat River banks," Fish and Game wrote.

ADF&G sportfish biologist Randy Ericksen said new information provided in the first year of a two-year radio salmon study confirmed that sockeye don’t spawn until late September in the Kelsall Delta area.

"The best information we have available indicates that this allows them to operate with minimal impact to spawning salmon."

The ADF&G report, dated March 12 this year, states the importance of the area to Chilkat drainage salmon runs. More than 90 percent of the king salmon, 25 percent of the sockeye, and 40 percent of the coho in the Chilkat River drainage spawn in or above the Kelsall Delta.

"The secondary route is known to provide spawning habitat for (king) salmon and likely provides spawning habitat for sockeye salmon during the commercial tour season. These fish and their habitat are subject to disturbance from the large boats and the wakes associated with large commercial motorized tours," the report states.

But most smolt migration out of the river for all species occurs from April to June, and most sockeye and coho spawning occurs after Sept. 1, the report goes on to say.

"Given the preliminary findings regarding timing of spawning sockeye, ADF&G could agree to the secondary route being used by tours between June 1 and September 1 in 2004; this would allow reasonable protection while allowing commercial operations to operate during a less sensitive time."

The commercial tour season runs from mid-May through mid-September. River Adventures owner Karen Hess said she doesn’t agree with Irwin’s decision because access to the Upper Chilkat should be based on the depth of the river channel rather than a specific date. The tours could have run the secondary route all spring without hurting habitat, she said.

"Last week, there was six feet of water in the delta, and that’s more than enough to run."

Hess said the ruling affects the quality of the tours she offers without necessarily providing protecting salmon habitat. "I’m not happy about it. Running eight miles of river just isn’t a quality tour for us. If the depth is too low to run without disturbing salmon, then I can see it, but it shouldn’t be determined just by a date."

She said she won’t appeal Irwin’s ruling to Superior Court.