By Alistair GardinerAGARDINER

@NEWSMINER.COM

For years, portions of the Chena riverbank in Graehl Park have been slowly eroding away. Over time, nat-ural vegetation that makes up Chinook and chum salmon and grayling habitat has disappeared, and the area has become less safe for those recreat-ing.

This summer, how-ever, a collection of government agencies and a group of mid-dle-schoolers will be addressing the situa-tion with a bank stabi-lization project in the park.

Last month, Fair-banks Nor th Star Borough Mayor Bryce Ward signed a land-o w n e r a g r e e m e n t with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District, allowing the agencies to conduct a restoration project along the riverbank. The borough manag-es the park as a rec-reation spot and is responsible for keep-ing the area safe for the public.

According to the

agreement, the Soil and Water Conser-vation District will perform the majority of the project work through its Youth for Ha b i t at Pr o g ra m . Katie McClellan has been the Youth for H a b i t a t p r o g r a m manager and a ripar-ian restoration man-ager for the district for roughly two years.

McClellan said that, as a heavily trafficked area, the site has been slowly degrading for years

“ P e o p l e p i c n i c there, there’s the play-ground, some people

go swimming and wading right there,” she said. “With that high traffic, it’s had a significant impact. Some of the pictures that I’ve seen of the site date back to 2010 and even earlier — and there’s significant erosion problems.”

McClellan said the idea for the project came about when Jessica Johnson, an A n c h o r a g e - b a s e d habitat biologist for the Alaska Depart-ment of Fish and Game, contacted her with the news that a grant was available to

conduct a large-scale restoration project. The pair had worked together before, and Johnson knew about McClellan’s work on the Youth for Habitat program.

“We decided that the Graehl project would be a really good pro jec t for Youth for Habitat to work on because it would give them experience doing riparian resto-ration and give them experience with pub-lic places,” McClellan said.

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T H E V O I C E O F I N T E R I O R A L A S K A

Left: A participant from 2020's Advanced Corps 1 measures a section of eroded riverbank June 25 at Chena Lakes Recreation Area. Right: Two participants from 2020’s Advanced Corps 1 plant live willows along the restoration area. PHOTO COURTESY KATIE MCCLELLAN

FIXING EROSION

A photograph taken several years ago shows the damaged banks of the Chena River in Graehl Park. PHOTO COURTESY BOB HENZEY/US FISH

AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

Graehl Park riverbank restoration work will begin this month

Board of regents names Pat Pitney as interim presidentStaff reportNEWSROOM

@NEWSMINER.COM

The University of Alas-ka Board of Regents has n a m e d Pa t Pitney has its interim pres-ident.

T h e a n n o u n c e -ment came Tuesday eve-n i n g i n a news release from the university. Pitney will take over from acting President Michelle Rizk on Aug. 1.

Police seek info on shooting incidentBy Dorothy ChomiczDCHOMICZ

@NEWSMINER.COM

Fairbanks police are look-ing for information about a shooting incident involving occupants of two vehicles on the city’s southside Monday evening.

According to a Fairbanks Police Department news release, officers respond-ed at 5 p.m. to the area of 28th Avenue and Barnette Street after getting a report of several gunshots fired there.

Witnesses initially told police a passenger in a black truck shot at a black Mit-subishi Eclipse with what appeared to be an AK-style rifle. The witnesses said the driver of the Mitsubishi exchanged gunfire with the truck and that both vehi-cles left the scene at a high rate of speed.

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Admin offices revert to shutdown statusBy Amanda BohmanABOHMAN@NEWSMINER.COM

A recent increase in local COVID-19 case numbers has prompted officials in the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole to decide to close their administra-tive offices to walk-in visitors.

North Pole City Hall is being locked up starting Thursday. Mayor Mike Welch said access will be granted on a case-by-case basis for people who come to City Hall and ring the doorbell. Visitors can also call 488-2281 for an appointment.

No North Pole city employee has tested positive for coronavi-rus, he said.

“We haven’t had an outbreak,

and I am trying to prevent it,” Welch said.

Welch said that in general he is seeing large groups of people congregating in both cities along with too few people wearing masks.

“I am witnessing a more cava-lier attitude,” Welch said. “It puts us all at risk.”

In Fairbanks, the Patrick B. Cole City Hall building will be locked starting Monday, accord-ing to Teal Soden, city commu-nications director.

“It’s mostly because of the spike in cases and the mayor’s concern for employee safety,” she said.

Services at both cities will con-tinue similar to how business

was conducted during the state-wide shutdown last spring with residents asked to contact city workers by phone, internet or by appointment.

Both cities have a mask requirement in place for visitors.

The North Pole mayor said a recent COVID-19 outbreak at the Juanita Helms Borough Administration Center, which has been closed to walk-in traf-fic since March, concerned him and factored into his decision to shut down his city’s main offices.

Over the weekend, the bor-ough announced that five employees had tested positive for COVID-19.

Alaska in one week records nearly 25% of its total COVID-19 casesStaff reportNEWSROOM@NEWSMINER.COM

Alaska in seven days has recorded just under 25% of its total combined resident and nonresident cas-es of COVID-19 since the first cases were recorded in the state in early March.

Tuesday’s update from the state Department of Health and Social Services showed 54 new cas-es recorded in the 24-hour period of Monday, 40 among residents and 14 among nonresidents.

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Pitney