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Featured Member's Choice Entertainment Digital Art 24 October 2007 ~ The Chatanika River flows from the White Mountain Watershed about 100 miles Northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska through the north side of Minto Flats, to the Tolovana River, emptying into the Tanana River some 180 miles from the headwaters of the Chatanika. The Chatanika, while an historic wild river, with a variety of fish and wildlife, is relatively narrow and easily navigable for all of its length. The Chatanika is home of one of the largest gold trends in Alaska. Water fowl in great variety make Minto Flats a most desirable destination for bird lovers, yet without any infrastructure on the lower Chatanika, access is near impossible. Almost every visitor to Alaska is expecting sensational wildlife sightings. The Chatanika offers prime habitat for a variety of Alaska's fauna including bear, moose, beaver, marmot, lynx, fox, wolverine, wolf, coyote, mink, marten and more. All could be encountered on the Chatanika. For hikers, snowshoers, snowmachiners, skijourers, dogmushers and cross country skiers, the trails are already in place. Extensive access trails built in the days of the Pipeline abound making exploration possible. The Chatanika River, formed by the confluence of Faith, McManus, and Smith creeks about 50 miles northeast of Fairbanks, flows southwest out of the White Mountains for about 170 river miles and ends at its confluence with the Tolovana River in Minto Flats about 50 miles west of Fairbanks. The Chatanika River is a clear or lightly tannic-stained rapid runoff stream, and flows through valleys between summits and uplands for about four-fifths of its length before it enters Minto Flats. At that point the character of the river changes from one of a typical rapid runoff upland stream with pools, riffles, cutbanks, and gravel bars and a substrate consisting largely of gravel or broken rock to a slower stream with an incised channel with high, fairly stable banks and a bottom substrate consisting primarily of sand and organic material. The Chatanika River supports a run of chinook (king) salmon and a summer run of chum (dog) salmon. Chatanika River salmon have traveled over 900 river miles from the Bering Sea to the mouth of the Chatanika River. Adult chinook salmon enter the Chatanika River between late June and the second week of July. The run ends in late July or early August. By the time they reach the Chatanika River, the salmon are in full spawning colors and the flesh is beginning to deteriorate. Resident fish species of the Chatanika River include: Arctic grayling, round whitefish, humpback whitefish, broad whitefish, least cisco, northern pike, burbot, longnose suckers, slimy sculpins, lake chubs, Alaska blackfish, Arctic lamprey, and sheefish (inconnu).

C14427 lea 2004