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In photos: Wander the Wetlands with Discovery Southeast
- Jasz Garrett
- 16 hours ago
- 6 min read
Fifth annual guided hike by Discovery Southeast, Southeast Alaska Land Trust takes community members off-trail to explore how Mendenhall Valley has been shaped over time
By Jasz Garrett
Juneau Independent
A dozen locals explored a conservation area with expert naturalists Richard Carstensen and Steve Merli on July 11. Hikers learned about the history of the Mendenhall Glacier's retreat shaping the Mendenhall Valley for centuries — while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considers what the next century could bring for its long-term solution plan to annual glacial lake outburst flooding.
"Our mission is to conserve land for habitat value, but also recreation," said Dan Hysen, SEALT stewardship manager. He added that when people engage with the land, they build deeper connections to it and therefore care for it more.
"When you have good things happening like foraging, it encourages good behavior and for people to take ownership," he said, explaining that's part of why the hikes are organized annually.
The first portion of the "Wander the Wetlands" walk that went through SEALT's parcel of the Montana Creek Wetlands is open to the public. Hysen encouraged foragers to pick berries and Labrador tea from the bog.
Each year, the hike changes which land trust site is explored. This particular area of wetlands, also trekked for the annual adventure in 2022, was chosen to familiarize participants with how the area stores water from the outburst flood Juneau residents expect within the next month. The walk took place in an 18-foot flood inundation zone.
"If this were not still wetlands, not only would this area be flooding, but also a lot of the water that the wetlands are absorbing could be making its way further north to where there are currently homes," Hysen said.
Hikers bushwhacked their way through the Montana Creek Wetlands, a 127-acre preserve between the Mendenhall River and Montana Creek. The venture wound through a meadow and forested wetlands before circling to reach Mendenhall River (Woosh eel’óox’u héen, which is Lingít for "river that’s murky together").
If attendees had followed the Kaxdigoowu Héen Dei (Clear Water) Trail down further and crossed the Thunder Mountain Middle School footbridge, they would have found a sandbag prep event instead of deer tracks.
Wetlands are legally protected ecosystems because of the direct ecosystem services they provide to adjacent lands and waters, including floodwater relief for nearby neighborhoods and developed areas.
"At Discovery, we're thinking about the future for children, and at the land trust, they're thinking about the future for land, but there's a whole lot of overlap," Carstensen said. "Neither one of them is going to be any good without the other."
The property explored on July 11 was conserved by the Southeast Alaska Land Trust in 2014 to provide hydrologic buffers to the flood zone around the Mendenhall River and preserve high-quality fish and wildlife habitat in the heart of the Mendenhall Valley — or Áak’w Táak, "inland from little lake."
As the outburst flood has increased in severity since 2023, SEALT staff and volunteers have observed flood inundation on the Montana Creek Wetlands property and found that it provides overflow relief for a few acres on the eastern side of the property.
During non-glacial lake outburst flood high precipitation events, the Montana Creek Wetlands provide some stormwater overflow for the neighborhoods just north of the property — including Wren Drive, Steelhead Street and River Road, according to SEALT.
In addition to aquatic connectivity, the Montana Creek Wetlands are home to dozens of resident and migratory bird species, such as chickadees, warblers, kinglets, swallows, and thrushes. There are several fishing access points and social trails on the land trust's Montana Creek property, which is open for salmon and trout fishing.
At a gentle pace, Merli and Carstensen encouraged adventurers to take breaks and catch their breath.
"It's really important to physically arrive in a place," Merli said. "It's not about the pictures. It's not about the writing of it. There's another piece that really needs to open and that's your experience on your own feet."
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356.
