Most weeks between September and December, Stacie Evans drives up the Haines highway, counting bald eagles through a high-powered scope.<\/p>\n
Her drives are part of a longstanding annual survey that aims to provide insight into the valley\u2019s annual gathering of eagles, which is one of the world\u2019s largest. Last week, she saw more than 1,400.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s the highest count that’s been documented since the year 2000,\u201d said Evans, who is the science director of the Takshanuk Watershed Council, a local conservation nonprofit.<\/p>\n
The annual gathering in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is central to the area\u2019s identity \u2013 and it serves as an economic boost for the town of Haines at the start of the winter.<\/p>\n
Evans emphasized that the road surveys do not amount to a comprehensive population count, so there\u2019s no way to say for certain how many raptors are actually in the area each year.<\/p>\n
But they do provide a snapshot of what\u2019s happening, particularly within sight of the highway. The large number of eagles counted this year marks a departure from recent survey data, which has captured significantly fewer eagles compared to decades past.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can say that there has been a decline,\u201d Evans said. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s pretty obvious from when the survey started in 1988.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Stacie Evans counts eagles on the banks of the Chilkat River in early November, 2025.<\/p>\n
Between 1988 and 2000, for instance, surveyors counted well over 1,000 eagles every year but one. But in road surveys conducted since 2011, peak counts only surpassed 1,000 four times, including this year.<\/p>\n
Some locals say they\u2019ve seen a decline with their own eyes. Craig Loomis has lived in Haines since the 1960\u2019s. He recalls driving up the highway and seeing far more eagles than he does today.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean there were eagles all over the place,\u201d Loomis said. \u201cAnd that didn\u2019t count the ones away from the river that we couldn\u2019t see.\u201d<\/p>\n
A big year for salmon \u2013 and eagles<\/p>\n
The road survey entails counting eagles at the same pullouts, and along the same sections of road, as many weeks as possible from mid-September through mid-December. That protocol has remained consistent over the years.<\/p>\n
At each stop along the way along Evans\u2019 drive last month, eagles were perched in the cottonwoods and scattered across the riverflats both alone and in larger groups.<\/p>\n
The valley has a resident bald eagle population that sticks around all year. But each fall, more arrive from as far away as Washington state to take advantage of a unique hydrological feature \u2013 and fishing opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the water that’s coming from the Tsirku into the Chilkat is subsurface, so it’s not exposed to air temperature,\u201d Evans said. \u201cWhich means in the winter time, it is relatively warm, and so it keeps the Chilkat River from freezing.\u201d<\/p>\n
That facilitates prime access to a particularly late run of chum salmon heading into the coldest months of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a really unique thing. There\u2019s not a lot of fish available at that time of year,\u201d said Steve Lewis, a raptor biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. \u201cIt probably gets them through the winter.\u201d<\/p>\n
The high count in November likely correlates with an especially strong chum run. Alaska Fish and Game area management biologist Nicole Zeiser said this year\u2019s peak chum count \u2013 recorded via aerial surveys \u2013 surpassed 20,000 fish.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Evans\u2019 binoculars and clipboard during her weekly eagle survey in early November.<\/p>\n
In an email, she said that\u2019s a \u201cstrong number given that surveys capture only a fraction of the total fish present in the drainage.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2020, the run was incredibly weak<\/a> \u2013 and the eagle count was, too. The peak count that year was under 300 birds. Zeiser did not respond to questions about the long-term stability of the Chilkat chum run.<\/p>\n Weather is the other factor that can impact the eagles and where they feed. Warmer falls can result in more open water. Lewis said that allows the eagles to feed in different areas of the valley that are farther from the road, making them harder to spot.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it’s really, really cold, and lots of places are frozen, then the eagles are really condensed. If it’s not that cold, and they can be spread out, then they’ll be spread out,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n That could happen more frequently with climate change. In Southeast Alaska, average temperatures between September and January are about four degrees higher today than they were in 1988, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<\/p>\n \u201cAny anecdote that says it is warmer than it used to be is almost certainly correct,\u201d NOAA Senior Scientist Brian Brettchneider said in an email.<\/p>\n The annual Bald Eagle Festival typically happens in mid-November. But Kathy Benner, of the Haines-based American Bald Eagle Foundation, said event organizers are considering delaying the event to increase the odds that it will overlap with cold temperatures \u2013 and lots of eagles feeding within eyeshot.<\/p>\n \u201cI personally think it probably would be a great idea to try to move it a little bit closer to when the temperatures are colder,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u2018No means for counting\u2019<\/p>\n<\/p>\n