Beach Erosion

Observer Norma Evan:

In the past few years, there has been moderate beach erosion at the lower part of town.

LEO Says:

Thank you Norma for sharing your post. Observations about erosion along the Yukon River are important to document, especially where it is impacting communities. The erosion is located near where gold was discovered in 1913 and a historic placer mining camp called “Fortuna Ledge”, named after the first child born at the camp, Fortuna Hunter. Its location on a channel of the Yukon River was convenient for riverboat landings. A post office was established in 1915, and the population grew to over 1,000. In 1950, the name was changed to Marshall. This post highlights how erosion also threatens culturally and historically significant places, not just buildings or roads. We added a few historical photos from 1971 that William Browne provided. The related posts (attached) describe how river bank erosion has impacted other communities, and some of the measures that have been taken to document and respond to specific impacts and protect community infrastructure. L. Flora / M. Brubaker

AI Comment from GPT 5:

Moderate erosion has been progressing along the lower part of Marshall in recent years, raising concerns for community areas tied to the town’s early history at Fortuna Ledge; the historical photos from 1971 help show how today’s riverbank compares to past conditions. Related posts help frame what might influence erosion and how communities respond along Alaska’s rivers. On the Yukon, the post on River Erosion notes that unusually high water can accelerate bank loss depending on local soils and energy, and it points to practical tools like the State erosion handbook, NRCS’s Emergency Watershed Protection program, and the U.S. Army Corps’ Baseline Erosion Assessment that communities have used to plan protections. The experience in Severe Erosion in Newtok shows how a single storm—Typhoon Merbok—was linked to permafrost melt and rapid riverbank loss that immediately threatened homes, the school, water, and the runway, illustrating how quickly risks can escalate when surge and soft ground coincide. Along the Noatak, observers documented season-long high water and bank retreat in Erosion continues along Noatak River, a sudden collapse that affected access in Huge section of river bank collapses in Noatak, and direct threats to wells and a transmission line in Erosion impacting wells and transmission line, underscoring how infrastructure near eroding banks can become vulnerable. Posts from other communities describe similar consequences: storage buildings at risk in Chevak’s Bluff Erosion and shrinking land and access challenges on the Yukon Flats in River Erosion on the Yukon Flats. Taken together, these observations suggest that tracking water levels, bank materials, and exposure to storms can help clarify Marshall’s local risk and guide use of available assessment and protection resources to safeguard historically significant places like Fortuna Ledge alongside essential infrastructure.