| Tatshenshini-Alsek Park | |
|---|---|
 Samuel Glacier | |
_location_map.svg)  Location ofTatshenshini-Alsek inBritish Columbia | |
 Interactive map of Tatshenshini-Alsek Park | |
| Location | Stikine Region,British Columbia,Canada |
| Nearest city | Whitehorse,Yukon |
| Coordinates | 59°52′03″N138°00′49″W / 59.86750°N 138.01361°W /59.86750; -138.01361 |
| Area | 9,580 km2 (3,700 sq mi) |
| Established | 1993 |
| Governing body | BC Parks |
| Website | https://bcparks.ca/tatshenshini-alsek-park/ |
 Interactive map of Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park | |
| Part of | Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek |
| Criteria | Natural: (vii), (viii), (ix), (x) |
| Reference | 72ter |
| Inscription | 1979 (3rdSession) |
| Extensions | 1992, 1994 |
Tatshenshini-Alsek Park orTatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Wilderness Park is aprovincial park inBritish Columbia, Canada. The park is 9,580 km2 (3,700 sq mi) in size. It was established in 1993 after an intensive campaign by Canadian and American conservation organizations to halt mining exploration and development in the area, and protect the area for its strong natural heritage and biodiversity values.
The park is located in the very northwestern corner of British Columbia, bordering the American state ofAlaska and the CanadianYukon Territory. Nestled between the Yukon'sKluane National Park and Reserve and Alaska'sGlacier Bay andWrangell–St. EliasNational Parks and Preserves, the park includes all land in British Columbia west of theHaines Highway. It is part of theKluane-Wrangell-St. Elias-Glacier Bay-Tatshenshini-Alsek park system, and in 1994 was designated as aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site.
Over the centuries, numerous indigenous peoples lived in this area, including the historicTlingit andSouthern Tutchone, who built fishing villages along the rivers. The eastern edge of the park follows an ancient trade route used by the Chilkat (a Tlingit people) to barter with the Tutchone.
In the mid-19th century, the sudden breakup of a natural dam on theAlsek River caused a severe flood. The dam had been formed by the advance of a glacier across the entire Alsek River channel; the obstructed river formed a large temporary lake upstream of the blockage. A wall of water 7 m (23 ft) high and 15 m (49 ft) wide swept an entire Tutchone village into the sea at Dry Bay, killing all the inhabitants.
Tatshenshini-Alsek was one of the last areas of British Columbia to be mapped and explored. In the 1960s the first geological exploration for minerals took place in the area. Significant copper deposits were found in the vicinity of Windy Craggy Mountain, in the middle of the Tatshenshini region. In the mid-1970s two companies began rafting theTatshenshini (aka "the Tat", a term also used to refer to the region) and Alsek rivers for the first time. In the mid-1980s a proposal surfaced to develop Windy Craggy peak into a huge open-pit mine.
In 1991 Tatshenshini International was established, linking together the top 50 conservation organisations in North America. An extremely intensive campaign followed in Canada and in the United States, particularly theU.S. Congress and eventually theWhite House, when the active involvement of then Vice-PresidentAl Gore was enlisted. Eventually, BC PremierMike Harcourt responded by undertaking a review of the issues surrounding Tatshenshini-Alsek by the Commission on Resources and the Environment (CORE). BC government under Premier Harcourt decided in June 1993 to protect Tatshenshini-Alsek as a Class A park. The owners of the Windy-Craggy mineral claims were given a $103.8 million settlement.
In combination with the adjoining national parks, this completed protection of the world's largest international park complex. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) proposed the area for protection as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. TheKluane-Wrangell-St. Elias-Glacier Bay-Tatshenshini-Alsek transborder park system comprisingKluane,Wrangell–St. Elias,Glacier Bay andTatshenshini-Alsek parks, was declared aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 1994 for the spectacular glacier and icefield landscapes, in addition to the importance of its habitat forgrizzly bears,caribou andDall sheep.
In 1999, a party of sheep hunters found artifacts and remains of a young male at the foot of a glacier in the park; he was later calledKwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi, or "Long Ago Man Found". The well-preserved frozen body turned out to be between 300 and 550 years old. Representatives ofChampagne and Aishihik First Nations were consulted for this find on their historic territory, and they named the young man. In addition, they agreed to scientific andDNA testing of the remains. Researchers recruited volunteers to see if people could be found who were genetically related to the "iceman". Some 241 volunteers were tested from the area Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, and related peoples in Yukon, British Columbia and Alaska. Seventeen living relatives, including two sisters, were found in theChampagne and Aishihik First Nations who are related through amitochondrial DNA match of the direct female line.[2] Fifteen of these 17 identify as Wolfclan, suggesting the young man also belonged to that clan.[3] In thematrilineal kinship system, children are considered born into their mother's clan, and descent is figured through the mother's line.
TheAlsek andTatshenshi rivers flow through the park in glacier-carved U-shaped valleys. These valleys through the coastal mountains allow cool, moist ocean air into the cold interior. The quick change from ocean to interior environment, frequent floods, landslides and avalanches, a varied geology and great elevation changes have together created an exceptionally diverse range of habitat conditions for the local flora and fauna.
TheAlsek Ranges intersect the park, andMount Fairweather, at 4,671 metres (15,325 ft), is the province's highest peak. The Tatshenshini-Alsek area lies in a region of high earthquake activity. Slippages along theFairweather and Hubbard/BorderFaults to the west and theDenali Fault to the north cause regular earthquakes.
Tatshenshini-Alsek Park supports a largegrizzly bear population. A green area that cuts through a barrier of mountain and ice connects coastal and interior grizzly bear populations and provides valuable habitat. The park is the only Canadian home of theglacier bear. This extremely rare blue-grey colour phase of theblack bear is found only within the park and just over the border into the United States.
As well as bears, Tatshenshini-Alsek Park also supportsDall's sheep, and exceptional numbers ofmountain goats, Kenaimoose, greywolves, eagles (bald andgolden),falcons (peregrine andgyr), andtrumpeter swans. Along the coastline,sea lions andhumpback whales can be seen.
The weather station, Blanchard River, is at the British Columbia border with Yukon, along Haines Highway. It has asubarctic climate (KöppenDfc), bordering ontundra climate (KöppenET).
| Climate data for Blanchard River, Yukon (1981-2010): 836 m (2,743 ft) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 5.5 (41.9) | 7.5 (45.5) | 8.5 (47.3) | 16.0 (60.8) | 24.0 (75.2) | 29.0 (84.2) | 29.0 (84.2) | 29.0 (84.2) | 21.5 (70.7) | 22.0 (71.6) | 8.0 (46.4) | 6.5 (43.7) | 29.0 (84.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −9.0 (15.8) | −5.2 (22.6) | −2.2 (28.0) | 3.3 (37.9) | 10.3 (50.5) | 15.8 (60.4) | 16.8 (62.2) | 15.9 (60.6) | 10.1 (50.2) | 2.8 (37.0) | −4.8 (23.4) | −6.0 (21.2) | 4.0 (39.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −14.6 (5.7) | −11.0 (12.2) | −8.3 (17.1) | −2.5 (27.5) | 4.2 (39.6) | 9.1 (48.4) | 10.9 (51.6) | 9.9 (49.8) | 5.4 (41.7) | −1.2 (29.8) | −9.6 (14.7) | −11.0 (12.2) | −1.6 (29.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −19.9 (−3.8) | −16.8 (1.8) | −14.2 (6.4) | −8.1 (17.4) | −2.0 (28.4) | 2.3 (36.1) | 4.8 (40.6) | 4.0 (39.2) | 0.6 (33.1) | −5.0 (23.0) | −14.3 (6.3) | −16.1 (3.0) | −7.1 (19.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −46.0 (−50.8) | −40.0 (−40.0) | −37.0 (−34.6) | −30.0 (−22.0) | −15.0 (5.0) | −5.0 (23.0) | −2.0 (28.4) | −3.5 (25.7) | −11.5 (11.3) | −26.5 (−15.7) | −39.0 (−38.2) | −41.0 (−41.8) | −46.0 (−50.8) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 45.2 (1.78) | 39.0 (1.54) | 27.6 (1.09) | 19.3 (0.76) | 18.1 (0.71) | 38.4 (1.51) | 50.9 (2.00) | 47.4 (1.87) | 69.2 (2.72) | 60.7 (2.39) | 63.5 (2.50) | 73.5 (2.89) | 552.8 (21.76) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 45.0 (17.7) | 38.6 (15.2) | 27.3 (10.7) | 16.2 (6.4) | 2.4 (0.9) | 0.5 (0.2) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 2.6 (1.0) | 26.3 (10.4) | 57.8 (22.8) | 69.9 (27.5) | 286.6 (112.8) |
| Source:Environment Canada[4] | |||||||||||||
Pleasant Camp, British Columbia is on the southeastern edge of Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park, near the Alaskan border. Pleasant Camp has a dry-summersubarctic climate (Köppen climate classification:Dsc).
| Climate data for Pleasant Camp, British Columbia (1981-2010): 274 m (899 ft) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 7.5 (45.5) | 11.5 (52.7) | 13.5 (56.3) | 20.0 (68.0) | 25.0 (77.0) | 30.5 (86.9) | 32.8 (91.0) | 34.0 (93.2) | 24.5 (76.1) | 18.0 (64.4) | 10.0 (50.0) | 6.5 (43.7) | 34.0 (93.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −5.0 (23.0) | −1.9 (28.6) | 1.8 (35.2) | 7.4 (45.3) | 13.6 (56.5) | 18.3 (64.9) | 19.9 (67.8) | 18.3 (64.9) | 12.6 (54.7) | 5.6 (42.1) | −1.9 (28.6) | −3.7 (25.3) | 7.1 (44.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −7.9 (17.8) | −5.4 (22.3) | −2.3 (27.9) | 2.7 (36.9) | 7.8 (46.0) | 12.3 (54.1) | 14.5 (58.1) | 13.3 (55.9) | 8.7 (47.7) | 2.8 (37.0) | −4.6 (23.7) | −6.4 (20.5) | 3.0 (37.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −10.8 (12.6) | −8.9 (16.0) | −6.3 (20.7) | −2.0 (28.4) | 2.0 (35.6) | 6.2 (43.2) | 9.1 (48.4) | 8.3 (46.9) | 4.7 (40.5) | 0.1 (32.2) | −7.3 (18.9) | −9.0 (15.8) | −1.2 (29.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −32.0 (−25.6) | −31.1 (−24.0) | −27.0 (−16.6) | −17.5 (0.5) | −5.0 (23.0) | −2.0 (28.4) | 0.5 (32.9) | 0.5 (32.9) | −8.5 (16.7) | −19.0 (−2.2) | −31.0 (−23.8) | −32.2 (−26.0) | −32.2 (−26.0) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 200.4 (7.89) | 139.1 (5.48) | 106.2 (4.18) | 69.7 (2.74) | 51.9 (2.04) | 37.4 (1.47) | 35.8 (1.41) | 72.4 (2.85) | 148.8 (5.86) | 188.1 (7.41) | 160.0 (6.30) | 217.3 (8.56) | 1,426.9 (56.18) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 165.4 (65.1) | 111.4 (43.9) | 82.6 (32.5) | 20.8 (8.2) | 2.6 (1.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.8 (0.3) | 35.0 (13.8) | 128.0 (50.4) | 177.4 (69.8) | 723.8 (285.0) |
| Source:Environment Canada[5] | |||||||||||||
Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park travel guide from Wikivoyage
