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Copper River (Alaska)
Encyclopedia
The Copper River or Ahtna River (Ahtna Athabascan
'Atna) is a 300-mile (480 km) river
in south-central Alaska
in the United States. It drains a large region of the Wrangell Mountains
and Chugach Mountains
into the Gulf of Alaska
. It is known for its extensive delta
ecosystem
, as well as for its prolific runs of wild salmon
, which are among the most highly prized stocks in the world. It is the tenth largest river in the United States, as ranked by average discharge volume at its mouth.
, in the Wrangell Mountains
, within Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park. It begins by flowing almost due north in a valley that lies on the east side of Mount Sanford, and then turns west, forming the northwest edge of the Wrangell Mountains
and separating them from the Mentasta Mountains
to the northeast. It continues to turn southeast, through a wide marshy plain to Chitina
, where it is joined from the southeast by the Chitina River
. The Copper River is 287 miles (461.9 km) long. It drops an average of about 12 ft/mi, and drains a total of 24000 square miles (62,159.7 km²)—an area the size of West Virginia. The river has 13 major tributaries and runs at an average of 7 miles per hour (3.1 m/s). It is a mile (1.6 km) wide at the Copper River Delta, near Cordova
. Downstream from its confluence with the Chitina it flows southwest, passing through a narrow glacier-lined gap in the Chugach Mountains
east of Cordova Peak. There is an extensive area of sand dunes between the Copper and Bremner Rivers. Both Miles Glacier and Child's Glacier calve
directly into the river. The Copper enters the Gulf of Alaska
approximately 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Cordova
.
The name of the river comes for the abundant copper
deposits along the upper river that were used by Alaska Native population and then later by settlers from the Russian Empire
and the United States. Extraction of the copper resources was rendered difficult by navigation difficulties at the river's mouth. The construction of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway
from Cordova through the upper river valley in 1908-11 allowed widespread extraction of the mineral resources, in particular from the Kennecott Mine, discovered in 1898. The mine was abandoned in 1938 and is now a ghost town
tourist attraction. A road runs from Cordova to the lower Copper River near Child's Glacier, following the old railroad route and ending at the reconstructed "Million Dollar Bridge
" across the river. The Tok Cut-Off
follows the Copper River Valley on the north side of the Chugach Mountains
.
The river's famous salmon runs arise from the use of the river watershed by over 2 million salmon each year for spawning. The extensive runs result in many unique varieties. The river's commercial salmon season is short: chinook (king) salmon are available mid-May to mid-June, sockeye (red) salmon mid-May to mid-August, and coho (silver) salmon mid-August to late-September. Sport, personal use and subsistence fisheries are open for salmon from mid-May through October. The fisheries are co-managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the USDA Forest Service Federal Subsistence Board. Management data are obtained primarily by ADF&G at the Miles Lake Sonar Station and the Native Village of Eyak at the Baird Canyon/ Canyon Creek research stations.
The Copper River Delta, which extends for 700,000 acres (2,800 km2) is the considered the largest contiguous wetlands along the Pacific
coast of North America
. It is used annually by 16 million shorebirds, including the world's entire population of western sandpiper
s. It is also home to the world's largest population of nesting trumpeter swan
s and is the only known nesting site for the dusky Canada goose
.
Over 20,000 years ago, the area now drained by the great Copper River was a massive lake, covering 2000 square miles (5,180 km²).
Ahtna language
Ahtna or Ahtena is the Na-Dené language of the Ahtna ethnic group of the Copper River area of Alaska. The language is also known as Copper River or Mednovskiy...
'Atna) is a 300-mile (480 km) river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
in south-central Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
in the United States. It drains a large region of the Wrangell Mountains
Wrangell Mountains
The Wrangell Mountains are a high mountain range of eastern Alaska in the United States. Much of the range is included in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve. The Wrangell Mountains are almost entirely volcanic in origin, and they include the second and third highest volcanoes in the...
and Chugach Mountains
Chugach Mountains
The Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska are the northernmost of the several mountain ranges that make up the Pacific Coast Ranges of the western edge of North America. The range is about 500 km long, running generally east-west. Its highest point is Mount Marcus Baker, at , but most of its...
into the Gulf of Alaska
Gulf of Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are found.The entire shoreline of the Gulf is...
. It is known for its extensive delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
, as well as for its prolific runs of wild salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
, which are among the most highly prized stocks in the world. It is the tenth largest river in the United States, as ranked by average discharge volume at its mouth.
Description
The Copper River rises out of the Copper Glacier, which lies on the northeast side of Mount WrangellMount Wrangell
Mount Wrangell is a massive shield volcano located in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in southeastern Alaska, United States. The shield rises over above the Copper River to its southwest. Its volume is over , making it more than twice as massive as Mount Shasta in California, the...
, in the Wrangell Mountains
Wrangell Mountains
The Wrangell Mountains are a high mountain range of eastern Alaska in the United States. Much of the range is included in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve. The Wrangell Mountains are almost entirely volcanic in origin, and they include the second and third highest volcanoes in the...
, within Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park. It begins by flowing almost due north in a valley that lies on the east side of Mount Sanford, and then turns west, forming the northwest edge of the Wrangell Mountains
Wrangell Mountains
The Wrangell Mountains are a high mountain range of eastern Alaska in the United States. Much of the range is included in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve. The Wrangell Mountains are almost entirely volcanic in origin, and they include the second and third highest volcanoes in the...
and separating them from the Mentasta Mountains
Mentasta Mountains
The Mentasta Mountains in the eastern part of the US state of Alaska form the eastern end of the Alaska Range.They lie south of the Alaska Highway, east of the Glenn Highway, north of the Wrangell Mountains, and west of the Nabesna River. Across the Glenn Highway lies the continuation of the Alaska...
to the northeast. It continues to turn southeast, through a wide marshy plain to Chitina
Chitina, Alaska
Chitina is a census-designated place in Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 123.-Geography:Chitina is located at ....
, where it is joined from the southeast by the Chitina River
Chitina River
The Chitina River is a river in southern Alaska, USA, at about 61° North 141°40' West. It begins in the Saint Elias Mountains at the base of Logan Glacier and runs west until it flows into the Copper River at Chitina, Alaska....
. The Copper River is 287 miles (461.9 km) long. It drops an average of about 12 ft/mi, and drains a total of 24000 square miles (62,159.7 km²)—an area the size of West Virginia. The river has 13 major tributaries and runs at an average of 7 miles per hour (3.1 m/s). It is a mile (1.6 km) wide at the Copper River Delta, near Cordova
Cordova, Alaska
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,454 people, 958 households, and 597 families residing in the city. The population density was 40.0 per square mile . There are 1,099 housing units at an average density of 17.9 per square mile...
. Downstream from its confluence with the Chitina it flows southwest, passing through a narrow glacier-lined gap in the Chugach Mountains
Chugach Mountains
The Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska are the northernmost of the several mountain ranges that make up the Pacific Coast Ranges of the western edge of North America. The range is about 500 km long, running generally east-west. Its highest point is Mount Marcus Baker, at , but most of its...
east of Cordova Peak. There is an extensive area of sand dunes between the Copper and Bremner Rivers. Both Miles Glacier and Child's Glacier calve
Ice calving
Ice calving, also known as glacier calving or iceberg calving, is a form of ice ablation or ice disruption. It is the sudden release and breaking away of a mass of ice from a glacier, iceberg, ice front, ice shelf, or crevasse...
directly into the river. The Copper enters the Gulf of Alaska
Gulf of Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are found.The entire shoreline of the Gulf is...
approximately 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Cordova
Cordova, Alaska
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,454 people, 958 households, and 597 families residing in the city. The population density was 40.0 per square mile . There are 1,099 housing units at an average density of 17.9 per square mile...
.
The name of the river comes for the abundant copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
deposits along the upper river that were used by Alaska Native population and then later by settlers from the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
and the United States. Extraction of the copper resources was rendered difficult by navigation difficulties at the river's mouth. The construction of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway
Copper River and Northwestern Railway
The Copper River and Northwestern Railway was a railroad built by the Kennecott Corporation between 1907 and 1911 to take copper ore from Kennicott, Alaska to Cordova, Alaska, a distance of . The railroad was built by thousands of workers, who laid tracks around glaciers, across canyons and...
from Cordova through the upper river valley in 1908-11 allowed widespread extraction of the mineral resources, in particular from the Kennecott Mine, discovered in 1898. The mine was abandoned in 1938 and is now a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
tourist attraction. A road runs from Cordova to the lower Copper River near Child's Glacier, following the old railroad route and ending at the reconstructed "Million Dollar Bridge
Million Dollar Bridge
The Miles Glacier Bridge, also known as the Million Dollar Bridge, was built in the early 1900s, across the Copper River fifty miles from Cordova in what is now the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a multiple-span Pennsylvania truss bridge which completed a railroad line for the Copper River and...
" across the river. The Tok Cut-Off
Tok Cut-Off
The Tok Cut-Off is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, running 125 miles from Gakona Junction on the Richardson Highway, 14 miles north of Glennallen, to Tok on the Alaska Highway....
follows the Copper River Valley on the north side of the Chugach Mountains
Chugach Mountains
The Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska are the northernmost of the several mountain ranges that make up the Pacific Coast Ranges of the western edge of North America. The range is about 500 km long, running generally east-west. Its highest point is Mount Marcus Baker, at , but most of its...
.
The river's famous salmon runs arise from the use of the river watershed by over 2 million salmon each year for spawning. The extensive runs result in many unique varieties. The river's commercial salmon season is short: chinook (king) salmon are available mid-May to mid-June, sockeye (red) salmon mid-May to mid-August, and coho (silver) salmon mid-August to late-September. Sport, personal use and subsistence fisheries are open for salmon from mid-May through October. The fisheries are co-managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the USDA Forest Service Federal Subsistence Board. Management data are obtained primarily by ADF&G at the Miles Lake Sonar Station and the Native Village of Eyak at the Baird Canyon/ Canyon Creek research stations.
The Copper River Delta, which extends for 700,000 acres (2,800 km2) is the considered the largest contiguous wetlands along the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
coast of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. It is used annually by 16 million shorebirds, including the world's entire population of western sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
The Western Sandpiper, Calidris or Erolia mauri, is a small shorebird.Adults have dark legs and a short thin dark bill, thinner at the tip. The body is brown on top and white underneath. They are reddish-brown on the crown. This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny...
s. It is also home to the world's largest population of nesting trumpeter swan
Trumpeter Swan
The Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, is the largest native North American bird, if measured in terms of weight and length, and is the largest living waterfowl species on earth. It is the North American counterpart of the European Whooper Swan.-Description:Males typically measure from and weigh...
s and is the only known nesting site for the dusky Canada goose
Canada Goose
The Canada Goose is a wild goose belonging to the genus Branta, which is native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, having a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body....
.
Over 20,000 years ago, the area now drained by the great Copper River was a massive lake, covering 2000 square miles (5,180 km²).
Further reading
- Brabets, T.P. (1997). Geomorphology of the lower Copper River, Alaska [U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1581]. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
External links
- Ecotrust Copper River Program
- Copper River salmon habitat management study / prepared for Ecotrust ; prepared by Marie E. Lowe of the Institute of Social and Economic Research Hosted by Alaska State Publications Program.
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game: Copper River Salmon
- Ghost Town of the Kennecott Copper Mine
- Packrafting Journey down the Copper River
- Eyak Preservation Council
- Nature Conservancy: Copper River Delta
- The Copper River Watershed Project
- NVE Fisheries Research and Seasonal Employment on the Copper River
- Cordova District Fishermen United
- Wrangell-St. Elias National Park information
- Copper River | Chitina Dipnet Fishery Escapement Charts
- Copper River General Information