TheA CANADIAN Alsek HERITAGE River RIVER Third Ten-year Monitoring Report: 2009 to 2018 Prepared by: Kluane National Park and Reserve, Parks Canada for The Canadian Heritage Rivers Board JANUARY 2019 Acknowledgments This report was prepared by Mathew Trotter, Resource Management Officer II, and Carmen Wong, Ecologist, Team Leader, both from Parks Canada, Kluane National Park and Reserve. We are very grateful to reviewers from Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, Sheila Greer, Micheal Jim and Monica Krieger, for their input. Parks Canada. 2019. The Alsek River: A Canadian Heritage River. Third Ten-year Monitoring Report: 2009 to 2018. Report to the Canadian Heritage Rivers Board. La rivière Alsek : une rivière du patrimoine canadien. Troisième rapport de surveillance décennal : 2009 2018. Aussi disponible en français For more information, contact: Kluane National Park and Reserve
[email protected] © 2019 HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF CANADA as represented by the Chief Executive Officer of Parks Canada. Cat. No. R64-553/2019F-PDF ISBN: 978-0-660-31507-2 Cover Photo: Lowell Glacier with the Alsek River in the foreground. Executive Summary The Alsek River is one of Canada’s most outstanding wilderness rivers. It begins in Kluane National Park and Reserve, Yukon, and flows 250 km through the glaciated valleys of the St. Elias Mountains until it reaches the Pacific Ocean in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska. The entire length of the Alsek River falls within the Kluane / Wrangell–St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tashenshini–Alsek UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is one of the largest internationally protected land-based ecosystems in the world.