Admiralty Island

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The human world may be fast closing in on wildlife habitat, but one place stands out as an oasis for flora and fauna. On Alaska's Admiralty Island, brown bears and other wildlife live the good life, unencumbered by encroaching development or compromised environment. The natural habitat is so healthy here, in fact, that the island holds the country's highest density of brown bears in North America, a population that outnumbers Admiralty's human counterparts three to one.

And it looks like things will stay that way. Here on Admiralty, humans have wisely ensured that the wildlife will have plenty of room to run wild and free in perpetuity. Most of the island, which lies in the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, is federally protected wilderness. The Admiralty Island National Monument Wilderness (☎ 907/586-8800; www.fs.fed.us) contains a whopping million acres of wilderness land, much of it old-growth rainforest, perfect habitat for brown bears. It's no wonder the native Tlingit people called this island Kootznoowoo, or "Fortress of the Bear."

The wilderness habitat is ideal for other wild things as well—fat salmon fill the island creeks; salmon runs from July to August bring out the bears in high numbers. The Seymour Canal has the greatest known concentration of nesting bald eagles in the world. Seals, sea lions, orcas, and whales can be seen in the canal, chasing the massive schools of Pacific herring that arrive here to spawn. (Fishing the island waters is one of Admiralty's top attractions.)

A great way to experience all this raw, wild beauty is to stay in one of the U.S. Forest Service cabins, a number of them sturdy, rough-hewn antiques built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. Many are set directly on lakefronts, with views of shimmering forests and snow-capped mountains across the water. The CCC also built the Cross Admiralty Canoe Route (you can buy a detailed map of the route from the U.S. Forest Service), portages linking seven mountain lakes in the heart of Admiralty Island's Kootznoowoo Wilderness. (It's recommended that you have intermediate to advanced paddling skills to attempt this route.) You will see floatplanes above but few people along this route; if solitude amid pristine surrounds are what you're looking for, this is the route for you—you can even stop and stay in a forest cabin along the way.

About those brown bears: All of Admiralty is brown bear country, and you will see signs of bears throughout the island. According to the Forest Service, conflicts between bears and humans are extremely rare. Visitors are advised to use good "bear-country etiquette." Hang your food at least 12 feet (3.7m) above the ground or use bear-resistant food containers.

Of course, if sleeping within sight and sound of brown bears is not your idea of fun, you can take a 30-minute floatplane flight to northeast Admiralty to the Pack Creek Brown Bear Viewing Area, where you can watch bears and other wildlife from a comfortable distance. Pack Creek contains a 400-acre (162-hectare) mud flat brimming with bear treats like clams; in July the creek becomes a veritable brown-bear feeding trough when pink and chum salmon return to their natal creek to spawn.

This article is about the Admiralty Island in Alaska. For the Admiralty Islands of Papua New Guinea, see Admiralty Islands. For other uses, see Admiralty Island (disambiguation).

Admiralty

Geography
Location	ABC islands of Alaska
Coordinates	57°44′N 134°20′W / 57.733°N 134.333°W / 57.733; -134.333
Archipelago	Alexander Archipelago
Area	1,646.4 sq mi (4,264.2 km2)
Length	90 mi (140 km)
Width	35 mi (56 km)
Country
United States
State	Alaska
Demographics
Population	650 (as of 2000)
Density	0.39 /sq mi (0.151 /km2)

Admiralty Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska, at 57°44′N 134°20′W / 57.733°N 134.333°W / 57.733; -134.333. It is 145 km (90 mi) long and 56 km (35 mi) wide with an area of 4,264.1 km² (1,646.4 sq mi), making it the seventh largest island in the United States and the 132nd largest island in the world. It is one of the ABC islands of Alaska. The island is nearly cut in two by Seymour Canal; to its east is the long, narrow Glass Peninsula.

The island was named by George Vancouver in honor of his Royal Navy employers, the Admiralty. Joseph Whidbey, master of the Discovery during Vancouver's 1791-95 expedition, explored it in July–August 1794, in the process circumnavigating it.^[1]

Known to the Tlingit as Xootsnoowú, which is sometimes interpreted as "Fortress of the Bear(s)", Admiralty Island is home to the highest density of brown bears in North America. An estimated 1,600 brown bears inhabit the island, outnumbering Admiralty's human residents nearly three to one. However, the name is a false cognate in Tlingit as the term actually comes from Xhoodzee Noow or "Burning Embers Fort" in reference to a large fire that occurred one time on the island and is not connected in any way to a reference to bears, but the mis-nomer continues.^{[citation needed]} Angoon, a traditional Tlingit community home to 572 people, is the only settlement on the island, although an unpopulated section of the city of Juneau comprises 264.68 km² (102.19 sq mi) (6.2 percent) of the island's land area near its northern end. The island's total population at the 2000 census was 650.

Most of Admiralty Island — more than 955,000 acres (3,860 km²) is occupied by Admiralty Island National Monument - a federally protected wilderness area. The Kootznoowoo Wilderness is unique in Southeast Alaska because it encompasses vast stands of old growth temperate rainforest. These forests provide some of the best habitat available to species such as brown bears, bald eagles, and Sitka black-tailed deer.

The Greens Creek mine is an underground silver, gold, zinc and lead mine located on the northwest end of the island, within the national monument. It began operation in 1989.

Admiralty Island also offers opportunities for outdoor recreation in Southeast Alaska. The U.S. Forest Service maintains several public-use cabins on the island, as well as the Cross Admiralty Canoe Route, which links the island's lakes through a series of portages.

The Pack Creek Brown Bear Viewing Area offers visitors the opportunity to observe brown bears in their natural habitat as they fish for salmon and interact with one another during the summer months. Permits are required for all visitors to Pack Creek; they can be obtained through the Forest Service.

The Point Retreat Light is located on the northern tip of Admiralty and was an important aid-to-navigation.

References

1. ^ Vancouver, George, and John Vancouver (1801; vols. I-VI). A voyage of discovery to the North Pacific ocean, and round the world. London: J. Stockdale. http://books.google.com/books?id=qwol8bPaYxsC&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

Sources

• Admiralty Island: Blocks 1000 to 1002, Census Tract 6, Juneau City and Borough; Blocks 3012 to 3018; 3022 to 3026; Block 3048; Blocks 3056 to 3069; Block 3074; Blocks 3087 and 3088; Census Tract 3, Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska United States Census Bureau
• [1] Comparison of Predicted and Actual Water Quality at Hardrock Mines

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