NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



147 



8. THE NATIONAL FORESTS OF THE 

 ALASKAN DISTRICT 



By John D. Guthrie 



Although there are over 20,000,000 

 acres of National Forest land within the 

 Alaskan District, it is at present divided 

 between only two National Forests, the 

 Tongass and the Chugach. 



*TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST 



Area 15,443,000 acres of coniferous 

 forest, in southeastern Alaska, con- 

 sisting of a bewildering assortment of 

 islands, surrounded by channels, straits, 

 canals and bays. These islands vary 

 from those containing thousands of 

 acres, whose interiors have never been 

 explored, much less surveyed and map- 

 ped, such as Prince of Wales, Baranoff, 

 Chicagof, down to mere green specks 

 projecting above high tide. Generally 

 speaking, the land rises abruptly from 

 the water's edge up to elevations of 

 several thousand feet, timber line being 

 approximately at 2000 ft. and the 

 heaviest stands of timber being found 

 near sea level. The country is charac- 

 terized by a verj^ heavy rainfall but with 

 general climatic conditions similar to 

 the Puget Sound region. The forest 

 consists of approximately 60% western 

 hemlock {Tsuga heterophyUa) , 20% Sitka 

 spruce (Picea sitchensis) , the other 20% 

 being made up of western red cedar, 

 (Thuja plicata) , yellow cypress [Chamac- 

 cyparis nootkatensis), some lodgepole 

 pine (Pinuscontorta) and a small amount 

 of Cottonwood and white birch (Betula 

 alaskana) . There are glacier-fed lakes on 

 these islands, the outlets of which drop 

 in many cases almost precipitously into 

 the sea. The higher peaks are usually 

 snow covered from about October until 

 May; the lower elevations in the forest, 

 however, have a comparatively light 

 snowfall. Navigation is open through- 

 out the year. The conditions prevailing 

 on the Tongass Forest, located as it is 

 in extreme southeastern Alaska, must 

 not be confused with conditions to be 

 found elsewhere within Alaska. The 



region is one of great interest to the 

 ecologist, to scientists generally, and 

 to travelers. Copper mines, canneries 

 (salmon, shrimp, crab, etc.), lumbering 

 operations, whaling stations, totem 

 poles, water power plants, marble quar- 

 ries, are abundant and arc of extreme 

 interest in addition to the very large 

 number of readily accessible glaciers 

 as well as the interesting relics of the 

 Russian occupation and of the earlier 

 Indian inhabitants. The surface condi- 

 tions of the Tongass region are charac- 

 terized by abundant rock, with little 

 or no soil but a vast amount of moss and 

 very heavy undergrowth, with a very 

 dense stand of coniferous forest with 

 swamps or muskegs on bench lands. 

 jNIagnificent scenery characterizes this 

 entire "pan handle" of Alaska. 



The forest is reached bj' regular boat 

 lines from Seattle and Prince Rupert 

 and has a number of thriving towns in 

 which comfortable hotel accommoda- 

 tions can be found. Supervisor's head- 

 quarters at Ketchikan. { 



*CHUGACH NATIONAL FOREST 



Area 5,129,544 acres, lying in the 

 Prince Williain Sound, Cook Inlet and 

 Kenai Peninsula. This forest has not the 

 timber resources of the Tongass and is 

 broken up into several distinct units. 

 Its forest types are practically the same 

 as found on the Tongass although the 

 climatic conditions are somewhat differ- 

 ent. The rainfall, however, is some- 

 what less. On the northern edge of the 

 Chugach are found several species which 

 do not occur on the Tongass namely, 

 white spruce (Picea canadensis), black 

 spruce (Picea mariana) and white birch, 

 species characteristic of the great in- 

 terior basins of Alaska. Scenically, 

 the Chugach is characterized by tre- 

 mendous mountain masses, glaciers, 

 large rivers, many lakes and especially 

 on the Kenai Peninsula abundant big 

 game. 



The Chugach Forest is reached by 

 regular steamers from either Seattle or 

 Prince Rupert and its principal towns 

 are Cordova,! Seward| and Anchorage. J 



