The Copper River or Ahtna River (; , "river of the Ahtnas"; ), "river of copper", is a 290-mile (470 km)

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in south-central

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

in the United States. It drains a large region of the

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 i ...

and

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 long and wide, and extends from the Knik and Turnag ...

into the

Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska ( Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') 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 ...

. It is known for its extensive

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

, as well as for its prolific runs of wild

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

, which are among the most highly prized stocks in the world. The river is the tenth largest 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 Wrangell, 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 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 ( Ahtna Athabascan Tsedi Na' < ''tsedi'' "

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

" + ''na’'' "

"). The Copper River is approximately long. It drops an average of about , and drains more than —an area the size of West Virginia. The river runs at an average of . Downstream from its confluence with the Chitina it flows southwest, passing through a narrow glacier-lined gap in the

within the

Chugach National Forest The Chugach National Forest is a United States National Forest in south central Alaska. Covering portions of Prince William Sound, the Kenai Peninsula and the Copper River (Alaska), Copper River Delta, it was formed in 1907 from part of a larger ...

east of Cordova Peak. There is an extensive area of linear sand dunes up to in height radiating from the mouth of the Copper River. Both Miles Glacier and Childs Glacier calve directly into the river. The Copper enters the

southeast of Cordova where it creates a

nearly wide.

History

The name of the river comes from the abundant

deposits along the upper river that were used by

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...

population and then later by settlers from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and the United States. Extraction of the copper resources was problematic due to navigation difficulties at the river's mouth. The construction of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway from Cordova through the upper river valley from 1908 to 1911 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 A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

tourist attraction and historic district maintained by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

. Copper River Highway (Alaska Route 10) runs from Cordova to the lower Copper River near Childs Glacier, following the old railroad route and ending at the reconstructed Million Dollar Bridge across the river. The Tok Cut-Off (Alaska Route 1) follows the Copper River Valley on the north side of the

Fisheries

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, prized for their fat content. The river's commercial salmon season is very brief, beginning in May for

chinook salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Oncorhynchus, Pacific salmon. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other vernacular names for the species include king salmon, quinn ...

, and sockeye salmon for periods lasting mere hours or several days at a time. Sport fishing by contrast is open all year-long, but peak season on the Copper River lasts from August to September, when the

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family (biology), family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon (or "silvers") and is often ...

runs. The fisheries are co-managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...

Federal Subsistence Board. Management data is obtained primarily by ADF&G at the Miles Lake sonar station and via the native village of

Eyak The Eyak are an Alaska Native people historically located on the Copper River Delta and near the town of Cordova, Alaska. They are Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast. Today, Eyak people live in Cordova, Yakutat, across Alaska, and the U ...

at the Baird Canyon and Canyon Creek research stations.

Birding

The Copper River Delta, which extends for 700,000 acres (2,800 km²), is the largest contiguous

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

along the

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. It is used annually by 16 million shorebirds, including the world's entire population of western sandpipers and the pacific flyway population of dunlins. It is also home to the world's largest population of nesting

trumpeter swan The trumpeter swan (''Cygnus buccinator'') is a species of swan found in North America. The heaviest living bird native to North America, it is also the largest extant species of waterfowl, with a wingspan of 185 to 304.8 cm (6 ft 2 in ...

s and is the only known nesting site for the dusky Canada goose subspecies (''Branta canadensis occidentalis''). File:Miles Glacier Bridge, damage and kludge, 1984.jpg, Miles Glacier Bridge, showing earthquake damage and temporary repair, 1984 File:Copper River Alaska with river rafters.jpg, Rafters and Child's Glacier on the lower Copper River File:Copper River fishwheels.jpg, Fishwheels on the Copper River Image:Copper2.jpg, Sand dunes on the Copper River File:Copper River near Chitina.jpg, Copper River near Chitina, looking south from the bridge Image:Picea mariana taiga.jpg,

Black spruce ''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of Newfoundland and Labrador and is tha ...

taiga along the Copper River Image:Glacial Dust off Alaska.jpg, Wind picks up fine

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

from the riverbank and carries it over the ocean.

References

External links

Ecotrust Copper River ProgramCopper River salmon habitat management study
Prepared for Ecotrust 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 SalmonEyak Preservation CouncilNVE Fisheries Research and Seasonal Employment on the Copper RiverCordova District Fishermen United
*

{{Authority control Ahtna Rivers of Alaska Rivers of Chugach Census Area, Alaska Rivers of Copper River Census Area, Alaska Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska