Tuya Lake, located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, presumably derives its name from the presence of nearby steep-sided, flat-topped volcanoes, known as tuyas. The lake is situated just south of

Tuya Butte Tuya Butte is a tuya in the Tuya Range of north-central British Columbia, Canada. It is a bit less isolated from other ranges than neighbouring Mount Josephine. Some of the other volcanoes in the area include South Tuya, Ash Mountain, and M ...

at a latitude of about 59 degrees North and a longitude of about 131 degrees West.

Fish species

The fish species that are native to Tuya Lake include

Arctic grayling The Arctic grayling (''Thymallus arcticus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. ''T. arcticus'' is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper Misso ...

(''Thymalus arcticus''),

bull trout The bull trout (''Salvelinus confluentus'') is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, ''S. confluentus'' has been known as the " Dolly Varden" (''S. malma''), but was reclassified as a separate speci ...

(''Salvelinus confluentus''), longnose sucker (''Catostomus catostomus''),

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota'') is the only gadiform (cod-like) freshwater fish. It is also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, and eelpout. The species is closely ...

(''Lota lota''),

prickly sculpin ''Cottus asper'' is a species of fish in the sculpin family known by the common name prickly sculpin. It is native to the river drainages of the Pacific Slope of North America from Seward, Alaska south to the Ventura River of Southern California ...

(''Cottus asper''), and

slimy sculpin The slimy sculpin (''Cottus cognatus'') is a freshwater species of fish belonging to the family Cottidae, which is the largest sculpin family. They usually inhabit cold rocky streams or lakes across North America, ranging from the Great Lakes, so ...

(''Cottus cognatus''). While it is not a native species, sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka'') can also be found in Tuya Lake.A Reconnaissance of Tuya Lake, August 2002
/ref>

Impact of the Pacific Salmon Treaty

The Pacific Salmon Treaty was created in 1985 and it is an agreement between the United States and Canada aimed at conserving salmon populations and maintaining equity in the area of salmon fishing.Why Wild Salmon? - The Pacific Salmon Treaty, 2007
/ref> As a part of this treaty, the amount of sockeye salmon was increased by 100,000 in the Stikine Water Shed, which Tuya Lake is a part of.

Surrounding areas

Much of the area surrounding Tuya Lake consists of undeveloped wilderness. The human activity around Tuya Lake is limited mainly to hunting and other outdoor activities. Common animals that attract hunters include

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subsp ...

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...

, moose,

mountain goat The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs an ...

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

, wolf, and

wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

. The types of waterfowl in the area include

northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding ...

, lesser scaup, and

red-throated loon The red-throated loon (North America) or red-throated diver (Britain and Ireland) (''Gavia stellata'') is a migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere. The most widely distributed member of the loon or diver family, it breeds prim ...

.McCowans - Hunting Territory, 2005
/ref>

Landforms and vegetation

The Tuya Lake region is in close proximity to many mountains,

plateaus In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides h ...

, tuyas, and valleys. In lowland areas,

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free ( anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

are common. Forests of

white spruce White spruce is a common name for several species of spruce (''Picea'') and may refer to: * ''Picea glauca'', native to most of Canada and Alaska with limited populations in the northeastern United States * ''Picea engelmannii ''Picea engelman ...

, willow,

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

, and fir are present.

Tributaries

Tuya Lake empties into Tuya River which flows in a South or Southwest direction until it enters the

Stikine River The Stikine River is a major river in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States. It drains a large, remote upland area known as the Stikine Country east of the Coast Mountains. Flowing west and south ...

. It is fed by numerous tributaries, most notably Butte Creek, as well as several others that are not named.

References

External links

*
Lakes - CanadaMap Information - Tuya LakeA Reconnaissance of Tuya LakeA Reconnaissance of Tuya LakeA Reconnaissance of Tuya Lake
{{authority control Lakes of British Columbia Cassiar Land District