The Craig River is a

transboundary river A transboundary river is a river that crosses at least one political border, either a border within a state or an international boundary. Bangladesh has the highest number of these rivers, including two of the world's largest rivers, the Ganges and ...

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Iskut River The Iskut River, located in the northwest part of the province of British Columbia is the largest tributary of the Stikine River, entering it about above its entry into Alaska. From its source at Kluachon Lake the Iskut River flows south and wes ...

Southeast Alaska Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska(n) Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and the northwest part of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Originating in Alaska, where it is sometimes called the South Fork Craig River, the Craig flows into British Columbia, generally in a northeast then northwest direction for about Length measured using BCGNIS coordinates, topographic maps, an
Toporama
/ref> to join the Iskut River about east of the confluence of the Iskut and

Hoodoo River The Hoodoo River is a tributary of the Iskut River in the northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada, located west of Hoodoo Mountain and the Twin River in Cassiar Land District. From its source in Hoodoo Glacier the Hoodoo River f ...

. Its main tributary is the Jekill River. The Craig River's watershed covers , and its mean annual discharge is . The river's watershed's

land cover Land cover is the physical material at the surface of Earth. Land covers include grass, asphalt, trees, bare ground, water, etc. Earth cover is the expression used by ecologist Frederick Edward Clements that has its closest modern equivalent being ...

is classified as 30.4%

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

, 30.3%

conifer forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

, 17.5% barren, 12.6%

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

, and small amounts of other cover. The Alaska portion of the watershed is contained within

Tongass National Forest The Tongass National Forest () in Southeast Alaska is the largest U.S. National Forest at . Most of its area is temperate rain forest and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna. The Tongass, which i ...

. In British Columbia the Craig Headwaters Protected Area provides a corridor about wide around the Craig River from the Alaskan border to the Jekill River confluence. The mouth of the Craig River is located about east-northeast of

Wrangell, Alaska The City and Borough of Wrangell ( tli, Ḵaachx̱ana.áakʼw, russian: Врангель) is a borough in Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 2,127, down from 2,369 in 2010. Incorporated as a Unified Home Rule Bor ...

, about northwest of Stewart, British Columbia, and about south of

Telegraph Creek, British Columbia Telegraph Creek is a small community located off British Columbia Highway 37, Highway 37 in northern British Columbia at the confluence of the Stikine River and Telegraph Creek. The only permanent settlement on the Stikine River, it is home to appr ...

. The Craig River was named after the Canadian surveyor John Davidson Craig. The Craig River is in the traditional territory of the

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

, specifically the Shtax'héen Ḵwáan, commonly known as the Stikine River people. It is also in the asserted traditional territory of the

Tahltan First Nation The Tahltan First Nation, also known as the Tahltan Indian Band, is a band government of the Tahltan people. Their main community and reserves are located at Telegraph Creek, British Columbia. Their language is the Tahltan language, which is an ...

Name origin

The river was named for John Davidson Craig, BA, BSc, DLS, who was in charge of international boundary surveys in the vicinity of the

Unuk River The Unuk River is a river in the U.S. state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia. It flows from the Coast Mountains southwest to Behm Canal, northeast of Ketchikan, Alaska. From its headwaters in a heavily glaciated area in ...

in 1905, the

Whiting River The Whiting River is a stream, about long, in the U.S. state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia. It enters the waters of Stephens Passage at the Borough of Juneau in the Alaska Panhandle between the mouths of the Taku and St ...

in 1906, the Bradfield River in 1907, the

in 1908, and the Salmon River in 1920. J.D. Craig was appointed Boundary Commissioner for His Britannic Majesty, 7 May 1925. Historically the Craig River was sometimes called the South Fork of the Iskut River.

Geography

The Craig River originates from glaciers in Alaska's

, near the headwaters of the North Fork Bradfield River and the Katete River. It flows east, entering British Columbia between the boundary peaks of Mount Fawcett and Mount Pounder. In British Columbia the Craig River, above its confluence with the Jekill River, flows through the Craig Headwaters Protected Area. Tributaries that join the Craig within the protected area include Pounder Creek, flowing north from Mount Pounder and Mount Alex, Simma Creek, Dick Creek, flowing southeast from Zippa Mountain, Mount Claude, Inhini Mountain, Simma Mountain, and Mount Dick, and Brunt Creek, flowing north from Brunt Mountain and Benno Mountain. At the east end of the Craig Headwaters Protected Area the Jekill River joins the Craig from the south. The Jekill originates in high glaciated mountains including Mount Alex, Mount Pounder, Mount Lewis Cass, Mount Zara, and Kalahin Mountain. The Jekill's main tributary is Olatine Creek, which flows north from Mount Zara and Olatine Mountain. After the Jekill confluence the Craig River turns north, flowing east of Seraphim Mountain. After a few kilometres the Craig turns northwest and west. It is joined by Sky Creek and Raven Creek, flowing north from Raven Mountain and Zippa Mountain, after which the Craig River empties into the Iskut River, just across the Iskut from the

and

Hoodoo Mountain Hoodoo Mountain, sometimes referred to as Hoodoo Volcano, is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located northeast of the Alaska–British Columbia border on the north side of the Is ...

. Many major, glaciated mountains over tall are found in the Craig River watershed and along its drainage divides. Among those over are Kalahin Mountain (), Olatine Mountain (), Jekill Peak (), Mount Lewis Cass (), and Mount Alex ().

Ecology

The Craig River's watershed supports low elevation coastal western hemlock forest ecosystems and areas providing ideal growing conditions for

Sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-larg ...

, with trees reaching over in height. The watershed provides excellent fish habitat for

sockeye salmon The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a P ...

and

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 specie ...

and is one of the main

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

spawning areas in the Stikine River drainage basin. Other

salmonids Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes . It includes salmon (both Atlantic and Pacific species), trout (both ocean-going and landlocked), chars, freshwater whit ...

inhabiting the watershed include

Chinook salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon in North America, as well as the largest in the genus ''Oncorhynchus''. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other ve ...

pink salmon Pink salmon or humpback salmon (''Oncorhynchus gorbuscha'') is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. It is the smallest and most abundant of the Pacific salmon. The scientific species name is based on the Russian common name for ...

chum salmon The chum salmon (''Oncorhynchus keta''), also known as dog salmon or keta salmon, is a species of anadromous salmonid fish from the genus '' Oncorhynchus'' (Pacific salmon) native to the coastal rivers of the North Pacific and the Beringian A ...

Dolly Varden trout The Dolly Varden trout (''Salvelinus malma'') is a species of salmonid fish native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. It belongs to the genus ''Salvelinus'', or true chars, which includes 51 recognized spec ...

steelhead trout Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and N ...

, and possibly

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

cutthroat trout The cutthroat trout is a fish species of the family Salmonidae native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains, and Great Basin in North America. As a member of the genus '' Oncorhynchus'', it is one of the Pacific tro ...

, and

mountain whitefish The mountain whitefish (''Prosopium williamsoni'') is one of the most widely distributed salmonid fish of western North America. It is found from the Mackenzie River drainage in Northwest Territories, Canada south through western Canada and ...

, as well as cottid species such as

coastrange sculpin The Coastrange sculpin (''Cottus aleuticus'') is a freshwater sculpin of the genus '' Cottus''. They are commonly found near the ocean in western North America, namely Canada and the United States. It is also known as the Aleutian sculpin. Tax ...

, and

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 ...

. The coastal forest valley of the Craig River provides excellent

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 horri ...

habitat, and also supports populations of

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 and ...

and

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

, as well as

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 The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...

marten A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on t ...

wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, 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 ...

hoary marmot The hoary marmot (''Marmota caligata'') is a species of marmot that inhabits the mountains of northwest North America. Hoary marmots live near the tree line on slopes with grasses and forbs to eat and rocky areas for cover. It is the largest Nor ...

, and various species of rodents, bats, birds, and amphibians. Two major inactive mine sites, the Snip Mine and the Johnny Mountain Mine, are located in the northeastern part of the Craig River watershed. Both are former gold mines.

References

{{Reflist Cassiar Land District International rivers of North America Rivers of Alaska Rivers of British Columbia Rivers of the Boundary Ranges Rivers of Wrangell, Alaska Stikine Country Tahltan Tlingit

Name origin

Geography

Ecology

See also

References