Aishihik Lake is a lake in southwestern
Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
, Canada. Yukon Electric Corporation operates a 37 megawatt
hydroelectric dam
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
at the south end of the lake, where it drains southward into the
Aishihik River.
A
US Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sig ...
base was established near the north part of the lake during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The base used two
Buda diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...
s to supply power and pump water.
Fauna
Northern Mountain caribou
The Aishihik and Kluane caribou herds migrate in the area surrounding
Kluane and Aishihik Lakes. They are a northern mountain caribou, a distinct ecotype of the
woodland caribou
Woodland caribou may refer to two North American reindeer (''Rangifer tarandus'') populations:
* Boreal woodland caribou
The boreal woodland caribou (''Rangifer tarandus caribou''; but subject to a recent taxonomic revision. See Reindeer: taxo ...
. In 2009 there were 181 caribou in the Kluane herd (also known as the Burwash herd) and 2,044 caribou in the Aishihik herd. The Kluane herd was declining while the Aishihik herd was increasing.
Wood Bison
A 2020 Government of Yukon report stated that an estimated 50% of the territory's
wood bison
The wood bison (''Bison bison athabascae'') or mountain bison (often called the wood buffalo or mountain buffalo), is a distinct northern subspecies or ecotype of the American bison. Its original range included much of the boreal forest regions ...
population lived in a core range centered on this lake and stretching east the
Klondike Highway
The Klondike Highway is a highway that runs from the Alaska Panhandle through the province of British Columbia and the territory of Yukon in Canada, linking the coastal town of Skagway, Alaska, to Dawson City, Yukon. Its route somewhat pa ...
, south to the
Alaska Highway, west to
Kluane Lake.
See also
*
List of lakes in Yukon
References
National Resources Canada
Lakes of Yukon
Bison herds
Caribou
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