The Taku River (

Lingít 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 ),

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

running from

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, to the northwestern coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, at

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the s ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. The river basin spreads across . The Taku is a very productive salmon river and its drainage basin is primarily wilderness. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Taku Indians controlled the trade routes on the river and compelled natives of the Interior to use them as middle-men, instead of allowing trade directly with white settlers. The

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

established a trading post called

Fort Durham Fort Durham, also known as Fort Taku, Taku, Taco, and Tacouw, is an archaeological site near Taku Harbor, Alaska, within the limits of Juneau City and Borough and Tongass National Forest. It was one of three Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) posts s ...

, also known as Fort Taku, near the mouth of the Taku River in the early 1840s to take advantage of the natural trade route. However, by 1843, Fort Durham had been abandoned as unprofitable. Although a major river, the Taku's name does not extend to its headwaters. Its name begins at the confluence of the Inklin and

Nakina River The Nakina River is a river in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, rising southeast of Atlin Lake and flowing generally southeast to its confluence with the Inklin River at the locality of Inklin, where the two rivers combine to form the Taku Ri ...

s, which is the location of the tiny community of Inklin. The Inklin's name also only extends upstream to the confluence of the Nahlin and Sheslay Rivers, which the Nakina's main tributaries are the Sloko and

Silver Salmon River Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical co ...

s. One account of its name is that "Taku" is the

Tlingit language The Tlingit language ( ; ''Lingít'' ) is spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada and is a branch of the Na-Dene language family. Extensive effort is being put into revitalization programs in Southeast Alaska to rev ...

word for "salmon" but the Taku Tlingit name for themselves ''T'aaku Kwáan'' translates as "Geese Flood Upriver Tribe"". There are also three ''kwaans'' of the Tlingit people: Taku Kwaan, Yenyeidi, wolf clan "own" Taku watershed, originating from yen hidi, 12 miles s/e of Juneau, a coastal clan, NOT inland in British Columbia, the ''Áa Tlein Kwáan'' ("Big Lake Tribe", today organized as the

Taku River Tlingit First Nation The Taku River Tlingit First Nation are the band government of the Inland Tlingit in far northern British Columbia, Canada and also in Yukon. They comprise two ''ḵwaan'' (tribes) of the Tlingit people, who are otherwise coastal, the ''Áa Tlei ...

) and the ''Deisleen Kwáan'' ("Big Sinew Tribe", today organized as the

Teslin Tlingit Council The Teslin Tlingit Council (TTC) is a First Nation band government in the central Yukon in Canada, located in Teslin, Yukon along the Alaska Highway and Teslin Lake. The language originally spoken by the Teslin Tlingit or Deisleen Ḵwáan (″Big ...

); the territory of the former includes those areas of the Taku basin in British Columbia.

Tributaries

The Taku's main tributaries are as follows, listed hierarchically in ascending order from its mouth: *

Wright River Wright is an occupational surname originating in England. The term 'Wright' comes from the circa 700 AD Old English word 'wryhta' or 'wyrhta', meaning worker or shaper of wood. Later it became any occupational worker (for example, a shipwright i ...

* Sittakanay River *

Tulsequah River The Tulsequah River, formerly the Talsekwe River (Lingít: ''Taaltsux̱éi''), is a tributary of the Taku River in northwestern British Columbia, located south of the Atlin District The Atlin District, also known as the Atlin Country, is a historica ...

Inklin River The Inklin River (Lingít: ''Héen Tlein'') is a tributary of the Taku River in the northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It originates at the confluence of its two main tributaries, the Nahlin River and the Sheslay River an ...

** Sutlahine River ** Nahlin River *** Dudidontu River ****

Kakuchuya Creek Kakuchuya Creek, historically called the Kakuchuya River, is a stream in Cassiar Country of British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky ...

*****

Matsatu Creek Matsatu Creek, historically called the Matsatu River, is a tributary of Kakuchuya Creek and part of the Taku River watershed in northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is located north of the abandoned settlement of Shes ...

*** Koshin River ****

Kaha Creek Kaha Creek is a tributary of the Koshin River in northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It flows generally northwest for roughly Length measured using Google Maps path tool, BCGNIS coordinates, topographic maps, anToporama/ref ...

**** Lost Creek *** Megatushon Creek ** Sheslay River *** Samotua River *** Hackett River **** Egnell Creek *

** Sloko River *** Nakonake River **

Economic value

The Taku River is an important contributor to the economies of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, especially for its commercial, sport and personal-use fisheries. A detailed report released in 2004 by the McDowell Group The Taku River Economy: An Economic Profile of the Takue River Area
/ref> notes $5.4 million in total U.S. commercial harvest and processing output, including 80 jobs and $1.4 million in labor income. British Columbia added over $750,000 more. Fishwheel on the Taku River, Alaska May 5, 1908 (COBB 158)

Fishwheel on the Taku River, Alaska May 5, 1908 (COBB 158)

Other activities, including commercial air, guided river excursions, hunting and property taxes added still more to the general regional economy. the report mentioned above estimated "the annual economic impact from all activities on the Taku River to be $26.7 million," most of it, about $18 million, from commercial air activity directly related to tourism. The Taku is the Southeast Alaska's top salmon-producing river. Data from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game Taku River Salmon Stock Assessment
/ref> notes that nearly 2 million wild salmon return to the river annually, including up to 100,000

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 ...

(king salmon), 350,000 sockeye salmon (red salmon) and 400,000

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". The scientif ...

(silver salmon), 50,000

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 ...

(dog salmon), and 1 million

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 ...

(humpy salmon). Beyond its bounty of salmon, the Taku is home to eight other fish species, including steelhead, bull trout, Dolly Varden char, rainbow trout, lake trout, Arctic grayling, whitefish and Southeast Alaska's largest population of cutthroat trout. In addition, hooligans (

eulachon The eulacheon ( (''Thaleichthys pacificus''), also spelled oolichan , ooligan , hooligan ), also called the candlefish, is a small anadromous species of smelt that spawns in some of the major river systems along the Pacific coast of North Ame ...

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

and

halibut Halibut is the common name for three flatfish in the genera '' Hippoglossus'' and ''Reinhardtius'' from the family of right-eye flounders and, in some regions, and less commonly, other species of large flatfish. The word is derived from ''h ...

are harvested at or near the river's mouth. That marine wealth supports major sport, commercial and tribal fisheries in Alaska and British Columbia.

Flooding history

Periodically, the Taku River reaches flood stage (43 ft) or above. Records of the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction ServiceAdvanced Hydrologic Prediction Service
/ref> (AHPS), a branch of the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

, show that in the last two decades the river crested above six times. The highest level reached in that period was on June 25, 2004. As of August 12, 2009, the highest registered level for 2009 occurred on July 24 when the river crested at . More information is available at the AHPS website. Also see * http://takuriver.com/takuriverfloods.htm The Taku River fills Tulsequah Lake during peak flow, causing lake outburst events most years. As the lake swells the water can float or melt the glacier enough to trigger sudden releases.

Habitat protection efforts

Past mining activity and the potential for future mining on the Canadian side of the border led the State of

to take recent habitat protection steps. In January 2009, the

Alaska Department of Natural Resources The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is a department within the government of Alaska in the United States of America. The department has the mission of responsibly developing Alaska's resources by making them available for maximum use and ...

' Division of Coastal and Ocean Management approved a request from the

Alaska Department of Fish and Game The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is a department within the government of Alaska. ADF&G's mission is to protect, maintain, and improve the fish, game, and aquatic plant resources of the state, and manage their use and development in ...

to designated the entire U.S. portion of the Taku River as "important habitat," a designation that put the stretch of river within the purview of protective provisions in Alaska law that require those applying for certain river use permits "avoid, minimize, or mitigate significant adverse impacts to the special productivity of the habitat." In February, the director of the division rescinded the designation for a portion of the U.S. river below the

Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...

. The important habitat designation remains in place, however, for a section beginning at the river's mouth near Juneau, Alaska.Memorandum: Division of Coastal and Ocean Management, Feb. 23, 2009
/ref> Several organizations are working to win further

habitat conservation Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in te ...

protections for the river, including Rivers Without Borders and the Alaska Marine Conservation Council.Alaska Marine Conservation Council
/ref>

News

Juneau Empire, (June 18, 2009) opinion, My Turn: ''"Palin should seize Taku opportunity"''

Juneau Empire, ( July 12, 2009) story: ''"Palin urges Canadians to address mine's acid drainage"''

Juneau Empire, (July 19, 2009) story: ''"Bridging the gap: Conservation and commercial fishing"''

Juneau empire, (July 24, 2009) story: ''"Taku River flooding could near record"''

The Globe Mail, (July 28, 2009) Column: ''"Palin's parting words to B.C.: 'Don't spill baby, don't spill"''

Yukon News, July 31, 2009, story: ''"Redcorp's bankruptcy threatens salmon-rich Taku"''

Juneau Empire, (Aug. 17, 2009) story: ''"Spawning grounds stock derby catch: State biologists collect salmon data with fish wheels, spaghetti tags"''

Juneau Empire, (Aug. 31, 2009) opinion, Letter: ''"Parnell should make Taku River a priority"''
* http://takuriver.com/rivernews.htm

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rivers of Juneau, Alaska Rivers of Alaska Rivers of the Boundary Ranges Cassiar Land District Atlin District International rivers of North America Tlingit