Bering Lake

The Bering Lake roadless area encompasses 965,076 acres of the Chugach Mountains in southeastern Alaska, where steep terrain and abundant precipitation create a landscape dominated by water. The area drains to two major river systems: the Martin River and the Bering River, which originate in the high montane reaches and flow seaward through a network of named tributaries including Burls Creek, Canyon Creek, Stillwater Creek, Shepherd Creek, Clear Creek, and Chilkat Creek. These waterways carve through the mountains, their headwaters fed by snowmelt and rain that sustains the region's characteristic wet climate and drives the ecological character of the entire landscape.

The forest composition shifts with elevation and moisture availability across the area. At lower elevations and in protected coves, Sitka Spruce - Western Hemlock Forest dominates, with Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) forming a dense canopy beneath which Devil's Club (Oplopanax horridus) and salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) create an impenetrable understory. As elevation increases or where moisture concentrates in seepage areas, the forest transitions to Sitka Spruce / Devil's Club Forest, where the understory becomes even more luxuriant. At higher elevations, mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) becomes increasingly prominent. Where the forest opens to disturbed areas and stream margins, Alder - Willow Shrubland takes hold, with green alder (Alnus alnobetula) and Sitka willow (Salix sitchensis) forming dense thickets. In the area's freshwater systems, aquatic vegetation including waterweed (Elodea spp.), pendent grass (Arctophila fulva), weak mannagrass (Glyceria pauciflora), and bluejoint (Calamagrostis canadensis) stabilizes stream channels and provides habitat structure.

The rivers and streams support multiple salmon species—coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), and coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii)—whose seasonal runs fuel the food web for both terrestrial and aquatic predators. Brown bears (Ursus arctos) congregate at spawning streams to feed on salmon, while bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) hunt from perches above the water. Moose (Alces alces) browse the willow and alder shrublands along stream corridors. American beavers (Castor canadensis) engineer the landscape by damming streams, creating wetlands that support wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) and western toads (Anaxyrus boreas). The federally endangered short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) and trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) use coastal and lacustrine habitats within the area. Eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus), a small anadromous fish, runs in the lower river reaches, supporting both marine and terrestrial predators.

A person traveling through this landscape experiences dramatic transitions in forest structure and hydrology. Following a stream upward from the river valleys, the forest canopy closes overhead as hemlock and spruce rise above the understory, and the sound of moving water becomes constant. Crossing from a dark, wet cove forest into an alder-willow shrubland opens the view to the surrounding ridges and allows the wind to reach the ground. Climbing toward higher elevations, the forest becomes more open and stunted, with mountain hemlock replacing the larger Sitka spruce. At every elevation, water is present—in the named creeks that cut through the terrain, in the seepage that keeps the understory perpetually wet, and in the mist that rises from the valleys. The landscape reveals itself as fundamentally shaped by the movement of water from the high mountains to the sea.

The Eyak people inhabited the Copper River Delta and the coastal and river systems extending east to the Martin River and north to Miles Glacier. The Chugach Sugpiaq, maritime specialists from Prince William Sound and the Kenai Peninsula, occupied adjacent territories to the west. Both groups relied heavily on salmon runs throughout the Copper River Delta and surrounding watersheds, and the Eyak maintained seasonal villages at Alaganik near the Copper River and at Eyak near present-day Cordova. The Eyak also served as middlemen in regional trade networks connecting coastal Tlingit merchants with interior Ahtna Athabaskan tribes, though all three groups—Eyak, Chugach Sugpiaq, and Tlingit—engaged in periodic conflict and raids. The Chugach Sugpiaq were expert seafarers who hunted sea mammals using skin-covered kayaks and larger flat-bottomed boats and relocated families seasonally to fish camps. The Eyak first encountered European explorers when Vitus Bering's expedition arrived at Kayak Island in 1741.

Commercial interest in the region intensified after 1896, when Thomas White discovered the first commercially viable oil in Alaska near Katalla Slough, immediately south of Bering Lake. The Alaska Development Company's 1902 discovery triggered rapid investment and speculation throughout the Bering Lake and Controller Bay area. Active drilling began in 1901, and by 1904 approximately fifteen wells were operating between Katalla and the Bering River. The Chilkat Oil Company established Alaska's first oil refinery on Katalla Slough in 1911. The Katalla oil field produced approximately 154,000 barrels before operations ceased in the 1930s, following a refinery fire in 1933 and post office closure in 1943. The Bering River coal fields, located approximately fifteen miles from the oil sites, held high-quality anthracite and bituminous coal reserves. A private Alaska Anthracite Railroad was constructed to move coal from these fields to Controller Bay for export. The 1909–1911 Pinchot-Ballinger Controversy, a major national political scandal, erupted over disputed coal claims in this area, pitting U.S. Forest Service Chief Gifford Pinchot against Interior Secretary Richard Ballinger and contributing to the 1912 split of the Republican Party. The Alaska Syndicate, formed by J.P. Morgan and the Guggenheim family, initially proposed a railroad from Katalla to interior copper mines but ultimately constructed the Copper River and Northwestern Railway to Cordova instead, redirected by violent storms and the lack of a protected harbor. The SS Portland, the vessel that initiated the Klondike Gold Rush, was wrecked at the mouth of the Katalla River in 1910 while engaged in local industrial trade.

The Chugach National Forest was established through a series of federal actions beginning with the 1892 designation of the Afognak Forest and Fish Culture Reserve. President Theodore Roosevelt issued a Presidential Proclamation on July 23, 1907, creating the Chugach National Forest under the authority of the Organic Administration Act of 1897. An Executive Order dated July 2, 1908, consolidated the Chugach National Forest with the Afognak reserve under a single name. A proclamation on February 23, 1909, further enlarged the forest boundaries to include lands near the Copper River and Cape Suckling. The forest was subsequently reduced several times throughout the early twentieth century to its current size of approximately 6.9 million acres. Executive Order 5402, issued July 24, 1930, excluded approximately 12.57 acres on Knight Island for fish cannery purposes. Executive Order 5517, issued December 17, 1930, excluded approximately 4.25 acres for a home site.

The 1964 Good Friday Earthquake significantly altered local geography, including the Katalla River and surrounding wetlands, with lasting impacts on maritime access to the region. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 led to substantial land transfers that reshaped Indigenous land ownership and management in Alaska.

The Bering Lake Inventoried Roadless Area, comprising 965,076 acres within the Cordova Ranger District of the Chugach National Forest, is protected under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Vital Resources Protected

Headwater Integrity for Five Major River Systems

The Bering Lake area contains the headwaters of the Martin River, Bering River, and multiple tributary systems (Burls Creek, Canyon Creek, Stillwater Creek, Shepherd Creek, Clear Creek, Chilkat Creek) that drain the Chugach Mountains. These high-elevation source streams are the foundation of downstream water quality and flow regimes across a major coastal watershed. Road construction in headwater zones accelerates erosion from cut slopes and removes riparian vegetation that stabilizes banks and regulates water temperature—impacts that cascade downstream to affect fisheries and aquatic ecosystems across the entire drainage network.

Migratory Shorebird and Waterfowl Staging Habitat

The roadless area's mosaic of Alder-Willow Shrubland and freshwater aquatic vegetation provides critical stopover and breeding habitat for multiple migratory species: Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Greater Yellowlegs (all near threatened or vulnerable), as well as Horned Grebe and Trumpeter Swan. These species depend on intact, undisturbed wetland and shrubland complexes where they can forage and rest during migration or raise young. Road corridors fragment these habitats into isolated patches, reducing their capacity to support the concentrated populations these species require during critical life stages.

Boreal Forest Canopy Continuity for Vulnerable Forest Specialists

The extensive Sitka Spruce–Western Hemlock and Sitka Spruce/Devil's Club forests provide interior forest habitat for species sensitive to fragmentation and edge effects, including the Rusty Blackbird (vulnerable) and Rufous Hummingbird (near threatened). These forests maintain structural complexity and microclimate stability that these species require for breeding and foraging. Road construction removes canopy cover, creates abrupt forest edges where temperature and humidity fluctuate, and allows invasive species to colonize disturbed soil—conditions that degrade habitat quality for species adapted to closed-canopy conditions.

Coastal Ecosystem Connectivity for Federally Endangered Marine Mammal

The Bering Lake area's roadless condition preserves the terrestrial-marine interface that supports sea otter (federally endangered) populations dependent on nearshore kelp forests and rocky substrates. Sea otters forage in coastal waters adjacent to the roadless area and haul out on beaches and rocky shores for rest and thermoregulation. Road construction near the coast increases human access, noise, and disturbance that disrupt haul-out behavior and increase collision risk, while sedimentation from inland erosion smothers the kelp and invertebrate communities that sea otters depend on for food.

Threats from Road Construction

Sedimentation and Temperature Increase in Headwater Streams

Road construction in mountainous terrain requires extensive cut slopes and fill placement that expose mineral soil to erosion. Runoff from these disturbed areas carries fine sediment into headwater streams, where it settles on spawning substrates and smothers the gravel beds that anadromous fish and resident species require for egg incubation. Simultaneously, removal of riparian forest canopy along road corridors eliminates shade, allowing solar radiation to warm stream water—a critical threat in cold-water systems where even 2–3°C increases can exceed thermal tolerance thresholds for sensitive species. The combination of sedimentation and warming reduces reproductive success across the entire downstream drainage network.

Habitat Fragmentation and Edge Expansion in Shrubland-Wetland Complexes

Road corridors divide the continuous Alder-Willow Shrubland and freshwater aquatic vegetation into smaller, isolated patches separated by open, disturbed ground. Migratory shorebirds and waterfowl—including the near-threatened Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, and Greater Yellowlegs—require large, unbroken wetland complexes to support the high densities of invertebrate prey they need during migration and breeding. Fragmentation reduces the total area available for foraging and increases the proportion of habitat exposed to edge effects (wind, desiccation, predation), making remaining patches insufficient to sustain populations during critical periods. Roads also create corridors for invasive plant species that colonize disturbed soil and degrade the native vegetation structure these species depend on.

Canopy Loss and Invasive Species Colonization in Interior Forest

Road construction through Sitka Spruce–Western Hemlock forest removes canopy cover and creates linear corridors of disturbed soil and early-successional vegetation. These open edges allow light-demanding invasive species to establish and spread into adjacent forest, degrading the closed-canopy microclimate that Rusty Blackbirds and Rufous Hummingbirds require for breeding and foraging. The loss of structural complexity—dead wood, dense understory, and multi-layered canopy—reduces the abundance of arthropods and small vertebrates that these species depend on for food. Once established, invasive species persist and continue to expand, making restoration of interior forest conditions difficult or impossible.

Increased Human Access and Disturbance to Sea Otter Haul-Out Sites

Road construction to the coast increases human access to beaches and rocky shores where sea otters haul out to rest and thermoregulate. Increased foot traffic, noise, and vehicle presence cause sea otters to abandon haul-out sites or spend less time resting, increasing metabolic stress and reducing survival, particularly for pups and juveniles. Additionally, road-related sedimentation from inland erosion reduces water clarity and smothers kelp forests and invertebrate communities in nearshore waters, directly reducing the abundance and accessibility of prey that sea otters depend on. For a federally endangered species with limited population recovery, these compounding stressors significantly reduce survival and reproductive success.

The Bering Lake roadless area spans nearly one million acres of the Chugach Mountains in southeastern Alaska, accessible only by boat or floatplane from Cordova. The absence of roads preserves the area's value for hunters, anglers, paddlers, and birders willing to travel by water or air to reach remote drainages and alpine terrain.

Hunting

The area supports populations of brown bear, black bear, moose, mountain goat, and Sitka black-tailed deer, along with grouse in spruce thickets and ptarmigan on upper slopes. Hunting falls under Alaska Game Management Unit 6C or 6D. Brown bear seasons typically run October 15–December 31 and April 1–May 25; non-resident hunters must be accompanied by a licensed guide. All hunters need a valid Alaska State hunting license. The Martin Lake Cabin serves as a base for hunters accessing the Martin River system and surrounding big game habitat. Access is by floatplane or boat from Cordova. The roadless condition maintains the undisturbed habitat and isolation that support viable populations of these species and the hunting experience that depends on them.

Fishing

The Bering River and Bering Lake support major runs of sockeye, coho, and pink salmon. The Martin River system is documented for sockeye and coho salmon. Chilkat Creek holds coastal cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden; Shepherd Creek and Clear Creek support salmon spawning and rearing. These are wild, native fisheries with no hatchery stocking. Anglers access the area by floatplane, landing on Bering Lake or the larger stretches of the Bering River, or by boat from the Gulf of Alaska. The Martin Lake Cabin provides a base for exploring the Martin River. Fishing regulations for this Prince William Sound/North Gulf Coast area typically allow 3 salmon per day (16 inches or longer) and 2 cutthroat or rainbow trout per day (11–22 inches). Only unbaited artificial lures are permitted in many streams to protect resident trout and char. The Bering River's high-volume glacial output affects water clarity seasonally. Coho salmon runs peak in late August and September. The roadless status preserves the cold, undisturbed headwater streams and intact spawning habitat that sustain these wild salmon and trout populations.

Paddling

The Bering River is a primary travel corridor—a winding, silt-laden system where small boats have historically been the main means of travel. Bering Lake itself is paddled by small craft. Shepherd Creek, with a documented historical access point called Canoe Landing, and Stillwater Creek are navigable tributaries. The Katalla River connects to the broader Bering Lake and Controller Bay system. Travel near the Bering River mouth and Controller Bay requires caution due to immense tidal flats, quicksand, and strong rip tides. The Bering and Martin River Glaciers feed these systems with erratic, turbulent glacial meltwater. Access is by floatplane or boat from Cordova. The roadless condition keeps these water routes free from road-based development and maintains the watershed integrity that makes small-boat travel through intact forest and alpine terrain possible.

Birding

Bering Lake is a documented breeding site for surf scoters. The broader North Gulf Coast region, which includes this area, supports an estimated 1,800–2,000 breeding pairs of bald eagles, several hundred breeding trumpeter swans, and nesting gulls, arctic terns, and kittiwakes on beaches and small islands near the Bering River and lake. Spring migration (April–May) brings millions of birds through the region, including northern pintails, dunlins, western sandpipers, northern phalaropes, whistling swans, snow geese, knots, and sanderlings. Summer hosts breeding marbled murrelets and Kittlitz's murrelets. Fall migration concentrates white-fronted geese and sandhill cranes (exceeding 100,000) across the North Gulf Coast. There are no designated birding trails or observation areas within the roadless area; access is by skiff along the Bering River and coastal inlets or by hiking undeveloped terrain. The roadless condition preserves the unbroken coastal and interior forest habitat, tidal flats, and breeding islands that support these migratory and resident populations.