Boston Bar

The Boston Bar Inventoried Roadless Area covers 53,617 acres in the Chugach National Forest of southcentral Alaska, framed by Bradley Peak and Mount Alpenglow above the upper Sixmile Creek drainage. The area sits at the head of a major watershed: it gathers the Walker Creek–Sixmile Creek headwaters and feeds Falls Creek, Sawmill Creek, Nelson Creek, Alder Creek, Black Creek, Seattle Creek, Silvertip Creek, Slate Creek, Granite Creek, Gulch Creek, and Portage Creek, with the Placer River draining the north-flowing slopes and Luebner Lake set among the lower benches. Snowmelt and rainfall pour from the high ridges into a dense web of cold, clear streams that carry sediment, salmon, and nutrients downslope into Turnagain Arm.

Forest cover on the lower and middle slopes is dominated by Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis), Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), and, in disturbed and riparian openings, Balsam Poplar (Populus balsamifera), Black Cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa), and Hooker's Willow (Salix hookeriana). Beneath the canopy, Devil's-club (Oplopanax horridus), Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), Oval-leaf Huckleberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium), Western Dwarf Dogwood (Cornus unalaschkensis), and Lettuce Lichen (Lobaria oregana) define a moist coastal-montane understory. Saturated peat shelves carry Bog Buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), Yellow Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanus), Roundleaf Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), Bog Rosemary (Andromeda polifolia), and Cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus). Above treeline, dwarf-shrub heath of Aleutian Mountain-heath (Phyllodoce aleutica), Alpine-azalea (Kalmia procumbens), and Black Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) gives way to fellfields where Purple Mountain Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia), Moss Campion (Silene acaulis), and Alpine Mountain-sorrel (Oxyria digyna) grip the scree. Persistent snowfields run pink with watermelon snow (Chlamydomonas nivalis) by late summer. The vulnerable Menzies' Burnet (Sanguisorba menziesii) and Tall White Bog Orchid (Platanthera dilatata) occupy wet meadow and seep habitats within this gradient.

Salmon-bearing streams structure much of the ecological life here: Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), Pink Salmon (O. gorbuscha), Chum Salmon (O. keta), and Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) ascend the lower creeks, feeding Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) and American Black Bear (Ursus americanus). Moose (Alces alces) browse riparian willow flats while Beaver (Castor canadensis) and North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) work the slow water. On the alpine ridges Rocky Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus), Thinhorn Sheep (Ovis dalli), and Hoary Marmot (Marmota caligata) share rock and turf with Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), which hunts the marmot colonies. Bog and stream margins host the vulnerable Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes), the near-threatened Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca), and the apparently secure Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator), while old conifers carry the Pacific Wren (Troglodytes pacificus), Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius), and Townsend's Warbler (Setophaga townsendi). Portions of this area fall within the potential range of several federally listed species; see the Conservation section for details.

A traveler climbing from the lower Sixmile Creek through dripping spruce-hemlock cover passes from devil's-club thickets into open salmonberry slides, crosses creek braids loud with snowmelt, then breaks above timber onto sloping heath. From the ridges below Bradley Peak and Mount Alpenglow, the watershed opens out in a chain of named tributaries—Granite, Sawmill, Silvertip, Falls—each carrying its own column of cold air. Marmot whistles, the rush of water down Gulch Creek, and the dry crunch of dwarf shrubs underfoot follow the climb to the snowfields.

The Boston Bar Inventoried Roadless Area covers 53,617 acres along the headwaters of Sixmile Creek in the Seward Ranger District of Chugach National Forest, Alaska. Long before the area carried its present federal designation, the lands draining into Turnagain Arm were Dena'ina Athabaskan country. [1] The Dena'ina homeland reaches across the shores of Cook Inlet, the interior of the Kenai Peninsula, and the Matanuska and Susitna river valleys, [2] and archaeologists trace their expansion into the southern Kenai Peninsula to roughly eight hundred years ago. [2] Dena'ina families living along the coast harvested harbor seals with harpoons and fished for salmon. [2]

Russian and then American prospectors followed. In 1848 the Russian-America Company sent the mining engineer Peter Doroshin to the Kenai Peninsula to search for precious metals. [4] Four decades later the American prospector Alexander King made the first commercial discovery of gold on Turnagain Arm, between the spring of 1888 and the fall of 1889. [1] A miner had pulled nuggets from nearby Resurrection Creek in 1889, a few years before the Klondike rush began, [5] and the first formal claim was staked there in 1893 by Charles Miller. [1] By 1895, claims had spread to Mills and Sixmile creeks, [4] and the Polly Mine, on a tributary of Sixmile Creek, recorded a good cleanup that fall. [1] Prospectors fanned out into Bear, Canyon, and Mills creeks, triggering the Turnagain Arm gold rush of the 1890s. [5] By 1896 a full-fledged rush was on, [4] and a tent-and-cabin settlement at the mouth of Sixmile Creek was christened Sunrise City for the way the sun appeared to rise three times from behind the steep mountains. [1] Over more than a century, the placer streams of the northern Kenai Peninsula yielded roughly 133,800 troy ounces of gold. [4] By 1931 only about twenty men were still placer mining on local creeks. [4]

Federal stewardship of the surrounding mountains began as the rush wound down. The Chugach National Forest was established by presidential proclamation on July 23, 1907 (35 Stat. 2149). [3] On July 2, 1908, the Afognak Forest and Fish Culture Reserve was combined with Chugach by Executive Order 908, enlarging the new forest. [3] Boundary adjustments followed by proclamation and executive order in the decades after, but the headwaters of Sixmile Creek remained within the forest. The 53,617-acre Boston Bar Inventoried Roadless Area is protected today under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule and lies within the Seward Ranger District in Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula counties, administered as part of the USFS Alaska Region.

Vital Resources Protected

• Cold-Water Stream Integrity. The roadless condition of Boston Bar preserves the unbroken headwaters of Walker Creek–Sixmile Creek, along with Falls Creek, Sawmill Creek, Granite Creek, Silvertip Creek, Slate Creek, and the Placer River. These cold, sediment-poor streams are spawning and rearing habitat for Sockeye, Pink, and Chum Salmon, Dolly Varden, and Rainbow Trout/Steelhead; the absence of road cuts keeps fine sediment off spawning gravels and protects the year-round temperature regime that these cold-water species require.

• Elevational Gradient Connectivity. The area's terrain rises from low riparian benches and Luebner Lake to the alpine fellfields around Bradley Peak and Mount Alpenglow, an unbroken continuum that lets Brown Bear, Moose, Rocky Mountain Goat, Thinhorn Sheep, and Hoary Marmot move between salmon streams, willow flats, and subalpine heath as season and forage demand. Without internal roads, this gradient remains permeable, supporting altitudinal migration and giving cold-adapted species like the Hoary Marmot, Trumpeter Swan, and the vulnerable Lesser Yellowlegs access to climate refugia at higher elevations as Alaska warms.

• Wetland and Peatland Hydrological Function. Saturated peat shelves, beaver-worked stream channels, and the marshy fringe around Luebner Lake hold the area's runoff in place — slowing it, filtering it, and releasing it through the summer. These wetlands support vulnerable plants like Menzies' Burnet and the Tall White Bog Orchid, and provide the still-water and emergent vegetation needed by the apparently secure Trumpeter Swan and the near-threatened Greater Yellowlegs during nesting and migration.

Potential Effects of Road Construction

• Sedimentation of Salmon Streams. Road construction across the steep, glacially shaped slopes feeding the Sixmile and Placer drainages would expose fresh cut faces and unstable fills to rain and snowmelt; the resulting fine sediment moves directly into spawning gravels, smothering eggs of Sockeye, Pink, and Chum Salmon. Because Alaska's coastal climate keeps cut slopes wet much of the year, chronic erosion typically persists for decades after the original disturbance, far longer than any single timber or access project.

• Fragmentation of the Alpine-to-Riparian Gradient. A road bench placed across slope effectively cuts the elevational corridor that bears, goats, sheep, and marmots use to move between the salmon streams and the high meadows below Bradley Peak and Mount Alpenglow. Even moderate vehicle traffic introduces an edge effect that displaces wary species like Brown Bear and Rocky Mountain Goat from preferred travel routes, and the disturbed shoulder becomes a long-lasting vector for non-native plants moving from lowland infestations into formerly uninvaded country.

• Hydrological Disruption of Wetlands and Peatlands. Culverts, side-cast fill, and ditching reroute the diffuse, slow groundwater flow that maintains the saturated peats and the fringe wetlands around Luebner Lake. Drained peat oxidizes and compacts, releasing stored carbon and converting habitat for Bog Buckbean, Roundleaf Sundew, and the vulnerable Menzies' Burnet into drier ground that the original plant community cannot recolonize on human timescales.

The Boston Bar Inventoried Roadless Area covers 53,617 acres in the Chugach National Forest along the headwaters of Walker Creek–Sixmile Creek and the Placer River, with Bradley Peak and Mount Alpenglow rising above the upper drainages. Access is from a small number of points along the Seward Highway and the adjoining road network; nothing inside the boundary is reached by road. The Gulch Creek Trail (#332) runs 1.6 miles on a native-surface tread reserved for foot travel — the one maintained summer route inside the area. The Johnson Pass North Trailhead is the staging point for longer overland trips into the surrounding Chugach country. Beyond the maintained trail, dispersed off-trail hiking follows creek beds and game trails through Sitka Spruce and Mountain Hemlock forest up into open heath above treeline. In winter, the INHT Turnagain Pass Snowmachine route (#457) covers 7.1 miles on a snow-surface alignment, usable only with adequate snowpack.

Fishing. Walker Creek–Sixmile Creek, Falls Creek, Sawmill Creek, Granite Creek, Silvertip Creek, Slate Creek, and Portage Creek collectively support Sockeye Salmon, Pink Salmon, Chum Salmon, Dolly Varden, and Rainbow Trout. Salmon ascend the lower reaches during their summer runs; resident Dolly Varden and Rainbow Trout hold in colder upper water. Eulachon use the lower mainstem in spring. Anglers should consult Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulations before fishing; several streams here carry seasonal closures and gear restrictions because of their importance to spawning salmon.

Hunting. The area supports Moose, Brown Bear, American Black Bear, Mountain Goat, Thinhorn Sheep, Snowshoe Hare, and Spruce Grouse, with White-tailed Ptarmigan in the alpine. Moose use the willow flats along the lower creeks; Brown Bear and American Black Bear feed on salmon during the runs and on berry crops in the subalpine; Mountain Goat and Thinhorn Sheep occupy the rock and turf below Bradley Peak and Mount Alpenglow. All harvest is governed by Alaska state seasons, draw permits, and ADF&G unit boundaries.

Birding. Twenty-three eBird hotspots fall within 22 kilometers of the area, including Chugach SP–Bird Point (131 species), Twenty Mile River Mouth (130), Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (123), Girdwood (121), Hope (93), Turnagain Pass (65), and Chugach NF–Granite Creek Campground (57). Inside the area, look for Trumpeter Swan and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs on wetland margins; Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle on the open ridges; Harlequin Duck on fast water; Spruce Grouse and Ruby-crowned Kinglet in conifer cover; and Pacific Wren, Varied Thrush, and Townsend's Warbler in mature forest. Sandhill Crane and Wilson's Snipe use marshy ground near Luebner Lake.

Camping and photography. Two developed campgrounds support trips into the area from outside its boundary: Granite Creek Campground and Bertha Creek Campground, both on the Seward Highway corridor. Backcountry camping inside the area is dispersed and requires bear-aware food storage given the presence of both Brown Bear and American Black Bear. Photographers will find Bradley Peak, Mount Alpenglow, the alpine heath above the Sixmile drainage, late-summer watermelon-snow patches, mass-flowering Nootka Lupine and Fireweed, and the lower salmon runs all accessible without intrusive infrastructure. Every activity above depends on Boston Bar remaining roadless: the salmon streams stay clean because no cut slopes drain into them; the alpine traverses stay legible because no road grid breaks the elevational corridor; hunting and birding stay productive because the wildlife is not displaced by chronic vehicle traffic.