Cleveland

The Cleveland Roadless Area encompasses 189,447 acres on the southern Cleveland Peninsula in Tongass National Forest, Alaska. The terrain is varied, framed by named promontories including Lemesurier Point, Magnetic Point, Caamano Point, Mount Marr, and Gold Mountain. Hydrology is a defining feature of this landscape: the area contributes major drainage within watershed 190101040407, with Cannery Creek, Meyers Stream, Wasta Creek, Black Bear Creek, Granite Creek, Falls Creek, Smugglers Creek, and Hofstad Creek flowing toward protected coves and saltwater bays. Meyers Chuck, Vixen Harbor, Emerald Bay, Bear Lake, and Smugglers Cove are among the named water bodies where fresh and saltwater systems converge. These creek drainages sustain coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), whose upstream migrations link the forest's interior to the marine food web.

The dominant forest community on the Cleveland Peninsula is the Sitka Spruce–Western Hemlock Forest (Picea sitchensis–Tsuga heterophylla), the characteristic coastal forest type of Southeast Alaska. Western hemlock forms the primary canopy across most slopes, with Sitka spruce reaching greatest stature near the coast and in valley floors. Alaska-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis) occupies wetter sites at higher elevations. The understory includes devil's club (Oplopanax horridus), salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), and red alder (Alnus rubra) along stream margins. At ground level, deer fern (Struthiopteris spicant), stairstep moss (Hylocomium splendens), and a dense cover of leaf litter define the forest floor. On poorly drained valley floors, bog communities form around common Labrador-tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum), bog buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), and round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) interspersed with cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus). Where forest meets shoreline, American dunegrass (Leymus mollis) and sea plantain (Plantago maritima) colonize exposed beaches.

The area supports a broad assemblage of marine and terrestrial wildlife tied to the interface of old-growth forest and productive saltwater channels. Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) hunt along the shoreline, while marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus), classified as endangered by IUCN, nest in the old-growth canopy and fly to the sea to forage. Harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) occupy rocky intertidal zones, and humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus, IUCN: vulnerable) feed in the adjacent waters. American black bears (Ursus americanus) and brown bears (Ursus arctos) move between interior forest and salmon-bearing streams during spawning season. The intertidal and subtidal zones support Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis), yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus), and giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini). Portions of this area fall within the potential range of several federally listed species; see the Conservation section for details.

A visitor entering the Cleveland Roadless Area via the Meyers Chuck Trail — a 1.0-mile path of native material — moves through the deep structural complexity of old-growth hemlock-spruce forest before emerging at the shoreline of the small community at the peninsula's western tip. Along the creek corridors, Pacific wrens (Troglodytes pacificus) call from the dense understory and the sound of moving water in Cannery Creek or Smugglers Creek defines the acoustic register. At the shoreline, the abrupt shift from cathedral-canopy forest to open tidal flat — where harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) haul out and pigeon guillemots (Cepphus columba) fly low over the water — marks one of Southeast Alaska's characteristic ecological edges.

The lands of the Cleveland Roadless Area—189,447 acres spanning Ketchikan Gateway and Wrangell Counties on Alaska's southern Cleveland Peninsula—rest within one of North America's oldest inhabited landscapes. The Tongass National Forest is, and always has been, the traditional homeland of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples, whose presence in Southeast Alaska predates European contact by more than 10,000 years [1]. The southern Cleveland Peninsula holds numerous prehistoric sites [5]. Helm Bay and Port Stewart, bays on the peninsula's eastern coast, were the traditional origin places of the Kiksudi Tlingit clans of Wrangell and Sitka, and the Gonoxaidi clan of the Stikine Tlingit Kwaan [5]. Tlingit people harvested salmon, gathered marine resources, and maintained fish camps throughout the region for generations.

Commercial exploitation of the area's fish and mineral resources began in earnest in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1887, Oregon entrepreneurs built a salmon cannery at Ketchikan Creek, where Tlingit fishermen had worked for centuries [2]. As the Yukon Gold Rush accelerated settlement in the late 1890s, gold, silver, and copper mines opened across the broader Ketchikan region [2]. White settlers were living year-round at Meyers Chuck, on the western tip of the Cleveland Peninsula, by the late 1800s [5].

The cannery economy defined the area through the first half of the twentieth century. In 1916, the Union Bay Fisheries Company established a salmon cannery at the mouth of Cannery Creek in Union Bay—a waterway draining the Cleveland Peninsula [5][6]. From 1916 to 1945, local fishermen sold their catch to the Union Bay Cannery, which packed it in bulk for sale to Japan [5]. Through the 1920s, a saltery producing mild-cured king salmon, a floating clam cannery, and a herring reduction plant all operated in the area [5]. By the early 1930s, thirteen canneries operated in Ketchikan alone, packing 1.5 million cases of salmon annually [2]. The Union Bay Cannery burned in 1947 and was never rebuilt [5].

World War II brought a new dimension of federal extraction: in 1942, the U.S. Forest Service established the Alaska Spruce Log Program on the Tongass to supply aircraft-grade spruce lumber for the war effort [3]. After the war, in 1951, the first of two fifty-year timber contracts was signed with a pulp mill in Ketchikan, directing large volumes of Tongass old-growth to industrial harvest [3].

The area's federal administrative history began in 1902, when President Theodore Roosevelt established the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve as a precursor to the Tongass [3]. Five years later, in 1907, the Tongass National Forest was formally established by presidential proclamation [3]. The forest is managed within the Ketchikan–Misty Ranger District of the USFS Alaska Region. Today, the Cleveland Roadless Area is protected under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Vital Resources Protected

Cold-Water Stream Integrity

The Cleveland Roadless Area maintains 189,447 acres of undisturbed Sitka spruce–western hemlock forest on the southern Cleveland Peninsula, preserving the forested buffer zones that regulate water temperature and sediment levels in Cannery Creek, Black Bear Creek, Granite Creek, Falls Creek, Smugglers Creek, Hofstad Creek, Meyers Stream, and Wasta Creek. These waterways carry coho and pink salmon to interior spawning gravels, and the roadless condition allows them to retain the stable substrate and cold temperatures that salmon eggs and juveniles require. The intact forest canopy limits solar warming of stream channels, while root systems and forest duff absorb precipitation before it reaches watercourses, preventing the sediment pulses that degrade spawning habitat.

Interior Forest Habitat for Old-Growth Specialists

The roadless condition on the Cleveland Peninsula preserves old-growth structural complexity — large-diameter trees, standing snags, and multilayer canopy — across an area large enough to sustain species that are sensitive to forest fragmentation. The marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus, IUCN: endangered) nests on large-diameter platform branches in old-growth Sitka spruce and western hemlock, flying to nearshore waters to forage. Alaska-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis, IUCN: G4), which occupies wetter upper-slope habitats across this area, depends on undisturbed hydrological conditions that only intact forest maintains. Where old-growth structural features remain intact, the interior canopy provides critical nesting and foraging habitat that second-growth forest cannot replicate for many decades.

Marine–Terrestrial Interface Habitat

The Cleveland Roadless Area spans the full length of the southern Cleveland Peninsula, connecting interior old-growth forest to the saltwater margins of Vixen Harbor, Emerald Bay, Meyers Chuck, and Smugglers Cove. This uninterrupted transition between forest and marine environments supports species that depend on both systems: brown bears (Ursus arctos) access salmon in creek drainages, bald eagles hunt between forest perches and the intertidal zone, and Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus, IUCN: vulnerable) use nearshore areas adjacent to undisturbed forest. The critically endangered sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) and pinto abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana, IUCN: endangered) occupy intertidal and subtidal habitats that benefit from the unpolluted freshwater discharge that intact stream systems provide.

Potential Effects of Road Construction

Sedimentation and Stream Temperature Degradation

Road construction on the Cleveland Peninsula's varied terrain would require cut slopes and stream crossings that introduce chronic sediment loads into salmon-bearing drainages. Culverts placed at road-stream intersections fragment fish movement corridors, blocking upstream access to spawning habitat in Cannery Creek, Granite Creek, Falls Creek, and Smugglers Creek. Canopy removal along road corridors increases solar exposure of stream channels, raising water temperatures beyond the tolerance thresholds for salmon eggs and juvenile fish — effects that persist long after initial construction through ongoing road-related erosion during freeze-thaw cycles.

Forest Fragmentation and Edge Effects

Road corridors through the Cleveland old-growth create linear clearings that interrupt interior forest habitat and introduce edge conditions — increased light, wind exposure, and desiccation — that alter the microclimate that old-growth specialists require. The marbled murrelet is particularly sensitive to fragmentation: road networks increase predator access to nesting sites and reduce the depth of undisturbed interior forest available for nesting. Edge effects spread laterally from road corridors, progressively reducing the effective area of interior habitat for species whose reproductive success depends on distance from disturbance.

Invasive Species Colonization

Road construction creates mineral soil corridors that allow invasive plants to penetrate interior forest. Reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea), already present on the Cleveland Peninsula, spreads rapidly along disturbed ground and outcompetes native riparian vegetation, displacing the native plant communities that support the invertebrate fauna at the base of the old-growth food web. Once established along road shoulders and disturbed slopes in remote coastal Alaska, invasive species populations are rarely eliminated — eradication requires sustained access and resources that remain impractical once initial colonization occurs.

Hiking and Trail Access

The Cleveland Roadless Area has one maintained trail within its 189,447 acres: the Meyers Chuck Trail (Trail #52783), a 1.0-mile route with a native material surface designated for hikers. The trail connects visitors to Meyers Chuck, a small fishing community on the western tip of the Cleveland Peninsula, where old-growth hemlock-spruce forest meets saltwater within a short walk of the dock. No formal trailhead or campground facilities are documented within the area. Access to Meyers Chuck requires water transportation — there is no road connection to Ketchikan or other regional centers — so visitors arrive by small boat, floatplane, or the Alaska Marine Highway system. This remoteness means the walk itself begins at the harbor edge and moves directly into forest interior.

Wildlife Observation and Birding

Meyers Chuck is a designated eBird hotspot with 101 confirmed species recorded across 95 checklists, making it one of the more productive accessible birding locations on the southern Cleveland Peninsula. The convergence of old-growth forest and productive saltwater channels draws a diverse avian community. Marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) commute between old-growth nesting sites in interior forest and nearshore foraging waters; pigeon guillemots (Cepphus columba), rhinoceros auklets (Cerorhinca monocerata), and black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) work offshore. Harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) occupy rocky intertidal areas, and bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are present year-round. In the forest understory, Pacific wrens (Troglodytes pacificus), Steller's jays (Cyanocitta stelleri), and spruce grouse (Canachites canadensis) move through old-growth structure. The rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus, IUCN: near threatened) visits from spring through late summer when salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) and western columbine (Aquilegia formosa) flower along forest edges.

Fishing and Marine Recreation

The creek drainages of the Cleveland Peninsula support coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) runs that draw sport anglers to the area. The adjacent marine waters hold lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis), yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus), and multiple other rockfish species including copper, redstripe, and tiger rockfish. Sportfishing in Southeast Alaska requires a current Alaska fishing license; species-specific seasons and regulations are set by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Small-boat and kayak exploration of the peninsula's coastline — including Bear Lake, Smugglers Cove, Vixen Harbor, and Emerald Bay — provides access to marine mammals including harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), sea otters (Enhydra lutris), and Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in nearshore waters. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) feed in Clarence Strait and Ernest Sound, the marine channels adjacent to the peninsula.

What the Roadless Condition Sustains

Recreation on the Cleveland Peninsula depends directly on the area's roadless condition. Water-only access keeps Meyers Chuck remote enough that the harbor dock, the trail through old-growth forest, and the tidal flat at the walk's end remain intact as a sequence, rather than becoming the endpoint of a road through logged land. The salmon runs that draw anglers to the creek drainages require undisturbed spawning gravel that only intact, forested watersheds produce. The marbled murrelet's presence in nearshore waters — one of this area's most distinctive wildlife experiences — depends on the old-growth nesting platforms found only in interior forest that has not been fragmented by road corridors. Paddling the undeveloped shoreline from Emerald Bay to Smugglers Cove reflects a direct consequence of keeping this peninsula's forest whole.