Cone

The Cone Roadless Area encompasses 128,454 acres within the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, situated within the Coast Mountains of Southeast Alaska. The area takes its name from Cone Mountain and includes a collection of high peaks — among them Black Crag, Mount Pounder, Mount Whipple, Mount Fawcett, and Mount Cote — that define the skyline of this varied terrain. Hydrology in the Cone area drains primarily through the Katete River system, with the headwaters of the West Fork Katete River originating within the roadless area, along with the South Fork Craig River. Water moving off the high slopes feeds these drainage networks that carry flows through forested valleys and toward lower coastal reaches, creating a web of stream corridors that structure the landscape.

The forest communities of the Cone area reflect the cool, wet conditions of the northern Pacific coastal zone. Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) dominates the lower and mid-elevation stands, forming the overstory canopy in valley bottoms and along stream corridors where soils remain productive. The understory in these spruce-dominated stands supports thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus) along forest edges and openings, its broad leaves and late-summer fruit characteristic of disturbed and semi-open conditions across Southeast Alaska. At higher elevations and on exposed ridgelines, the forest gives way to subalpine and alpine communities. Nootka lupine (Lupinus nootkatensis) occupies disturbed mineral soils and openings, fixing nitrogen and creating conditions for early successional vegetation. Segmented luetkea (Luetkea pectinata) forms mats on rocky subalpine terrain, sharing space with alpine-azalea (Kalmia procumbens) in the wind-exposed zones near treeline. River beauty (Chamaenerion latifolium) colonizes gravelly stream margins at higher elevations, its magenta flowers marking the edge of active floodplains. Western dwarf dogwood (Cornus unalaschkensis) appears in moister forest understories at mid-elevation.

The Katete River system and its tributaries sustain populations of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma), which drive nutrient cycling across the watershed — their decomposing carcasses delivering marine-derived nutrients to streamside soils and forest vegetation. Longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus) occupies deeper stream reaches, while rainbow trout and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) use both river and lake habitat. American dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) forages along fast-moving stream channels, walking underwater along the streambed in a behavior distinctive to this species. Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) may enter coastal-adjacent river mouths associated with the drainage. Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), delisted from the federal Endangered Species list, hunts salmon from perches above the stream network. American black bear (Ursus americanus) and moose (Alces alces) are confirmed residents, the former heavily dependent on salmon runs and berry-producing shrubs, the latter browsing riparian willow and shrub communities. Western toad (Anaxyrus boreas) uses still-water pond margins within the forested landscape. Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) and spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularius) are observed in open aquatic and riparian zones. Portions of this area fall within the potential range of several federally listed species; see the Conservation section for details.

A person moving through the Cone area would experience the transition from dense valley-bottom spruce forest — where light filters through a high canopy over a dense understory of thimbleberry and dwarf dogwood — to the open, wind-swept subalpine zones where luetkea mats cover rocky ground between stands of stunted trees. The sound of moving water from the West Fork Katete River and its headwater tributaries tracks progress through the lower drainages, while the upper terrain opens to views of Black Crag, Mount Pounder, and Cone Mountain. The shift in vegetation from closed forest to shrub-dominated openings and finally to alpine herb and mat communities marks the elevation gradient that characterizes the interior of this roadless area.

The lands encompassing what is now the Cone Roadless Area in the Tongass National Forest have been home to Indigenous peoples for at least 10,000 years [2]. Long before European contact, the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples inhabited Southeast Alaska as separate and distinct nations, stewarding lands and waters, practicing art and science, and engaging in extensive trade networks [1]. These peoples established permanent villages, harvested salmon with weirs and traps, and developed complex ceremonial traditions deeply tied to specific places across the archipelago [2]. The area now administered within the Wrangell Ranger District fell within traditional Tlingit territories, where families maintained seasonal camps for fishing, hunting, and gathering across generations.

European contact began in earnest when Russian and other explorers entered Southeast Alaska waters in the mid-eighteenth century, initiating trade in sea otter pelts that dramatically altered the regional economy [2]. Russia's sale of Alaska to the United States in 1867 accelerated western development, bringing miners, cannery operators, and settlers seeking resources from the region's forests and waters [2]. From 1867 onward, the primary use of timber in Southeast Alaska was by the mining and fishing industries: every significant mine logged nearby hillsides to provide lumber and timber, while the fishing industry used large trees for fish traps and local sawmills produced lumber for canneries, salteries, and shipping crates [4]. Early canneries along the coast, including facilities near Wrangell, became foundational to the regional economy in the decades following American acquisition [3].

In response to growing concern that unregulated resource extraction would exhaust the region's forests, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve on August 20, 1902 [5]. On September 10, 1907, Roosevelt formally proclaimed the Tongass National Forest, created on the recommendation of forest supervisor W. A. Langille and forest inspector F. E. Olmsted [3][6]. The Tongass absorbed the Alexander Archipelago National Forest on July 1, 1908, consolidating federal management over the vast majority of Southeast Alaska's timberlands [6]. By 1909, nearly all commercial timber in Southeast Alaska had been incorporated into the Tongass National Forest, with annual timber harvest averaging approximately 15 million board feet, used primarily to support local fishing and mining operations [5].

The establishment of the Tongass came without the consent of the region's Indigenous peoples. In 1929, the Alaska Native Brotherhood passed a resolution to sue the United States government for creating the Tongass National Forest and Glacier Bay National Monument without the permission of the Indigenous people of Southeast Alaska [1]. Decades of legal effort followed. In 1959, the U.S. Court of Claims ruled that the Tlingit and Haida Indians had original use and occupancy of lands in Southeast Alaska from time immemorial, and that the United States owed compensation for lands withdrawn to create the Tongass [1]. In 1968, the Court of Claims awarded Tlingit and Haida $7.5 million for those withdrawn lands [1].

Throughout the mid-twentieth century, industrial timber harvest expanded dramatically across the Tongass. Congress passed the Tongass Timber Act in 1947, and two large pulp mills were subsequently constructed — at Ketchikan in 1954 and Sitka in 1959 — underpinned by long-term Forest Service contracts that authorized large-scale logging across the forest's old-growth stands [4][5]. The Cone area, as part of the broader Tongass landscape managed out of the Wrangell Ranger District, lies within a region whose human history spans millennia of Indigenous stewardship, a century of industrial resource extraction, and ongoing federal management. It was designated a roadless area under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Vital Resources Protected

Cold-Water Stream and Headwater Integrity

The Cone Roadless Area contains the headwaters of the West Fork Katete River and the South Fork Craig River — source streams that establish the water temperature, sediment load, and flow regime for the entire downstream Katete River system. In roadless condition, these headwater channels maintain undisturbed riparian buffers of Sitka spruce and native shrubs that shade the water, regulate temperature, and deliver large woody debris that creates the pool-riffle structure on which sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma), and rainbow trout and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) depend for spawning and rearing. Roadless headwaters are the most difficult aquatic systems to restore once disturbed: the sediment inputs, temperature shifts, and channel changes caused by road construction can persist for decades after the initial disturbance.

Interior Forest Habitat and Unfragmented Canopy

The 128,454-acre extent of the Cone area supports interior forest conditions across a large, contiguous block of Sitka spruce forest that has not been subdivided by roads. Interior forest species — those that require large patches of closed-canopy habitat free of road-associated edge effects — depend on this unfragmented structure. American black bear (Ursus americanus) and moose (Alces alces) both use large, contiguous habitat blocks and are vulnerable to the behavioral disruption and mortality associated with road networks, including vehicle collisions and increased hunting pressure in road-accessible areas. The roadless condition maintains the canopy closure and interior-forest microclimate that support the full suite of mid-elevation species confirmed in the Cone area.

Subalpine Ecosystem and Elevational Gradient Connectivity

The varied terrain of the Cone area — including the high peaks of Black Crag, Mount Pounder, Mount Whipple, Mount Fawcett, and Cone Mountain — supports an uninterrupted elevational gradient from valley-bottom spruce forest to alpine communities of segmented luetkea (Luetkea pectinata), alpine-azalea (Kalmia procumbens), and river beauty (Chamaenerion latifolium). Under climate change, these elevational gradients serve as movement corridors for species shifting their ranges upslope in response to warming temperatures — a function that requires continuous, unfragmented habitat from valley floor to ridgeline. Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) and moose face documented threats from climate-driven habitat shifting; the intact elevational gradient of the Cone roadless area preserves the connectivity that allows response to these changes.

Potential Effects of Road Construction

Sedimentation and Thermal Loading in Spawning Streams

Road construction on the slopes above the West Fork Katete and South Fork Craig drainages would generate chronic sedimentation from cut slopes, fill slopes, and roadway surfaces — inputs that smother the clean gravel spawning beds that sockeye salmon and rainbow trout require. Canopy removal along the road corridor would increase solar input to the stream, raising water temperatures above the thermal tolerances of cold-water salmonids at precisely the developmental stages — egg incubation and juvenile rearing — when temperature sensitivity is highest. These sedimentation and temperature effects are cumulative and long-lasting, persisting well beyond the active construction phase.

Habitat Fragmentation and Edge Effects in Continuous Spruce Forest

Road corridors fragment contiguous Sitka spruce forest, converting interior habitat to edge habitat along the entire length of any road network. Edge conditions favor generalist and invasive species over interior-dependent wildlife, alter the moisture and light regime of adjacent forest stands, and create barriers to the movement of species that avoid open corridors. For species such as Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris), road surfaces themselves are direct mortality sources during dispersal; for bears and moose, road access increases human disturbance and hunting pressure across areas previously buffered by inaccessibility.

Invasive Species Dispersal via Disturbed Road Corridors

Road construction creates disturbed mineral soil conditions and a maintained open corridor — the combination that most reliably facilitates establishment and spread of non-native invasive plants. On the Tongass, road corridors have documented associations with invasive species spread into adjacent native plant communities. Once established along a road corridor, invasive species can persist and expand for decades; removal is labor-intensive and rarely complete. The roadless condition of the Cone area is, in this respect, also a barrier to the dispersal pathways that non-native species require.

The Cone Roadless Area covers 128,454 acres of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, managed out of the Wrangell Ranger District. No maintained trails, designated trailheads, or established campgrounds have been verified within the area. Recreation here is dispersed and backcountry in character — accessed by those willing to navigate off-trail through varied terrain that includes valley-bottom Sitka spruce forest, subalpine shrubland, and exposed alpine ridgelines anchored by Black Crag, Mount Pounder, Mount Whipple, Mount Fawcett, Mount Cote, and Cone Mountain.

Fishing

The Katete River system, including the West Fork Katete River and South Fork Craig River, supports confirmed populations of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma), rainbow trout and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus). The West Fork Katete headwaters originate within the roadless area, and these upper reaches support cold, clear water conditions that fish populations depend on for spawning and rearing. Anglers reaching these drainages on foot or by floatplane access encounter stream conditions characteristic of undisturbed Tongass watersheds — unimpeded channels with natural pool-riffle structure and clean gravel. Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulations apply to all fishing within the area; anglers should consult current regulations for specific streams, seasons, and species limits before accessing these drainages.

Wildlife Observation and Hunting

The Cone area supports confirmed observations of American black bear (Ursus americanus), moose (Alces alces), bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularius), American dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), western toad (Anaxyrus boreas), and Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris). Moose use riparian shrub communities along the Katete drainages; bear occupy the full elevational range, concentrating near salmon streams during the salmon runs. Bald eagle can be seen hunting and perching along stream corridors where salmon are present. American dipper is reliably found on fast-moving stream reaches, foraging by walking underwater along the channel bottom.

Both black bear and moose are legal game in Alaska, and the Cone area's roadless condition means that hunting pressure is lower than in road-accessible portions of the Tongass. Hunters reach the area by boat, floatplane, or multi-day overland travel. The absence of a road network means harvest effort is self-limiting, and animals here are less conditioned to human presence and motorized disturbance than populations in accessible areas. Alaska Department of Fish and Game hunting regulations and license requirements apply; hunters should confirm current season dates, bag limits, and any area-specific restrictions before planning a trip.

Bird Observation

No formal eBird hotspots are established for the Cone area, but the confirmed species list documents a range of habitat-specific birds across the elevation gradient. Bald eagle and arctic tern are active along waterways, with tern behavior visible at open water areas. Spotted sandpiper occupies streamside gravel bars along the Katete drainages. American dipper is among the most accessible of the area's birds for observers willing to follow stream corridors on foot. The varied terrain — from closed spruce canopy in the valley to open subalpine and alpine zones at elevation — offers habitat transitions that support a broader diversity of species than the confirmed observation list captures.

Backcountry Travel and Photography

The terrain of the Cone area presents an alpine and subalpine landscape that rewards cross-country travel by experienced backcountry parties. The peaks — Black Crag, Cone Mountain, Mount Pounder — offer routes that climb through Sitka spruce forest before transitioning through shrub-dominated subalpine zones into open alpine terrain where mountain harebell (Campanula lasiocarpa), moss campion (Silene acaulis), wedge-leaf primrose (Primula cuneifolia), and partridgefoot (Luetkea pectinata) grow on rocky ground near and above treeline. Nootka lupine (Lupinus nootkatensis) blooms in open mineral-soil areas at mid-elevation. These alpine wildflower communities are photogenic in summer; the broader landscape is accessible for photography of both wildlife and vegetation across all seasons to those willing to navigate without maintained infrastructure.

All recreation in the Cone area is contingent on its roadless condition. The absence of roads is what keeps the Katete salmon streams in their current undisturbed state, maintains the low hunting and angling pressure that characterizes the area, and preserves the off-trail backcountry character that draws visitors willing to work for access to remote terrain in the Tongass.