Dall Island

Dall Island is a 105,780-acre Inventoried Roadless Area within Tongass National Forest, positioned at the southwestern extremity of the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska. The island projects southward to Cape Muzon, one of the most remote promontories in the region, while a series of peaks — Stripe Mountain, Bear Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Twin Peaks — form the backbone of the interior. Hydrology is extensive and significant: the area encompasses Gold Harbor and its Pacific Ocean headwaters, Wright Creek, Jumbo Creek, and the Hydaburg River drainage, which flows northward toward communities on neighboring Prince of Wales Island. Enclosed bays and inlets — Essowah Harbor, Welcome Cove, Fisherman Cove, Windy Cove, and the tight passage known as Hole-in-the-Wall — create a layered interface between forested upland and open marine waters.

The dominant forest type across Dall Island's interior is the Pacific coastal temperate rainforest, characteristic of the outer Alexander Archipelago. Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) forms the primary canopy, frequently mixing with western red-cedar (Thuja plicata) on lower slopes where moisture accumulates. The understory carries the hallmarks of this system: devil's-club (Oplopanax horridus) fills gaps with its broad spined leaves, while deer fern (Struthiopteris spicant) carpets the floor of wetter drainages. Twinflower (Linnaea borealis) traces the drier portions of the forest floor, and licorice fern (Polypodium glycyrrhiza) grows epiphytically on hemlock bark. Along stream margins and disturbed edges, river beauty (Chamaenerion latifolium) and northern red currant (Ribes rubrum) mark transition zones where forest gives way to open ground.

The marine and intertidal margins of Dall Island support some of the area's most ecologically complex communities. Pinto abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana), classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List, grazes algae from rocky substrate in subtidal zones. Sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides), critically endangered globally, once played a keystone predator role in these same reefs before sea star wasting disease reduced its numbers dramatically. Giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) occupies the deeper rock shelves, while purple sea star (Pisaster ochraceus) and leather star (Dermasterias imbricata) forage through the intertidal. Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) haul out on exposed rocks throughout the island's coast, and Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, use the outer coast as foraging habitat. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) move through the surrounding waters, and the offshore zone supports common killer whales (Orcinus orca). Tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) nest on steep coastal bluffs. In the forest interior, American black bear (Ursus americanus) and North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) are the most visible mammals. Portions of this area fall within the potential range of several federally listed species; see the Conservation section for details.

A traverse of Dall Island moves from old-growth hemlock canopy, often draped in moss and hung with fern, down toward the shoreline where the understory gives way to salal (Gaultheria shallon) scrub and wind-shaped trees. The transition from forest to intertidal at a cove like Essowah Harbor or Windy Cove is abrupt: one moment the ground is soft duff under hemlock; the next it is barnacled rock sloping into kelp-fringed water. In the drainages feeding Waterfall Lake and Manhattan Lake, the canopy opens over streams where alder presses in from both banks and the sound of moving water becomes the dominant feature of the landscape.

Dall Island lies at the southwestern edge of the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska. For thousands of years before European arrival, Alaska Native peoples occupied these waters and forests. The U.S. Forest Service notes that Alaska's national forests were "predated by over 10,000 years of settlement by Alaska Natives before the first Europeans arrived." [3]

The Kaigani Haida came to hold the island and the surrounding coast. According to genetic and historical research, "the Haida first arrived on the Prince of Wales Island in the 1700s from Graham Island in British Columbia," pushing the Tongass Tlingit northward in the process. [1] Dall Island was the site of Howkan, one of the principal Kaigani Haida villages. When the U.S. government established the town of Hydaburg in 1912, it did so "through the consolidation of the Kaigani Haida communities of Howkan (Dall Island), Klinkwan, and Sukkwan that were located along Cordova Bay on the western side of the Prince of Wales Island." [1] The Tlingit and Haida peoples "live as separate and distinct nations, stewarding lands and waters, practicing art and science, and engaging in trade" — a pattern of life that extended across southeastern Alaska long before federal administration. [2]

By the late nineteenth century, small-scale commercial enterprise had reached the archipelago. The broader Alexander Archipelago economy included salmon canneries, copper mines, and sawmills that drew workers and capital from outside Alaska. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve as a precursor to more formal federal management of the region. [3] That action was contested: Tlingit and Haida communities objected to the withdrawal of lands they had long occupied, and in 1929 the Alaska Native Brotherhood passed a resolution to sue the United States government "for the creation of the Tongass National Forest and the Glacier Bay National Park without the permission of the Indigenous people of Southeast Alaska." [2]

On September 10, 1907, the formal proclamation creating the Tongass National Forest was issued. [4] On July 1, 1908, the Alexander Archipelago and the Tongass were consolidated into a single national forest — the Tongass — with a total area of 6,756,362 acres. [4] Dall Island and the surrounding waters came under Forest Service jurisdiction at that point.

Federal authority over the Tongass's timber did not resolve the question of Indigenous land claims. In 1959, the U.S. Court of Claims ruled that "the Tlingit and Haida Indians did have original use and occupancy, and asserted dominion from time immemorial, over all lands and waters in Southeast Alaska which they had claimed; and that the United States must make fair payment for those lands withdrawn to create the Tongass National Forest." [2] In 1968, the court awarded the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida $7.5 million for those withdrawals. [2]

Timber became central to the Tongass's twentieth-century economy. During World War II, the Alaska Spruce Log Program was established on the Tongass to provide aircraft lumber for the war effort. [3] By 1951, the Forest Service had entered into the first of two fifty-year timber contracts with a pulp mill in Ketchikan, anchoring industrial-scale logging to the forest's management for decades. [3]

Today, Dall Island's 105,780-acre Inventoried Roadless Area is protected under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, preserving the forested lands that Kaigani Haida communities, early cannery workers, and federal foresters each shaped across more than two centuries.

Vital Resources Protected

Cold-Water Stream and Riparian Integrity

Dall Island's roadless condition preserves the undisturbed hydrology of a major Pacific Ocean watershed system, including Wright Creek, Jumbo Creek, and the Hydaburg River drainage, along with intact riparian corridors around Waterfall Lake, Manhattan Lake, and Parrot Lake. In the absence of road construction, stream channels retain natural bank stability and the cool, clear flow that supports rainbow trout and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) as well as pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in their natal drainages. This hydrological integrity connects freshwater systems to the marine margins where pinto abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana, IUCN: endangered) and other intertidal species depend on unimpaired nearshore water quality.

Interior Forest and Old-Growth Structural Complexity

Across the island's 105,780 acres, the Pacific coastal temperate rainforest persists as a continuous, unfragmented canopy of old-growth western hemlock and western red-cedar. Roadless conditions maintain the structural complexity — standing snags, downed wood, closed canopy — that species dependent on interior forest conditions require. Logging and road construction under 50-year timber contracts historically reduced old-growth extent across the broader Tongass; the intact forest remaining on Dall Island represents habitat that has not undergone that conversion. North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) and American black bear (Ursus americanus) range across the upland-riparian continuum here in a landscape where forest and water systems remain functionally linked.

Coastal Marine and Intertidal Habitat Connectivity

The island's undeveloped shoreline — spanning Essowah Harbor, Windy Cove, Welcome Cove, Fisherman Cove, and dozens of exposed headlands from Cape Muzon to Cape Magdalena — maintains intact coastal forest buffer immediately adjacent to intertidal and subtidal habitat. Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus, IUCN: vulnerable) use the outer coast for foraging, and humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) move through surrounding waters. The roadless condition here prevents the shoreline fragmentation and industrial access that in other parts of the region has driven vessel traffic pressure on killer whale (Orcinus orca) populations through shipping-lane disturbance.

Potential Effects of Road Construction

Sedimentation and Stream Temperature Disruption

Road construction on the island's varied terrain would require cut-and-fill operations on slopes draining directly into named streams and inlets. Sedimentation from road-building on these forested hillslopes would increase fine sediment loading in Wright Creek, Jumbo Creek, and the Hydaburg River drainage — smothering the coarse gravel substrates that salmon and steelhead use for spawning and juvenile rearing. Canopy removal along road corridors would also elevate stream temperatures in drainages that currently maintain the cold-water conditions these fish require.

Fragmentation of Coastal Old-Growth Forest

Road networks would introduce linear clearings through the old-growth canopy, generating edge effects that increase windthrow exposure, alter understory light and moisture conditions, and reduce the area of functional interior forest. For species that depend on structural complexity — large-diameter snags, multi-layered canopy, deep duff accumulation — the transition from interior to edge conditions represents a qualitative habitat loss that persists long after road construction ends. Fragmentation also creates access corridors for invasive species that would not otherwise reach the island's interior.

Shoreline Disturbance and Nearshore Water Quality

Road construction to access coastal areas would place infrastructure adjacent to the intertidal margins where pinto abalone, sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides, IUCN: critically endangered), and other sensitive invertebrates occupy rocky subtidal substrate. Runoff carrying construction-derived sediment, fuel residues, and mobilized soil nitrogen would degrade the nearshore water quality these species require. Harbor seals and Steller sea lions using coastal haul-out sites would face increased disturbance pressure from vehicle access, which can interrupt pupping and nursing behavior at ecologically critical periods.

Dall Island is a remote, 105,780-acre roadless island within Tongass National Forest, accessible by boat or floatplane through the outer Alexander Archipelago. No maintained trails, developed campgrounds, or formal trailheads have been established on the island. Recreation here is dispersed and self-supported: visitors arrive by water, travel the shoreline by kayak or skiff, and move through the forested interior on unmarked terrain. The island's varied coast — from the exposed headlands of Cape Muzon and Cape Magdalena to the sheltered anchorages of Essowah Harbor, Welcome Cove, and Fisherman Cove — defines most of the practical access structure.

Marine Wildlife Viewing and Photography

The outer coast of Dall Island is productive for marine mammal observation from a vessel or kayak. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) feed in the waters surrounding the island, and orca (Orcinus orca) move through the region. Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) haul out on exposed rock throughout the coastline, and Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) use the outer coast as foraging habitat. Tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) nest on steep coastal bluffs, making the island's headlands — including Kaigani Point, Hassler Point, and Cape Lookout — productive locations for seabird observation during the nesting season. North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) are regularly observed along the shoreline and in stream mouths. The island's location at the southwestern tip of the Alexander Archipelago places it within the range of open-ocean species that rarely appear in more sheltered inside waters.

Marine Fishing

The marine waters around Dall Island support fishing for several species. Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) and quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger) are present in rocky subtidal habitats along the island's coast. Canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger) occupy similar rocky-bottom structures. Anglers typically access these fisheries by skiff from anchorages at Essowah Harbor, Windy Cove, or Fisherman Cove. Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulations govern all marine harvest; visitors should consult current regulations before fishing.

Freshwater Fishing

Pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) enter the island's streams during summer runs, providing freshwater fishing opportunity in Wright Creek and Jumbo Creek. Rainbow trout and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are present in the island's freshwater drainages. Waterfall Lake and Manhattan Lake offer additional freshwater fishing locations. Access to these interior drainages requires travel on foot from the shoreline without formal trail support.

Kayaking and Coastal Exploration

The island's extensive, indented coastline is well-suited to sea kayaking. The progression of named coves and sheltered waters — Welcome Cove, Fisherman Cove, Liscome Bay, Windy Cove, Essowah Harbor, and Hole-in-the-Wall — provides a series of protected stops along a circumnavigation or multi-day coastal route. The outer headlands, including Cape Muzon at the island's southern tip and Cape Magdalena to the east, are more exposed and require conditions assessment. Paddlers should plan for the weather and sea conditions typical of the outer Alexander Archipelago, where open Pacific swell reaches without significant buffer.

Hunting

American black bear (Ursus americanus) inhabit the island's forested interior. American mink (Neogale vison) are also present. Bear hunting on Tongass National Forest lands is subject to Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulations and federal land-use requirements. Access for hunters is by boat or floatplane.

Backcountry Character

The recreation that Dall Island offers depends directly on the absence of roads. Marine mammals use the undisturbed outer coast without the vessel-traffic pressure that shore-side road access would introduce. Freshwater fishing in Wright Creek and Jumbo Creek is sustained by stream conditions — cold water temperatures, intact bank cover, clean gravel substrate — that road construction on adjacent slopes would put at risk through sedimentation and canopy removal. The absence of road access keeps visitor density low and keeps the interior forest and coastal margins in the undisturbed condition that makes wildlife observation here productive and consistent.