Juneau-Skagway Icefield

The Juneau-Skagway Icefield encompasses 1,187,268 acres of the Tongass National Forest across a landscape dominated by high peaks and active glaciation. Devils Paw rises to 8,584 feet, with Mount Nesselrode, Mount Canning, and the Mendenhall Towers forming a dramatic alpine spine. Below these summits, water originates in the North American Glacier and Ice Field ecosystem and flows through multiple river systems: the Antler River, Berners River, Lace River, Gilkey River, and Katzehin River drain the western slopes, while Lemon Creek, Nugget Creek, and the East Fork Skagway River carry meltwater and precipitation eastward. Granite Canyon headwaters feed this hydrologic network, creating a landscape where ice, rock, and flowing water define the terrain from the highest ridges to the lowland valleys.

Elevation and moisture gradients create distinct forest communities across the area. In the lower valleys and coastal margins, the Alaska Maritime Western Hemlock–Sitka Spruce Rainforest dominates, where western hemlock and Sitka spruce form a dense canopy over an understory of Devil's Club and deer fern. As elevation increases, this community transitions to Mountain Hemlock–Heather Forest, where mountain hemlock becomes the primary canopy species and western moss-heather and Sitka valerian occupy the forest floor. At higher elevations, Sitka Alder–Salmonberry Shrubland creates a dense, low-growing community that gives way to the Aleutian-Alaska Alpine Dwarf-shrubland and Heath and Forb Meadow ecosystems near treeline. Black Cottonwood Forest occupies riparian corridors and disturbed areas, with Salmonberry forming a productive understory layer. The white bog orchid, vulnerable (IUCN), occurs in wet meadow habitats within this elevational mosaic.

Wildlife in this landscape reflects the diversity of habitats and the productivity of coastal and alpine ecosystems. Brown bears move between salmon streams and alpine meadows, following seasonal food sources. The marbled murrelet, endangered (IUCN), nests in old-growth hemlock and spruce forests in the lower elevations, while hoary marmots occupy the alpine zones above treeline. Bald eagles hunt salmon in the river systems and coastal waters. The federally endangered short-tailed albatross and the Steller sea lion, vulnerable (IUCN), depend on marine resources in the waters adjacent to this roadless area. Sockeye and coho salmon return to spawn in the Antler, Berners, and other river systems, supporting both terrestrial and marine predators. Mountain goats inhabit the steep alpine terrain of the higher peaks.

A person traveling through this landscape experiences dramatic transitions in forest structure and composition. Following Lemon Creek or Nugget Creek upstream from lower elevations, the traveler moves through dense western hemlock and Sitka spruce forest where light barely penetrates the canopy and the understory is thick with Devil's Club. As elevation increases and the creek narrows, the forest opens into Mountain Hemlock–Heather Forest, where the canopy becomes more sparse and the ground layer shifts to low-growing heather and forbs. Continuing higher, the forest thins further into Sitka Alder shrubland, and eventually the trees give way entirely to alpine meadows and dwarf-shrub communities. The sound of water—from the roar of glacial meltwater in the lower canyons to the trickle of alpine streams—accompanies this ascent. On the high ridges like Blackerby Ridge or the Berners Peaks, the landscape opens to views of ice fields and distant peaks, with only the hardiest alpine plants clinging to exposed soil and rock.

The Juneau-Skagway Icefield lies within the ancestral territories of multiple Tlingit kwaans (tribal groups): the Áak'w Kwáan centered around Juneau, the T'aakú Kwáan based in the Taku River area, the Jilḵoot Kwáan of the Dyea and Skagway region, and the Jilḵáat Kwáan of the Chilkat River valley. The Tlingit utilized the rugged terrain of the Coast Mountains as vital trade corridors connecting the coast to interior Athabaskan peoples. The Chilkoot Trail and White Pass, located at the northern edge of the icefield region, served as established Tlingit trade routes long before European arrival. The T'aakú Kwáan documented a traditional trail called Sít' Héeni ("Glacier Water") that provided access to the Juneau Icefield area for travel and resource gathering. High-altitude areas near the icefield were used for hunting mountain goats, whose wool provided material for the prestigious Chilkat Blankets. The rain-forest-rimmed perimeter of the icefield supplied cedar for 60-foot outrigger canoes and spruce roots for basketry. The Tlingit name for the Skagway area, Shgagwei, refers to the whitecaps caused by strong north winds blowing off the icefield and through the fjords. During the mid-1700s, the T'aakú Kwáan experienced a period of isolation from the coast when the Taku Glacier advanced and dammed the inlet, demonstrating their long-term adaptation to the icefield's glacial cycles.

Beginning in the late 1800s, industrial operations developed on the periphery of the icefield. The Treadwell Gold Mine on Douglas Island operated from 1881 to 1922 and became one of the world's largest hard-rock gold producers. By 1910, the mine had created a company town that was the sixth-largest city in Alaska, featuring schools, hospitals, and stamp mills. On April 21, 1917, three of the four Treadwell mine shafts collapsed and flooded with seawater from the Gastineau Channel, ending the mine's dominance. Industrial focus then shifted to the Alaska-Juneau (AJ) Mine in Juneau, which operated from 1917 to 1944 and extracted millions of ounces of gold. Early mining operations, including the Treadwell Mine, constructed hydroelectric dams and coal-fired power plants to fuel stamp mills. The White Pass & Yukon Route, a narrow-gauge railroad, was completed in 1900 to connect Skagway to Whitehorse. This line was built during the Klondike Gold Rush (1897–1899) to transport prospectors and supplies over the rugged White Pass at the icefield's northern edge. In 1898, a 14-mile steam-driven aerial tramway was constructed up the White Pass to assist miners in transporting provisions over the mountains. In 1952, the Aluminum Company of America proposed the Taiya Project, a $400 million smelter near Skagway that would have involved reversing the flow of the Yukon River through tunnels beneath the mountains to generate power; the project was never realized.

The Tongass National Forest was established by executive proclamation and formally declared by legislation signed into law in 1909. Large-scale industrial logging in the Tongass began in the 1950s under 50-year contracts with the Ketchikan Pulp Company and Alaska Pulp Company. However, approximately 40 percent of the Tongass, including the Juneau-Skagway Icefield, consists of non-forested rock and ice unsuitable for timber harvest. Congress passed the Tongass Timber Reform Act in 1990 to set limits on logging, cap timber harvests, and protect riparian habitats.

The Juneau-Skagway Icefield was designated an Inventoried Roadless Area and protected under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Between 2003 and 2011, the Bush administration exempted the Tongass from the Roadless Rule, an exemption that was vacated by federal court in 2011. In 2023, the Biden administration reinstated the 2001 Roadless Rule protections for the area.

Vital Resources Protected

Headwater Protection and Salmon Productivity

The Juneau-Skagway Icefield feeds nine major river systems—including the Antler, Berners, Lace, Gilkey, Katzehin, and East Fork Skagway rivers—that originate in alpine and subalpine zones where glacial melt and snowpack regulate streamflow year-round. These headwaters currently maintain the cold, stable water temperatures and seasonal flow patterns that Pacific salmon require for spawning and rearing. The U.S. Forest Service watershed assessments classify these drainages as "Functioning Properly," with high hydrologic integrity. Road construction in headwater zones would remove riparian forest canopy, allowing direct solar heating of streams and increasing sedimentation from cut slopes and fill material, both of which degrade spawning substrate and reduce the dissolved oxygen salmon eggs need to survive.

Interior Forest Habitat for Old-Growth Dependent Species

The area's unfragmented expanse of Western Hemlock–Sitka Spruce rainforest and Mountain Hemlock forest provides the large, continuous habitat blocks required by species whose survival depends on interior forest conditions. The Tongass Conservation Strategy identifies five sensitive species—Alexander Archipelago wolf, brown bear, Queen Charlotte goshawk, American marten, and Prince of Wales flying squirrel—whose viability is contingent on maintaining such unfragmented landscapes. Road networks fragment forest habitat into smaller patches, creating edge effects that increase predation pressure on interior-dependent species and reduce the effective size of populations that require large home ranges. Once fragmented, these forest ecosystems are extremely difficult to restore to their original connectivity.

Climate Refugia Connectivity Across Elevational Gradients

The icefield's steep topography—ranging from sea level to 8,584 feet at Devils Paw—creates a continuous elevational gradient across multiple forest types: lowland rainforest, Mountain Hemlock forest, subalpine shrubland, and alpine dwarf-shrubland. This vertical connectivity allows species to shift their ranges upslope as climate conditions change, a critical adaptation as the region experiences accelerating glacial retreat and warming temperatures. The marbled murrelet (endangered, IUCN) and horned grebe (vulnerable, IUCN) depend on this mosaic of wetland and forest habitats across elevation zones. Road construction at mid-elevations would sever this gradient, isolating populations in lower valleys from higher-elevation refugia and preventing the range shifts necessary for species persistence under climate change.

Intact Wetland-Upland Transition Zones and Migratory Bird Habitat

The area's diverse wetland ecosystems—including Sitka Alder–Salmonberry shrubland, heath and forb meadows, and black cottonwood forests—provide critical stopover and breeding habitat for migratory shorebirds and waterfowl. Least sandpiper (near threatened, IUCN), lesser yellowlegs (vulnerable, IUCN), greater yellowlegs (near threatened, IUCN), trumpeter swan (apparently secure, IUCN), and horned grebe (vulnerable, IUCN) all depend on the hydrological connectivity between upland precipitation zones and lowland wetlands. Road construction and associated fill material disrupt groundwater flow and alter surface drainage patterns, fragmenting the wetland-upland transition zones these species require and reducing the availability of invertebrate prey in shallow water habitats.

Threats from Road Construction

Sedimentation and Stream Temperature Increase from Canopy Removal

Road construction requires cutting slopes to create stable roadbeds on steep terrain, exposing bare soil and rock that erode during the region's heavy precipitation events. Sediment from these cut slopes and from chronic erosion along road surfaces enters headwater streams, smothering the clean gravel spawning beds that salmon require and reducing light penetration, which suppresses the aquatic invertebrate productivity that salmon fry depend on for food. Simultaneously, removing riparian forest canopy along stream corridors allows direct solar radiation to warm water temperatures. Because salmon and their invertebrate prey have narrow thermal tolerances, even modest temperature increases reduce metabolic efficiency and increase disease susceptibility. In headwater streams already stressed by glacial retreat and shifting precipitation patterns, this combination of sedimentation and warming would compound climate-driven hydrologic changes and reduce salmon recruitment across multiple river systems.

Habitat Fragmentation and Loss of Interior Forest Conditions

Road networks divide continuous forest into isolated patches, creating hard edges where forest structure changes abruptly from interior conditions to edge habitat. This fragmentation increases predation on interior-dependent species like American marten and Queen Charlotte goshawk, which require large territories of undisturbed forest interior. The road corridor itself becomes a barrier to movement for species with limited dispersal ability, effectively reducing the size of breeding populations that depend on genetic exchange across the landscape. Once roads are established, the fragmentation pattern persists indefinitely—even if the road is eventually abandoned, the forest structure and species composition in the cleared corridor remain altered for decades, and the psychological barrier to movement persists for many species. The unfragmented condition of this 1.2-million-acre roadless area is irreplaceable; fragmentation cannot be reversed to restore the original habitat value.

Culvert Barriers and Loss of Aquatic Connectivity

Road construction across stream channels requires culverts or bridges to maintain water passage. Culverts—particularly those installed at steep angles or with inadequate sizing—create barriers that block upstream migration of salmon and other fish species, isolating spawning habitat in headwater zones and preventing access to cold-water refugia during warm periods. The U.S. Forest Service has documented culvert blockages as a significant degradation factor in Tongass watersheds. In the Juneau-Skagway Icefield, where nine major river systems originate, road construction would introduce multiple culvert barriers across a currently unobstructed network of spawning streams. These barriers would fragment salmon populations and reduce the effective size of breeding units, making populations more vulnerable to climate-driven changes in streamflow and temperature.

Invasive Species Establishment and Spread via Road Corridors

Road construction creates disturbed soil and vegetation conditions that favor invasive species establishment. The region faces documented threats from invasive aquatic plants like elodea, which degrades salmon habitat and commercial fisheries if it spreads into freshwater systems, and from marine invasives like European green crab and rough periwinkle, which are expanding northward as ocean temperatures warm. Road corridors—with their exposed soil, altered hydrology, and human traffic—provide dispersal pathways and suitable habitat for these invaders. Once established in headwater zones via road disturbance, invasive aquatic plants spread downstream into the entire river system, and terrestrial invasives expand into adjacent forest. The intact, undisturbed condition of this roadless area currently limits invasive species establishment; road construction would eliminate that protection and create the conditions necessary for rapid invasion across multiple drainages.

The Juneau-Skagway Icefield encompasses 1.2 million acres of alpine terrain, glacial systems, and coastal fjords across the Tongass National Forest. Recreation here depends entirely on the area's roadless condition—the absence of roads preserves the watershed integrity, wildlife habitat connectivity, and quiet backcountry character that define these opportunities.

Hiking and Trail Access

The area is served by established trails accessed from the Juneau road system and remote trailheads. The Denver Trail, Laughton Glacier Trail, Lemon Creek Trail, and Trail of Time provide foot access into the interior. Day hikers and backpackers use the Nugget Falls Trail and Nugget Creek Trail near Mendenhall Glacier, while alpine routes like Blackerby Ridge Route and the East Glacier Trail lead to high-elevation terrain. The Laughton Glacier A Spur, Denver River Spur, AJ Falls Spur, and Scenic Overlook offer shorter options. Access points include the Denver Glacier Trailhead, Lower Reid Falls Trailhead, and Laughton Glacier Trailhead. The Powerline Trail and Sturgil's Camp Trail provide additional foot routes. These trails remain quiet and undisturbed because the roadless designation prevents motorized access and road construction that would fragment the landscape.

Hunting

The area supports hunting for brown bear, black bear, mountain goat, moose, Sitka black-tailed deer, wolf, spruce grouse, wolverine, snipe, and crane across Game Management Units 1C and 1D. Mountain goat hunting runs August 1–December 31, with archery-only registration permits available for mainland areas. Brown bear seasons occur in spring (April–May) and fall (September–October) during salmon runs, with a specific registration hunt in Berners Bay. Moose hunting in Berners Bay is strictly permit-controlled; no permits were issued for 2024 due to low populations. Waterfowl seasons run September 1–December 16. The Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge allows waterfowl hunting only. Access is by boat through Lynn Canal and Berners Bay, by floatplane to remote alpine lakes and river bottoms, or by trail from road ends at Echo Cove and Thane Road. The roadless condition preserves the unfragmented habitat and remote access that make quality hunts possible—roads would fragment wildlife corridors and enable easier access that would degrade the hunting experience and wildlife populations.

Fishing

Fishable waters include the Antler, Berners, and Lace Rivers in the Berners Bay watershed, which support coho salmon (60,000+ annually), chum salmon, pink salmon, cutthroat trout, and Arctic grayling (in Antler Lake). The Katzehin River holds coho, chum, and pink salmon, Dolly Varden, and eulachon. The Skagway River supports pink salmon, Chinook salmon, and brown trout. Lemon Creek and Nugget Creek are fishable waters; Nugget Creek supports Dolly Varden. Most streams maintain wild populations. Chinook salmon regulations include a resident bag limit of one fish (28" or longer). Access is by floatplane to Antler Lake, by boat from Echo Cove to Berners Bay and river mouths, or by trail to lower reaches of Lemon Creek and Nugget Creek. The roadless designation protects cold headwater streams and undisturbed spawning habitat—roads and development would degrade water quality, fragment salmon runs, and disrupt the ecological integrity that supports these fisheries.

Birding

The area hosts over 280 bird species. Alpine and subalpine species include rock ptarmigan, willow ptarmigan, American pipits, and sooty grouse on high ridges and meadows. Forest birds include varied thrush, hermit thrush, Swainson's thrush, chestnut-backed chickadee, Pacific wren, Steller's jay, red-breasted sapsucker, and three-toed woodpecker. Water-associated species include bald eagle (common near salmon streams and tidal shorelines), northern goshawk, short-eared owl, Arctic terns (nesting near glacial lakes like Mendenhall Lake), American dipper, common merganser, and various gulls. Passerines include Townsend's warbler, yellow-rumped warbler, orange-crowned warbler, Wilson's warbler, ruby-crowned kinglet, golden-crowned kinglet, and sooty fox sparrow. Spring migration (April–May) brings waterfowl and shorebirds along Lynn Canal. Summer (June–August) is peak nesting season; June offers the best bird song listening. The Blackerby Ridge Route provides access to alpine habitats for ptarmigan and pipits. Berners Bay, accessible by boat or trail, offers eagle and waterfowl viewing. The roadless condition maintains interior forest habitat and undisturbed nesting sites—roads would fragment forest interior, increase noise, and disrupt breeding birds dependent on quiet, unfragmented habitat.

Paddling

Sea kayakers and packrafters access Berners Bay from Echo Cove at the north end of the Glacier Highway. The Antler River, Berners River, Lace River, and Gilkey River are paddled during spring and summer; the eulachon run in April–May draws paddlers to the Berners River. Tides are the primary factor—low tides expose vast mudflats. A USFS cabin near the Antler River mouth serves as a landing site. Lemon Creek is a whitewater run featuring Class II–III rapids at low water and Class III–V at high water, with a "mini canyon" and steep gorge section; put-in is via trail behind Home Depot or a haul road. The Chilkat River, fed by glaciers in the surrounding icefield region, is paddled on guided packrafting trips suitable for beginners and intermediates. Peak paddling season is late April through September. The roadless condition preserves the tidal estuary systems, glacial river corridors, and remote access that define these paddling opportunities—roads and development would degrade water quality, fragment habitat, and enable motorized access that would disrupt the quiet, undisturbed character of these waterways.

Photography

Scenic features include the Mendenhall Towers, a ridge of seven sharp peaks accessible via the West Glacier Trail or helicopter, and Nugget Falls, a 377-foot waterfall cascading into Mendenhall Lake, reached via a one-mile trail. Lions Head Mountain near Berners Bay offers alpine views. Glacial features—ice arches, seasonal ice caves, and seracs at glacier termini—are documented subjects. Wildflower displays of fireweed, cow parsnip, buttercup, Alaska cotton grass, wild geraniums, and monkshood peak from July to August in subalpine meadows and along trails. Wildlife photography opportunities include mountain goats on cliffs surrounding Mendenhall Glacier, bald eagles along the coast and salmon streams, and marine wildlife (humpback whales, orcas, Steller sea lions) in Auke Bay and Lynn Canal. The interior icefield is noted for extreme remoteness and lack of light pollution, suitable for northern lights photography during clear winter nights. The roadless condition preserves the unobstructed vistas, intact glacial systems, and wildlife populations that make photography here distinctive—roads would fragment viewsheds, alter glacier dynamics, and disrupt wildlife behavior.