Madan

The Madan roadless area encompasses 68,553 acres of Tongass National Forest on Wrangell Island, straddling the boundary between Hoonah-Angoon County and Wrangell County in southeast Alaska. The area spans varied terrain from coastal shorelines and tidal passages to glaciated mountain peaks, with Marsha Peak, Garnet Mountain, Mount Waters, and Wrangell Peak rising above forested basins including Glacier Basin, Horseshoe Basin, Groundhog Basin, and the geological outcrop at Garnet Ledge. Freshwater drainages include Mill Creek, Glacier Creek, Crittenden Creek, Porterfield Creek, and Garnet Creek; coastal features include Madan Bay, Shoemaker Bay, Berg Bay, The Narrows, and Virginia Lake. Rainbow Falls drops through one of the forested stream corridors above Wrangell.

Forest communities are dominated by Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) on lower slopes and valley bottoms, transitioning to mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) and Alaska-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis) at higher and wetter exposures. Western red-cedar (Thuja plicata) occupies moist valley corridors and streambanks; black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) and red alder (Alnus rubra) colonize river bars and disturbed stream margins. Old-growth stand continuity is marked by Methuselah's beard lichen (Usnea longissima), a pendant foliose lichen sensitive to logging and air quality change that drapes old-growth conifer limbs, and lettuce lichen (Lobaria oregana), a nitrogen-fixing foliose lichen associated with intact old-growth canopy. The understory holds devil's-club (Oplopanax horridus), oval-leaf huckleberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium), and deer fern (Struthiopteris spicant), with salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) and thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus) dominating disturbed forest edges.

The marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus, IUCN Endangered) nests on large-diameter, horizontally branched limbs of old-growth conifers within the area's interior forest, commuting daily to marine feeding grounds in Stikine Strait. Brown bears (Ursus arctos) forage through stream corridors and berry-producing slopes; mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and moose (Alces alces) range through the forested interior. Sea otters (Enhydra lutris, IUCN Endangered) use the kelp and rocky reef habitat in Madan Bay, Berg Bay, and Shoemaker Bay; Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus, IUCN Vulnerable) haul out on outer coastal rocks. Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest in large-canopy conifers adjacent to the shoreline; harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) and pigeon guillemots (Cepphus columba) forage in nearshore waters. White bog orchid (Platanthera dilatata, IUCN Vulnerable) occupies saturated bog depressions in the interior. Portions of this area fall within the potential range of several federally listed species; see the Conservation section for details.

The Mill Creek Trail (Trail 22515, 0.8 miles) provides foot access from the Wrangell road system into the lower Mill Creek drainage through old-growth spruce-hemlock forest. Garnet Ledge, within the roadless area, exposes almandine garnets accessible from the Stikine River by boat. From the coastal margins, The Narrows provides tidal passage between Madan Bay and Berg Bay; Virginia Lake sits in the forested upland to the north.

The Madan roadless area lies on the forested slopes and watershed systems immediately behind the city of Wrangell on Wrangell Island, one of the most historically consequential landscapes in the Alexander Archipelago. The Shtax'héen Kwáan—the Stikine Tlingit, whose name translates as "Bitter Water Tribe"—have occupied the Wrangell area and the surrounding island forest since time immemorial [2]. The Stikine River corridor, which empties into Stikine Strait adjacent to Wrangell Island, served as a major trade and travel route connecting the coast to the interior of what is now Canada. Stikine Tlingit trade networks extended to interior Athabascan groups, and control of the Stikine corridor was a defining feature of the community's political and economic identity for centuries before European contact.

George Vancouver noted the Wrangell area during a survey expedition in 1793, and subsequent traders documented Stikine Tlingit settlements along the coast. In 1833, Lt. Dionysius Zarembo of the Russian-American Company established a garrison at present-day Wrangell, naming it Redoubt St. Dionysus, to control access to the fur-rich Stikine River valley [4]. The Stikine Tlingit maintained their claim to the river's trading rights even under Russian occupation [4]. In June 1834, a Hudson's Bay Company flotilla under Peter Skeen Ogden attempted to ascend the Stikine; when Zarembo refused passage, the Stikine Tlingit intervened on their own behalf, asserting their ancient right to the fur region [4]. A subsequent settlement transferred the post to Britain on May 30, 1840, when the Russian flag was lowered and the fort—renamed Fort Stikine—passed to the Hudson's Bay Company [4]. British traders operated the Stikine fur district for more than two decades.

The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, and in 1869 the U.S. Army established Fort Wrangell at the site of the former Russian and British post [4]. The discovery of gold on the Stikine River—first reported in the early 1860s—drew prospectors through Wrangell, and the city served as the gateway for three successive gold rushes: the Stikine River rush, the Cassiar rush beginning in 1872, and the Klondike rush of 1898 [3, 4]. At the height of the Klondike rush, more than ten thousand people passed through Wrangell bound for the Stikine corridor route to the Yukon [4]. The first sawmill in Alaska operated in Wrangell, cutting lumber for export during the early American period [4].

In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve, which brought the forestlands around Wrangell—including the watershed drainages that now form the Madan roadless area—under federal management [3]. The Tongass National Forest was established by presidential proclamation in 1907, consolidating these holdings [3]. In 1951, the U.S. Forest Service entered the first of two fifty-year timber contracts with the Ketchikan Pulp Company, initiating the large-scale commercial logging that shaped the landscape around Wrangell for four decades [3]. The Madan roadless area today preserves the forested backcountry that remained outside the road network and harvest footprint of that era.

Vital Resources Protected

Old-Growth Forest for Marbled Murrelet Nesting

The interior old-growth stands of the Madan roadless area provide the nesting platform structure that the marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus, IUCN Endangered) requires. Marbled murrelets do not build nests; they lay a single egg on large-diameter, horizontally branched limbs of mature and old-growth conifers, commuting daily to marine foraging areas in Stikine Strait. The roadless condition of this 68,553-acre area has preserved interior old-growth Sitka spruce and western hemlock whose limb structure is absent in young second-growth stands. Old-growth indicators—Methuselah's beard lichen (Usnea longissima) and lettuce lichen (Lobaria oregana)—document stand continuity within the area. Industrial-scale logging under the Ketchikan Pulp Company contract eliminated old-growth across much of Wrangell Island; the Madan roadless area represents the remaining intact nesting habitat on this island landscape.

Marine-Terrestrial Interface for IUCN-Listed Marine Mammals

The coastal margins of Madan Bay, Shoemaker Bay, and Berg Bay—including The Narrows tidal passage—provide foraging and haul-out habitat for sea otters (Enhydra lutris, IUCN Endangered) and Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus, IUCN Vulnerable). Sea otters foraging in nearshore kelp and rocky reef habitat play a keystone ecological role by suppressing sea urchin grazing pressure; their continued recovery in Stikine Strait depends on low disturbance levels and clean water quality that intact shoreline forest provides. The uninterrupted forest-shoreline interface maintained by roadless status limits the runoff, shoreline disturbance, and vessel access associated with road infrastructure that affects these species' use of nearshore habitat.

Anadromous Watershed Integrity

Mill Creek, Glacier Creek, Crittenden Creek, Porterfield Creek, and Garnet Creek drain forested catchments within the roadless area and support coho and Chinook salmon runs and resident rainbow trout. These streams supply cold, clear water to Wrangell Reservoir systems and deliver salmon-derived nutrients into the forest floor of the Wrangell Island landscape. The roadless condition of the upland catchments has protected these streams from the sediment generation, peak-flow amplification, and bank destabilization associated with road construction on the steep, rain-saturated terrain of Wrangell Island.

Potential Effects of Road Construction

Old-Growth Canopy Removal and Marbled Murrelet Nesting Loss

Road construction enables selective harvest of old-growth Sitka spruce and western hemlock—the species whose oldest, largest individuals provide the limb architecture that marbled murrelets require for nesting. Logging eliminates nesting opportunities directly and degrades remaining stand quality through edge effects and wind throw along new road corridors. For a species already classified as Endangered globally, each reduction in available old-growth nesting habitat on Wrangell Island compounds the population decline trajectory.

Sedimentation and Anadromous Stream Degradation

Road cuts on the steep slopes surrounding Mill Creek, Glacier Creek, and Porterfield Creek would generate chronic sediment loads that fill the pools and smother the spawning gravels that coho and Chinook salmon depend on. Fine sediment accumulation in headwater reaches reduces macroinvertebrate diversity and compresses the food base available to juvenile fish. Culverts at road crossings create perching barriers or velocity restrictions on streams that currently function as unobstructed anadromous corridors from tidewater to the forested headwaters.

Coastal Connectivity Disruption and Shoreline Disturbance

Road access to the shorelines of Madan Bay, Shoemaker Bay, and Berg Bay would introduce runoff, human disturbance, and increased vessel traffic that can displace sea otters from foraging areas and disturb Steller sea lion haul-out behavior. The short-tailed albatross (Endangered, ESA) occurs in Tongass coastal waters; degradation of the nearshore habitat integrity that the intact forest-shoreline interface provides reduces the quality of the coastal foraging environment on which this species depends.

The Madan roadless area encompasses 68,553 acres of Tongass National Forest on Wrangell Island, reached by the road system from the city of Wrangell. Wrangell serves as the primary access hub and provides lodging, ferry connections, and small-boat access to the area's coastal margins.

Trails and Day Hikes

The Mill Creek Trail (Trail 22515, 0.8 miles) runs from the Wrangell road system into the lower Mill Creek drainage through old-growth Sitka spruce and western hemlock, with the trail surfaced for accessible foot travel. The trail passes through streamside old-growth where brown creepers (Certhia americana) forage bark furrows and American dippers (Cinclus mexicanus) work the creek edges.

Garnet Ledge, within the roadless area on the south bank of the Stikine River, exposes almandine garnets in a metamorphic host rock accessible by boat from Wrangell. By longstanding local tradition, the Wrangell school district has made the ledge available for garnet collecting, and the site draws visitors arriving by skiff up the Stikine River. Rainbow Falls is a named waterfall accessible via a short trail from the Wrangell road system, through forest that transitions from disturbed edge into old-growth corridor as it climbs above town.

Fishing

Coho and Chinook salmon enter Mill Creek and the Porterfield Creek drainage from late summer through fall; resident rainbow trout are present year-round in the cold tributary reaches. These streams drain to the Wrangell road system and make up some of the most accessible anadromous water in the Wrangell Ranger District. Anglers should carry current Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulations for all species.

Wildlife Observation

Brown bears (Ursus arctos) concentrate along salmon-bearing stream corridors in late summer and fall and are regularly observed from the road system at stream crossings. Mule deer and moose range through the forested interior and are seen along the road system and in brushy openings. Marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus, IUCN Endangered) commute daily between their old-growth nesting sites in the roadless interior and marine foraging areas in Stikine Strait; their high-pitched "keer" calls are heard over the forest canopy in early morning during the nesting season. Bald eagles nest in large conifers near the shoreline and are visible year-round. Great blue herons forage along tidal flats and stream mouths in Shoemaker Bay and Berg Bay. Harlequin ducks and pigeon guillemots work the nearshore waters; sea otters (Enhydra lutris, IUCN Endangered) forage in kelp and rocky reef habitat off Madan Bay.

The Wrangell area hosts one of the most productive birding communities in southeast Alaska. The Wrangell City Park eBird hotspot records 109 species across 198 checklists; Petroglyph Beach documents 91 species; Pats Lake, Shoemaker Park, and Wrangell City Dock each document 77–84 species. Sea ducks including surf scoters, white-winged scoters, Barrow's goldeneyes, and common mergansers use Stikine Strait and Zimovia Strait during migration and winter. Sandhill cranes are observed during migration.

Sea Kayaking and Coastal Access

Madan Bay, Berg Bay, and Shoemaker Bay offer sheltered coastal paddling reachable from the Wrangell waterfront by skiff or kayak. The Narrows provides a tidal channel route between the coastal bays adjacent to the roadless area. Berg Bay and the lower Stikine River delta offer access to the remote shoreline and estuarine habitat bordering the roadless area's southern margin.

Roadless Character

The marbled murrelet's daily commute between old-growth nesting trees and Stikine Strait foraging grounds requires continuous interior old-growth forest—road construction and associated timber harvest permanently eliminate that nesting habitat. The salmon runs in Mill Creek and Porterfield Creek that support fishing depend on undisturbed upland catchments. The nearshore habitat quality that makes Madan Bay and Berg Bay productive for wildlife observation and sea kayaking is maintained by the intact forest-shoreline interface that the roadless condition preserves.