South Revilla

The South Revilla Inventoried Roadless Area covers 52,105 acres on the southern half of Revillagigedo Island in the Tongass National Forest, immediately south of Ketchikan. Saw Ridge, Alava Ridge, Notch Mountain, and Black Mountain rise from the interior; the shoreline curves through California Head, Brunn Point, Rock Point, Mound Hill, Carroll Point, Cone Point, Spit Point, and Eve Point, with Bold Island offshore. Drainage centers on Thorne Arm, with Fish Creek, Silver Creek, and Sea Level Creek delivering cold flow from interior slopes. Inland still waters — Granite Lake, Trap Lake, Beaver Lake, Star Lake, and Low Lake — feed the system, while Coho Cove and Lucky Cove mark sheltered indents along the saltwater margin. The Thorne Arm watershed's hydrologic significance is rated major.

Coastal Western Hemlock-Sitka Spruce Rainforest dominates lower slopes. Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) and Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) form the closed canopy, with Western Red-cedar (Thuja plicata) and Alaska-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis) on cool, wet aspects and scattered Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia), an IUCN near-threatened species, in the understory of older stands. Red Alder (Alnus rubra) takes disturbed openings and stream margins. The understory carries Devil's-club (Oplopanax horridus), Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), and Yellow Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanus) in wet pockets. Lettuce Lichen (Lobaria oregana) and the long, threadlike Methuselah's Beard Lichen (Usnea longissima) drape limbs in the wettest stands, indicating high-quality air and stable canopy. Higher elevations transition through Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) parkland to subalpine heath; muskegs hold Roundleaf Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) and English Sundew (Drosera anglica).

Thorne Arm receives Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) returns, drawing American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) to streamside fishing in late summer. Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus), the Sitka black-tailed subspecies, browse the forest edge. Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), listed as endangered by the IUCN, nests on the moss-covered limbs of large old-growth conifers and forages in nearby salt water. Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) perch above salmon-bearing reaches; Barred Owl (Strix varia) call from the interior forest at dusk. Along the marine shoreline, Northern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) forage in kelp beds, Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina) haul out on tidal rocks, and Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus), IUCN: Vulnerable, use exposed points. Common Killer Whale (Orcinus orca), Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), and Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) work the deep water of Thorne Arm and Behm Canal. Subtidal rocks support the critically endangered Sunflower Sea Star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) alongside Purple Sea Star (Pisaster ochraceus). Portions of this area fall within the potential range of several federally listed species; see the Conservation section for details.

A visitor approaches South Revilla by floatplane to one of the lakes — Granite, Trap, or Beaver — or by boat to Thorne Arm and the coves along its margin. From a landing on the coastal cobble or at a lake shore, the climb inland enters dense spruce-hemlock rainforest. The understory crowds with Devil's-club and salmonberry, and the ground gives underfoot with deep moss. Higher ground on Alava Ridge or Saw Ridge opens to long views across Behm Canal toward the cliffs of Misty Fjords; the sound of returning salmon in the creeks below rises to meet the call of eagles overhead.

The 52,105-acre South Revilla Inventoried Roadless Area covers the southern portion of Revillagigedo Island in the Alaska Panhandle, immediately south of Ketchikan and across Behm Canal from the Misty Fjords National Monument. Its human history reaches back to the Tlingit Saanya Kwaan, the "People of the Southeast Wind," who have lived in Southeast Alaska for thousands of years [2]. The area around Ketchikan was originally a fishing camp for a Tlingit kwan known as Kichxaan, which means "the thundering wings of an eagle" [1]. The Saanya Kwaan migrated from Asia across the Bering Land Bridge thousands of years ago and established a permanent village at Cape Fox on the southern part of the island [3]. By the early modern era, Cape Fox Village had become one of the principal Tlingit communities on the southern coast.

The arrival of European-American enterprise reshaped the island in the late nineteenth century. The Tongass Packing Company built the area's first cannery in 1880 [1]. In 1885, Mike Miller bought 160 acres of land from Tlingit Chief Kyan; the businesses he built failed, but the land became the site on which Ketchikan was built [1]. By 1900, when Ketchikan was incorporated, 800 people lived in the community [1]. Cape Fox village had been abandoned in 1894, when its Tlingit residents moved to the nearby settlement of Saxman [1]. In 1899, members of the Harriman Alaska Expedition visited the abandoned Cape Fox Village and removed sacred totems and cultural objects; over a century later, in 2001, under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, many of these artifacts were returned to the rightful caretakers — the Cape Fox Tlingit [2].

Federal protection of the regional forests came in waves. President Theodore Roosevelt established the Tongass National Forest by proclamation in 1907 [5]. Industrial logging on a vast scale arrived with the postwar pulp era: the Ketchikan Pulp Company, a dissolving sulfite pulp mill, opened officially on July 14, 1954 at nearby Ward Cove [4]. The mill became the major economic engine for the town of Ketchikan and employed more than 500 people at the height of its productivity [4]; it operated as the longest-running pulp mill in Alaska until Louisiana Pacific announced its closure on March 25, 1997, after more than 40 years as the main source of income for the city [4]. Across Behm Canal to the east, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed over 2,200,000 acres as the Misty Fjords National Monument in 1978 under the Antiquities Act, and in 1980 Congress designated 2,142,243 acres of it as the Misty Fjords National Monument Wilderness, still the largest wilderness area on the Tongass National Forest [5]. The 52,105-acre South Revilla area, within the Ketchikan-Misty Ranger District, remains today under the protection of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Vital Resources Protected

• Anadromous Watershed Integrity: The Thorne Arm watershed — Thorne Arm headwaters, Fish Creek, Silver Creek, and Sea Level Creek, with Granite Lake, Trap Lake, Beaver Lake, Star Lake, and Low Lake feeding the system — receives Chum Salmon returns and supports the resident freshwater fauna of southern Revillagigedo Island. Roadless conditions hold sediment delivery at natural background levels and keep riparian canopies intact across these drainages, preserving the gravel spawning substrate and cold-water flow that anadromous fish require. Coho Cove and Lucky Cove receive the system's freshwater inputs at the saltwater interface, supporting estuarine productivity.

• Old-Growth Conifer Habitat: The unfragmented Coastal Western Hemlock-Sitka Spruce Rainforest preserves multi-aged stands of Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Western Red-cedar, and Alaska-cedar, along with scattered Pacific Yew (IUCN: Near Threatened). The large limbs and thick moss platforms of mature conifers provide the nesting structure that Marbled Murrelet (IUCN: Endangered) requires; Methuselah's Beard Lichen and other long pendulous lichens that drape canopy limbs indicate high-quality air and the long stand continuity that develops only in undisturbed old growth.

• Marine-Terrestrial Transition Zones: The shoreline from California Head around Brunn Point, Rock Point, Carroll Point, and Spit Point maintains an unbroken interface between forested upland, intertidal beach, and kelp-bed shallows. This continuity supports Northern Sea Otter (IUCN: Endangered) foraging in kelp, Harbor Seal haul-outs on tidal rocks, and the deep nearshore water used by Common Killer Whale, Humpback Whale, and Dall's Porpoise.

Potential Effects of Road Construction

• Sedimentation and stream temperature shifts: Road cuts and fill slopes on the steep terrain above the Thorne Arm drainage deliver chronic fine sediment to receiving streams, smothering the gravel spawning substrate that Chum Salmon depend on in Fish Creek, Silver Creek, and Sea Level Creek. Canopy removal along stream corridors raises summer water temperatures past cold-water tolerances. Eroded subsoil continues moving downslope for decades after construction, so the loss of spawning habitat is not easily reversed.

• Fragmentation of murrelet and yew habitat: A road corridor through old-growth Coastal Western Hemlock-Sitka Spruce Rainforest opens permanent edges along which wind-throw, drying, corvid predation on nestlings, and accidental yew harvest all accelerate. Marbled Murrelet nest trees are not replaceable on management timescales — the limb-moss platforms develop only on very old conifers — and Pacific Yew grows so slowly under the canopy that lost individuals do not return for human lifetimes. Fragmentation of this habitat is functionally permanent for both species.

• Coastal pollution and shipping disturbance: Road and shoreline infrastructure introduces chronic vehicle, machinery, and runoff inputs into the marine-terrestrial transition zone, displacing shoreline species from haul-outs and forage areas. Hydrocarbon, sediment, and stormwater pollutants enter Thorne Arm and Behm Canal, and any increase in vessel traffic that follows road access adds underwater noise and strike risk to Common Killer Whale, Humpback Whale, and Northern Sea Otter. Nearshore currents redistribute these pollutants throughout the inlet, so even small road networks have outsized footprints on the connected waters of the area.

The South Revilla Inventoried Roadless Area covers 52,105 acres on the southern half of Revillagigedo Island in the Tongass National Forest, immediately south of Ketchikan. Access is by boat or floatplane from Ketchikan or by hike from the Ketchikan road system at the area's northern edge.

Trail Access

The Black Mountain Trail (Trail 52760), 1.2 miles of native-surface hiking trail, climbs to Black Mountain in the southern interior. The Black Mountain Hidden Lake Spur (Trail 52760A) adds 0.6 miles to reach a small interior lake. The Low Lake/Big Lake Trail (Trail 52723), 1.3 miles of native surface, provides hiker access to inland still water. Gokachin Trail (Trail 52711), 2.3 miles, leads through forested terrain to upper elevations. Additional road-grade routes — 8400-Elf Point Road (1.9 miles), Elf Point 100 South Road (2.5 miles), and 8400000 System Shoal Cove (3.7 miles) — provide foot or non-motorized access into the area's western and northern margins. Off-trail travel is cross-country through dense Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlock rainforest, muskeg, and shoreline rock.

Paddling and Boating

Sea kayak and small-boat travel allow access along the protected waters of Thorne Arm and the indented shoreline at Coho Cove and Lucky Cove. From a put-in at the head of Thorne Arm, paddlers can travel inland along the saltwater estuary and access tributary streams during high tide. Bold Island and the rocky shoreline around Carroll Point, Cone Point, and Spit Point offer protected paddling within sheltered bays. Common Killer Whale, Humpback Whale, Dall's Porpoise, and Steller Sea Lion may be encountered in the deeper waters of Thorne Arm and Behm Canal — paddlers should give marine mammals wide berth.

Hunting and Fishing

American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) and Mule Deer (Sitka black-tailed subspecies, Odocoileus hemionus) are the principal big-game species, hunted under Alaska Department of Fish and Game seasons and Game Management Unit rules. Waterfowl hunting follows federal and state regulations for ducks and geese in the bays and coves. Saltwater anglers fishing Thorne Arm and Behm Canal target Pacific Halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis), Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), and several rockfish species — Quillback, Yelloweye, Copper, Yellowtail, Silvergray, and Redstripe Rockfish — along with Pacific Cod and Kelp Greenling. Freshwater fishing for Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) and resident fish in Fish Creek, Silver Creek, Sea Level Creek, Granite Lake, and Beaver Lake follows ADF&G regulations.

Wildlife Observation and Birding

South Revilla and the Ketchikan area together support an exceptional birding setting. Fourteen eBird hotspots fall within 24 km of the area, with the Ketchikan town hotspot alone recording 256 species across 2,494 checklists. Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), Bald Eagle, Steller's Jay, Common Raven, Barred Owl, and several gull species are regular. Marine wildlife observation along Thorne Arm and Behm Canal includes Northern Sea Otter, Harbor Seal, Steller Sea Lion, and the deep-water marine mammals. Bear viewing along salmon-bearing creeks in late summer is a draw at the appropriate seasonal distance.

Camping

The area has no developed campgrounds. Dispersed camping is permitted on USFS land subject to standard regulations: store food in bear-resistant containers, pack out all waste, and camp away from salmon streams during the runs.

Why the Roadless Condition Matters

The recreation experience in South Revilla depends on the area's intact watershed, forest condition, and undeveloped shoreline. The salmon-bearing creeks of Thorne Arm depend on clean gravel substrate and cold flow that a road network would degrade. Marbled Murrelet observation depends on the old-growth canopy that road construction would fragment. Quiet paddling in Thorne Arm and the protected coves is possible because no shoreline road delivers vehicle noise or chronic runoff to the water. If road construction were to enter this country, the bird community, the fishery, and the trail experience would all change.