LCC’s home base is in the spectacular Chilkat Valley, situated at the northern end of the Inside Passage, and in the gateway to the interior Yukon Territory. The Chilkat is unique among southeast Alaskan valleys in that it links the coast and interior with a series of low, gentle mountain passes. The Chilkat enjoys Maritime and Continental climatic influences, as well as a rain shadow effect from the rugged Chilkat and Saint Elias mountains to our south and west. These, and many other factors help make the Chilkat quite possibly the most biologically diverse region in Alaska.
Traditional Jilkáat and Jilkoot Aaní, land of Chilkat & Chilkoot Tlingit people, encompasses 2.6 million acres, from what is now called Stonehouse Creek in British Columbia to Berners Bay, north of Juneau. The mountains on either side of the great fjord are their fenceposts. The traditional village of Klukwan, “The Eternal Village,” is among the longest-continuously inhabited indigenous villages on the continent.
The wealth of the Tlingit people rose from the land, water, and low mountain passes which were their trade routes to the Interior. These are the very factors that continue to allow the Chilkat watershed to maintain a wealth of subsistence resources and a critical refuge for biodiversity.
Local people still rely on the biological wealth from this landscape for the health of their families and for the health of the local economy. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 90% of Chilkat Valley residents utilize subsistence resources like salmon to feed their families. The top two economic drivers in the community are commercial fishing and nature-based tourism. Thousands of visitors flock to the area annually to watch birds, bears, and whales, and to enjoy the scenic beauty of the upper Lynn Canal. The Haines Highway now follows one of the low mountain passes that has been a migration route for thousands of years.
The greater Chilkat watershed is an incredibly biodiverse region of continental importance. At a time of increasingly widespread climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation, LCC is working to elevate awareness of the unique inherent value of the Chilkat watershed, and to protect the integrity of this living landscape for the subsistence resources and the ecosystem services it provides.
LCC is partnering with Discovery Southeast to develop the Greater Chilkat Watershed Atlas.
Naturalist and cartographer Richard Carstensen is authoring the project, with guest contributions by area biologists. Citizen scientists can contribute to the project by joining iNaturalist and uploading their observations to the Greater Chilkat Watershed Biodiversity Project.