Skeena River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Skeena River | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Origin | Spatsizi Plateau () |
| Mouth | Hecate Strait (Pacific Ocean) () |
| Basin countries | Canada |
| Length | 570 km |
| Source elevation | 1500 m |
| Mouth elevation | Sea level |
| Avg. discharge | 2,157 m³/s |
| Basin area | 54,400 km² |
The Skeena River is the second longest river in British Columbia, Canada. The Skeena is an important transportation artery, particularly for the Tsimshian and the Gitksan, and sustains a wide variety of fish, wildlife and vegetation.
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[edit] Geography
The Skeena is one of the longest un-dammed rivers in the world.<ref name=greatrivers>The Skeena River, http://greatcanadianrivers.com , URL accessed 6 November 2006</ref> It originates south of the Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park in north western British Columbia. It flows for 570 kilometres<ref>Map of Skeena River</ref> before it empties into the Hecate Strait of the Pacific Ocean. The Skeena drains 54,400 square km of land with a normal annual runoff of 2,157 m3/s or 1190 mm.<ref name=minofenv>Normal Runoff from British Columbia - Study 406, Water Stewardship Division, BC Ministry of the Environment, URL accessed 6 November 2006</ref>.
[edit] Course
The Skeen River originates at the southern end of Spatsizi Plateau, in a valley between Mount Gunanoot and Mount Thule, south of the Stikine River watershed. An abandoned track of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway runs along the river in its upper course. It flows south-east, between the shallow peaks of the Skeena Mountains, through the McEvoy and Jackson Flats. It continues in this direction until it passes the Slamgeesh Range, then flows westwards to Fourth Cabin, when it turns south through a shallow canyon below Poison Mountain. After Kuldo it takes a eastward turn, then flows again south below Cutoff Mountain and Mount Pope. It continues through rolling hills to the community of Kispiox and then Hazelton, where it receives the waters of Bulkley River, and turns south-west. The Yellowhead Highway and a Canadian National Railway track follow the course of the Skeena on this section. At Kitseguecla, the river is crossed by Highway 37, and then turns south arround the Seven Sisters Peaks and Bulkley Ranges, through the Skeena Provincial Forest, then between the Nass Ranges and Borden Glacier, past the ferry crossing at Usk, through the Kitselas Canyon, and then through the Kleanza Creek Provincial Park. It then flows south-west through the city of Terrace, where the river widens. It continues westwards, followed by the Highway 16 and Canadian National Railway line, passes near the Exchamsiks River Provincial Park, then flows into the Hecate Strait at Eleanor Passage, between Port Edward and Port Essington, facing De Horsey Island.
[edit] Tributaries
Partial listing from Fisheries and Oceans Canada<ref name=cdafishoceans>Water Systems with Chinook, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, URL accessed 6 November 2006</ref>
Upper Skeena
- Bear River, Johanson Creek, Shilahou Creek, Slamgeesh River, Sustut River
Middle Skeena
- Babine River, Boucher Creek, Buck Creek, Bulkley River, Comeau Creek, Cullon Creek, Date Creek, Deep Canoe Creek, Fulton River, Harold Price Creek, Kispiox River, Kitseguecla River, Maxan Creek, McCully Creek, McQueen Creek, Morice River, Nangeese River, Nanika River, Nilkitkwa River, Pinkut Creek, Richfield Creek, Shegunia River, Simpson Creek, Stephens Creek, Suskwa River, Sweetin River, Toboggan Creek
Lower Skeena
- Alwyn Creek, Big Falls Creek, Cedar Creek, Coldwater Creek, Deep Creek, Dog Tag Creek, Ecstall River, Erlandsen Creek, Exchamsiks River, Exstew River, Fiddler Creek, Gitnadoix River, Goat Creek, Johnston Creek, Johnston Lake, Kaeen Creek, Kasiks River, Khyex River, Kitsumkalum River, Kitwanga River, Kleanza Creek, Lakelse River, Lean-To Creek, Limonite Creek, Magar Creek, Moonlit Creek, Salmon Run Creek, Sockeye Creek, Spring Creek, Star Creek, Thomas Creek, Trapline Creek, White Creek, Williams Creek, Zymagotitz River, Zymoetz River
[edit] Wildlife
The Skeena supports a wide variety of fish and wildlife. The British Columbia Ministry of the Environment, through BC Parks, has designated a number of Ecological Reserves along the course of the river.<ref>Skeena River Ecological Reserve [1].</ref>
[edit] Fish
The Skeena is well-known for its sport fishing, most notably salmon and steelhead.<ref>For example, see [2]</ref><ref name=bcadventure1>Skeena River - Four Seasons of Skeena Fishing, http://www.bcadventure.com, URL accessed 6 November 2006</ref><ref name=zboatbc>The Skeena River, Z-Boat Lodge River Guides, URL accessed 6 November 2006</ref> The Skeena is also very important to the commercial fishing industry. For example, numbering 5 million spawning salmon a year, the Skeena is second only to the Fraser River in all of Canada in its capacity to produce sockeye salmon.<ref name=lotsofsockeye>Salmon - Sockeye - Skeena River: Fishery Outlook / Management, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, URL accessed 11 November 2006</ref>
The following types of pacific salmon* can be found in the Skeena:
- Chinook salmon, sometimes known as King, Tyee, Spring, Quinnat, Tule, or Blackmouth salmon.
- Chum salmon, sometimes known as Dog or Calico salmon.
- Coho salmon, sometimes known as Silver salmon.
- Pink salmon, sometimes known as Humpback salmon.
- Sockeye salmon, sometimes known as Red salmon or Blueback salmon.
*Note that there is an ongoing debate about whether Steelhead, also known as Rainbow trout, Ocean trout, or Redband trout, is also a species of salmon.
[edit] Bears
The rare Kermode bear lives in and near the Skeena Valley from Prince Rupert to Hazelton. The region is also home to many black bears and brown bears. Grizzly bears are less common in the area but the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary is located nearby.
[edit] History
Image:Sternwheeler Inlander.jpg
[edit] Fur trading
The Hudson's Bay Company's local headquarters were at Port Simpson, although Port Essington was also used extensively as a port for its sternwheelers.<ref name=normabennett>Pioneer Legacy - Chronicles of the Lower Skeena River - Volume 1, Norma V. Bennett, 1997, ISBN 0-9683026-0-2</ref>
[edit] Riverboats
While canoes played a crucial role on the Skeena for centuries, the age of the steamboat heralded an new era of boating on the Skeena. The first steam-powered vessel to enter the Skeena was the Union in 1864. In 1866 the Mumford attempted to ascend the river but was only able to reach the Kitsumkalum River. It was not until 1891 that the Hudson's Bay Company sternwheeler the Caledonia successfully negotiated through the Kitselas Canyon and reached Hazelton. A number of other steamers were built around the turn of the century, in part due to the growing fish industry and the gold rush.<ref name=normabennett>Pioneer Legacy - Chronicles of the Lower Skeena River - Volume 1, Norma V. Bennett, 1997, ISBN 0-9683026-0-2</ref>
[edit] Footnotes
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