SKEENA RIVER

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.

Contents

Geography

Course

Tributaries

Wildlife

Fish

Bears

History

Fur trading

Riverboats

See also

Footnotes

Geography

The Skeena is one of the longest un-dammed rivers in the world.The Skeena River, http://greatcanadianrivers.com , URL accessed 6 November 2006 It originates south of the Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park in north western British Columbia. It flows for ^[1] before it empties into Chatham Sound and Ogden Channel , East of Hecate Strait of the Pacific Ocean. The Skeena drains of land with a normal annual runoff of 2,157 m3/s or 1190 mm.Normal Runoff from British Columbia - Study 406, Water Stewardship Division, BC Ministry of the Environment, URL accessed 6 November 2006.

Course

The Skeena 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 an 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 Morice-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 around 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.

Tributaries

Partial listing from Fisheries and Oceans CanadaWater Systems with Chinook, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, URL accessed 6 November 2006

'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, Copper River, 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

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.^[2]

Fish

The Skeena is well-known for its sport fishing, most notably salmon and steelhead.^[3] Skeena River - Four Seasons of Skeena Fishing, http://www.bcadventure.com, URL accessed 6 November 2006The Skeena River, Z-Boat Lodge River Guides, URL accessed 6 November 2006 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.Salmon - Sockeye - Skeena River: Fishery Outlook / Management, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, URL accessed 11 November 2006
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. Steelhead are also found in the Skeena.

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.

History

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.''Pioneer Legacy - Chronicles of the Lower Skeena River - Volume 1'', Norma V. Bennett, 1997, ISBN 0-9683026-0-2

Riverboats

While canoes played a crucial role on the Skeena for centuries, the age of the steamboat heralded a 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.''Pioneer Legacy - Chronicles of the Lower Skeena River - Volume 1'', Norma V. Bennett, 1997, ISBN 0-9683026-0-2

See also

Steamboats of the Skeena River

Footnotes

1. Map of Skeena River
2. Skeena River Ecological Reserve [1].
3. For example, see [2]