Copper River (Alaska)

The Copper River rises out of the Copper Glacier, which lies on the northeast side of Mount Wrangell, in the Wrangell Mountains, within Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park. It begins by flowing almost due north in a valley that lies on the east side of Mount Sanford, and then turns west, forming the northwest edge of the Wrangell Mountains and separating them from the Mentasta Mountains to the northeast. It continues to turn southeast, through a wide marshy plain to Chitina, where it is joined from the southeast by the Chitina River (Ahtna Athabascan Tsedi Na' < tsedi "copper" + na’ "river"). on the Copper River, undated photo by John Nathan Cobb (died 1930) The Copper River is approximately long. It drops an average of about , and drains more than —an area the size of West Virginia. The river runs at an average of . There is an extensive area of linear sand dunes up to in height radiating from the mouth of the Copper River. Both Miles Glacier and Childs Glacier calve directly into the river. The Copper enters the Gulf of Alaska southeast of Cordova where it creates a delta nearly wide. ==History==

The name of the river comes from the abundant copper deposits along the upper river that were used by Alaska Native population and then later by settlers from the Russian Empire and the United States. The construction of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway from Cordova through the upper river valley from 1908 to 1911 allowed widespread extraction of the mineral resources, in particular from the Kennecott Mine, discovered in 1898. The mine was abandoned in 1938 and is now a ghost town tourist attraction and historic district maintained by the National Park Service. The Tok Cut-Off (Alaska Route 1) follows the Copper River Valley on the north side of the Chugach Mountains. ==Fisheries==

The river's famous salmon runs arise from the use of the river watershed by over 2 million salmon each year for spawning. The river's commercial salmon season is very brief, beginning in May for chinook salmon, and sockeye salmon for periods lasting mere hours or several days at a time. Sport fishing by contrast is open all year-long, but peak season on the Copper River lasts from August to September, when the coho salmon runs. The fisheries are co-managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and the Department of the Interior Federal Subsistence Board. Management data is obtained primarily by ADF&G at the Miles Lake sonar station and via the native village of Eyak at the Baird Canyon and Canyon Creek research stations. ==Birding==

The Copper River Delta, which extends for 700,000 acres (2,800 km2), is the largest contiguous wetlands along the Pacific coast of North America. It is also home to the world's largest population of nesting trumpeter swans and is the only known nesting site for the dusky Canada goose subspecies (Branta canadensis occidentalis). File:Miles Glacier Bridge, damage and kludge, 1984.jpg|Miles Glacier Bridge, showing earthquake damage and temporary repair, 1984 File:Copper River Alaska with river rafters.jpg|Rafters and Child's Glacier on the lower Copper River File:Copper River fishwheels.jpg|Fishwheels on the Copper River Image:Copper2.jpg|Sand dunes on the Copper River File:Copper River near Chitina.jpg|Copper River near Chitina, looking south from the bridge Image:Picea mariana taiga.jpg|Black spruce taiga along the Copper River Image:Glacial Dust off Alaska.jpg|Wind picks up fine sediment from the riverbank and carries it over the ocean. ==See also==