Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords NP, Alaska, USA Photograph by © WWF-Canon/Anthony B. RATH   Northwestern North America: Western United States (Alaska) into western Canada Tundra   41,200 square miles (106,800 square kilometers) -- about the size of Tennessee Relatively Stable/Intact

· Glaciers and Peaks
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Glaciers and Peaks

This ecoregion is part of the largest non-polar ice field in the world. It consists of a steep, rugged range of high coastal mountains,with some peaks exceeding 16,500 feet (5,000 m) in elevation. The mountains are cut into sections by wide valleys. The Seward, Hubbard, Malaspina, Grand Pacific, and Llewellyn glaciers dominate the landscape. Much of the ecoregion lies beneath glaciers and ice fields, so it is mostly devoid of vegetation. Soils are poor and gravelly. Where plants are able to grow, dwarf and low shrubs, including mountain heath, are common.

Special Features

The ecoregion receives a high level of precipitation. Most of this falls as snow. A narrow zone of temperate coniferous rain forest extends between this ecoregion and the coast, where hemlock, subalpine fir, or sitka spruce dominate.

	The spruce grouse is a chicken-like bird measuring about 16 inches (40 cm) from beak to feet. Powerful rounded wings provide the most effective quick maneuvering in a forested area. Males perform elaborate courtship displays, including showing off their red combs, for the females.

Wild Side

In this ecoregion, plants are limited to areas free of ice and snow, and even then they have a tough time with poor, shallow, rocky soil. Alpine fir, mountain hemlock, and some Sitka spruce grow in subalpine or middle elevations. Forests of western hemlock and Sitka spruce can be found in warmer, more humid lower elevations. In the north, around Mt. Logan, there is no vegetation or soil development due to the elevation. Wildlife of the ecoregion includes moose, mountain goats, grizzly and black bears, wolves, wolverines, ptarmigans, spruce grouse, and salmon. Black-tailed deer live in the lower river valleys. The major rivers of this ecoregion provide migratory corridors for waterfowl.

Cause for Concern

This ecoregion is estimated to be 95 percent intact, but major habitat threats are looming. So far, habitat loss has been restricted to mining sites and the few roads and communities of the area. The ecoregion contains a variety of extractable minerals and fossil fuel resources such as gold, silver, copper, zinc, coal, petroleum, and uranium. Other human impacts are mostly limited to recreation and subsistence hunting and fishing. The major future threats come from mining potential and proposed roads and development associated with mineral exploitation. Also, the Kenai Peninsula has the highest chance of experiencing significant timber harvest or wildlife exploitation in the future. Planned cutting of trees dying from a spruce bark beetle infestation could cause damage to streams important for salmon spawning and harm declining brown bear populations.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.