Picture in your mind the iconic, almost mythic geography of Canada's north: vast land-scapes, pounding herds of caribou, gangly moose feeding beside freshwater sloughs, a pack of wolves silhouetted against a moonlit winter, tall, jagged mountains, and rushing rivers silvered with wild salmon. All that, and much more, is the Taku watershed.

Wild Salmon Rivers of Canada

Educational Report Vol.26-No.03, Spring/Summer 2007 Co-published: Wilderness Committee & Rivers Without Borders

Stikine River at sunset. Photo by Aliya Jacob.

Lower Stikine

The Lower Stikine watershed has long sustained its First Nations residents who still rely on its abundant salmon and wildlife. More recently it has become recognized as one of North America's most visually spectacular wild rivers and has attracted wilderness paddlers from around the world. While Stikine's Grand Canyon and the river's upper main stem arc formally protected, along with its estuary in Alaska, mining and road development is permitted between Telegraph Creek and the US border.

In 2005, a major road was proposed along the Lower Stikine to haul materials to and from a massive gold mine at Galore Creek. However, the Tahltan people successfully influenced the company to choose a more benign route, preserving the Lower Stikine as a wilderness area — for now at least. Unfortunately, current legislation provides no safeguards against attempts by other companies to develop similar roads along this magnificent wild river.