Tongass National Forest
Federal Building
648 Mission Street
Ketchikan, AK 99901
(907) 225-3101
(907) 228-6222 (TTY)
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Tongass Home »
About the Tongass
Forest Numbers
Size |
Tongass National Forest |
16,800,000 acres (6,798,900 hectares)
26,250 sqare miles (67,990 sq. km.) |
Wilderness Areas |
5,735,610 acres (2,321,170 hectares)
8,962 square miles (23,213 sq. km.) |
Admiralty National Monument |
955,750 acres (386,785 hectares)
1,495 square miles (3,870 sq. km.) |
Misty Fiords National Monument |
2,285,000 acres (924,725 hectares)
3,570 square miles (9,250 sq. km.) |
Juneau Icefield |
960,000 acres (388,505 hectares)
1,500 sqare miles (3,885 sq. km.) |
Stikine Icefield |
1,856,000 acres (751,115 hectares)
2,900 square miles (7,510 sq. km.) |
Tongass area protected by Congressional designations |
6,635,000 acres (2,685,150 hectares)
10,370 square miles (26,850 sq. km.) |
Tongass area protected by the Forest Plan |
9,510,000 acres (3,848,650 hectares)
14,860 square miles (38,490 sq. km.) |
Tongass area available for potential development |
655,000 acres (265,075 hectares)
1,025 square miles (2,650 sq. km.) |
Inventoried Roadless Areas (114) |
9,670,000 acres (3,913,400 hectares)
15,110 (39,135 sq. km.) |
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Numbers |
Miles of hiking trails |
More than 450 (725 km.) |
Miles of shoreline |
11,000 (17,700 km) |
Miles of streams |
57,000 (91,730 km.) |
People per square mile |
2.8 (national average=70) |
Recreation
cabins |
148 |
Campgrounds |
15 |
Designated
wilderness areas |
19 |
Visitor centers |
3 (Southeast
Alaska Discovery Center - Ketchikan; Petersburg
Visitor Center - Petersburg; Mendenhall
Glacier Visitor Center - Juneau) |
Managed bear viewing areas |
3 (Pack
Creek - Juneau; Anan Creek - Wrangell; Fish Creek - Hyder) |
People living within the perimeter
of the Tongass National Forest |
About 75,000 |
Brown bears living in the Tongass |
More than 5,000 |
Ranger districts |
10 (Admiralty, Craig, Hoonah, Juneau,
Ketchikan-Misty Fiords, Petersburg, Sitka, Thorne
Bay, Wrangell,
and Yakutat) |
Salmon species that spawn in the
Tongass |
5 (king,
coho, pink, sockeye, chum) |
Principal tree species |
3 (western hemlock - 60%; Sitka spruce - 30%;
cedar - 10%) |
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Superlatives |
Largest National Forest in the United States |
Tongass National Forest |
Longest known cave in Alaska |
El Capitan Cave on northern Prince of Wales Island |
Southernmost tidewater glacier in North America |
LeConte Glacier between Wrangell and Petersburg |
Largest tidewater glacier in the world |
Hubbard Glacier near
Yakutat (6 miles across) |
Only international navigable river in a designated wilderness
(motorized navigation protected by law) |
Stikine River |
Densest population of brown bears |
Admiralty Island |
Largest wilderness area |
Misty
Fiords Wilderness (2,142,243 acres; 866,950 ha.; 3,350
sq. mi.) |
Smallest wilderness area |
Maurelle
Islands Wilderness (4,937 acres; 2,000 ha.; 7.7 sq. mi.) |
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