animated man
NATURE
· Fastest-growing Mountains in the World
FIRST PEOPLES
· The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations
HISTORY
· A Dazzling Landscape
This is a link to a map of the mountains of British Columbia and a close up of the Tatshenshini region.

FOCUS  Tatshenshini

A Dazzling Landscape
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This is a photograph of rafters on the Alsek River, with mountains in the background.
Rafters on the Alsek River. David Fraser.
These tourists became the first advocates for protecting this wilderness. Tourism grew slowly at first, but widespread media attention in the late 1980s brought many new people to the Tatshenshini. By 1994 over 13,600 user-nights had been spent on the Tatshenshini and Alsek rivers by rafters and kayakers. It was becoming a popular place, even though it was unknown to most British Columbians.
Rafting tour resting on the shore of the Tatshenshini River. David Fraser.
This is a photograph of rafters resting on the shores of the Tatshenshini River, picnic table and rafts in the foreground, mountains in the background.
Media attention increased during the conflict between wilderness users and a proposed mine development at Windy Craggy Mountain. The developers proposed that a highway be built across the Tatshenshini to carry ore to Haines, Alaska, and then to Japan. In 1989 concerned rafters and conservationists formed the organization Tatshenshini Wild to fight the proposed mine and to gain international recognition for the area as a protected wilderness. In 1993 the area was set aside as a provincial park. Shortly after the area was designated, and despite opposition from the mining industry, in 1994 the system of protected areas in Alaska, Yukon and British Columbia that cover much of the St. Elias Mountains was declared a United Nations World Heritage Site. This includes Kluane National Park in the Yukon, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, and the Tatshenshini-Alsek Wilderness Provincial Park in British Columbia. These parks together comprise the largest protected area in the world, with a combined area of approximately 8.5 million hectares.
Tourists come from all over the world to see the wildlife of the St. Elias Mountains, such as the Grizzly Bear. David Fraser.
This is a side view of the front half of a grizzly bear with lush greenery and wildflowers in the background.
The white Thinhorn Sheep (Dall's Sheep) is a spectacular inhabitant of the St. Elias Mountains. David Fraser.
This is a photograph of the head of a white thinhorn or Dall's sheep.
A Dazzling Landscape - 
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