Tongass National Forest

Plants, Animals, Fish and Birds

What pictures does the word "Alaska" conjure in your mind? Dog sleds? Eagles? BIG bears? Northern lights?

You'll find them all in the Tongass National Forest. Of course, the dog sleds aren't used for day-to-day transportation and the northern lights shine brighter in the winter when they're not competing with late-night sun. But eagles and bears are here aplenty. Here, too, are world-class wild salmon, not to mention creatures as diverse as sand hill cranes, trumpeter swans and hummingbirds, Sitka black-tail deer, porcupines and wolves. The Tongass provides homes for all and the Forest Service works to keep their habitats healthy.

The cool rainy climate grows a variety of plants, from the tiny "June flowers" coloring the muskegs and alpine meadows in summer to the huge conifers on the surrounding hillsides. Forest Service interpreters lead seasonal walks in several communities to introduce you to the local plants and their uses.

For more information on some of this abundant life, check out the following:

Animals

• Bear Facts

Plants

• Plants of the muskeg
• Common conifers of Southeast Alaska
• Moonwort fern
• Lichens of Alaska's National Forests (2.5 mb pdf)

Fish

• Common Fresh and Salt Water Fishes
• Salmon
• Cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden
• Steelhead trout
• Catch and release
• Mendenhall fishcam
• Fish habitat

Birds

• Bird Facts
• Birds of Wrangell Island
• Birds of the Stikine River