Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park

Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park IUCN Category Ib - Wilderness Area
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location	British Columbia (Canada)
surface	6,986.59 km²
WDPA ID	4176
Geographical location	57 ° 25 ′  N , 128 ° 30 ′  W Coordinates: 57 ° 25 ′ 0 ″  N , 128 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  W
Setup date	1975
administration	BC parks
particularities	Back Country Park

The Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park is a 698,659  ha large Provincial Park in the Canadian province of British Columbia . The park is located in the Regional District of Stikine , on the Spatsizi Plateau , a sub- plateau of the Stikine Plateau . It is the second largest of the Provincial Parks in British Columbia after Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park .

Together with the adjacent Stikine River Provincial Park , Tatlatui Provincial Park and Mount Edziza Provincial Park as well as other Protected Areas and Ecological Reserve , the park forms a coherent protected area of ​​considerable size, the Stikine Country Protected Area .

The term Spatsizi originated from an English corruption of terms from the Sekani language . The term originated from the contraction of the words tspah and tsije , which refers to the coat color of the mountain goats living in the area . The fur of the mountain goats that live here is reddish because they roll around on the reddish earth.

The park can basically be referred to as a so-called back country park , as it is undeveloped by public roads.

investment

The park is located in the most sparsely populated region of the province, with a population density of 0.005 people per square kilometer. The park covers an area of ​​6,986.59 km². The park itself encloses the Gladys Lake Ecological Reserve as a further protected area . In the north the Stikine River Provincial Park borders directly and in the southeast the Tatlatui Provincial Park . In the east, the park is joined by the Chukachida Protected Area .

There are countless small streams and rivers in the park. Main drains of the waters in the park are the Stikine River and the Spatsizi River . The park is on one of the watersheds. The rivers here all drain into the Pacific Ocean. There are also numerous smaller lakes in the park. The largest are Cold Fish Lake, as well as Laslui Lake , Tuaton Lake and Hotlesklwa Lake . The mountains in the park reach a height of over 2200  m and belong to the Eaglenest Range , a sub-chain of the Interior Mountains . The Eagle Nest peak is 2,274  meters the highest point in the park. In the Gladys Lake Ecological Reserve there is Mount Will, a mountain that reaches a height of 2519  m .

The park is a category Ib protected area ( wilderness area ).

There is a small landing strip for airplanes at Cold Fish Lake . Landing may also be allowed on some of the other lakes.

history

The Provincial Park was established in 1975. When it was founded, it had an area of ​​approximately 1,668,000  acres , which corresponds to approximately 6,750 km². With laws from 2001 and 2008, both the protection status and the size were changed and the park expanded to its current size of 698,659 hectares.

The park area was part of the traditional hunting and settlement area of ​​the Tahltan .

Flora and fauna

Within the British Columbian ecosystem, the park includes several bio-geoclimatic zones. The park is mainly assigned to the Alpine Tundra Zone , the Spruce-Willow-Birch Zone and the Dry Cold Subzone within the Boreal White and Black Spruce Zone . The Boreal White and Black Spruce Zone stretches along the Stikine River and Spatsizi River, while the Spruce-Willow-Birch Zone and the Alpine Tundra Zone encompass the rest of the park area. The Spruce-Willow-Birch Zone usually extends up to a height of 1750 meters, while the area above is usually covered by the Alpine Tundra Zone . Biogeoclimatic zones are characterized by a fundamentally identical climate and the same or very similar biological and geological conditions. This results in a very similar population of plants and animals in the respective zones.

Due to the size of the park as well as its remote location and the fact that it is surrounded by other large protected areas, there is an extensive flora and fauna here. In the lower elevations of the park, forests with white spruce and coastal pines dominate , while at higher altitudes rocky mountain firs dominate the landscape.

The fauna corresponds both to the secluded location of the park, as well as its altitude and the prevailing temperatures. Accordingly, grizzly bears , black bears and wolves as well as the red fox and the North American otter can also be found here . Other mammals include the black- tailed deer , the Canadian forest caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou , a subspecies of the reindeer ) and the Dall sheep . Smaller mammals and rodents include the mountain hare , the ice-gray marmot , the bush- tailed rat , the North American tree prick and the arctic ground squirrel .

The park administration lists numerous bird species that occur in the park. The park administration states that there are more than 140 species of birds in the park. Several of the species occur in the park all year round and others only in the summer or winter months. Among the species of birds that can be observed include the golden eagle , falcon , the American Golden Plover and Smith Lapland Bunting , from the family of buntings . The rarer species that occur in the park also include the Odin's grouse or the sandpiper .

In the lakes and rivers, in addition to the widespread salmon and trout species such as king salmon or sockeye salmon , silver salmon , rainbow trout or bull trout and dolly-varden trout, there are also sucker carp , burbot , arctic grayling and the coregonine species prosopium williamsoni (English Mountain whitefish ).

activities

Since the park is not of major tourist importance and does not attract many visitors, there is no extensive tourist infrastructure in the park. For hikers, riders and other outdoor enthusiasts, there are simple tent sites and rudimentary sanitary facilities at various points. Furthermore, there are simple shelters at various points in the park and "wild" camping and making a fire are also allowed, with restrictions.

In addition to hikers, the park is also popular with horse riders and canoeists. There are different trails for these groups.

Web links

• Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park . In: BC Geographical Names (English)
• Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park In: English-language website of the park at BC Parks
• Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park on the website britishcolumbia.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Eaglenest Peak. In: Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia . Accessed January 30, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Mount Will. In: Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia . Accessed January 30, 2015 . 
3. ↑ World Database on Protected Areas - Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Park (English)
4. ^ Origin Notes and History. Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park. GeoBC , accessed January 30, 2015 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b} Management Plan For Stikine Country Protected Areas. (PDF; 1023 kB) British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks , November 2003, accessed on January 30, 2015 (English). 
6. ^ Ecosystems of British Columbia. (PDF; 9.85 MB) British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations , February 1991, accessed on January 30, 2015 . 
7. ↑ Stikine Country Protected Areas - Biogeoclimatic Zones. (PDF; 14.425 kB) British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, accessed January 30, 2015 (English). 
8. ↑ Biogeoclimatic Zones of British Columbia. British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, accessed May 19, 2016 .