Selkirk Mountains

Coordinates: 49°57′N 117°23′W / 49.95°N 117.38°W / 49.95; -117.38
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Selkirk Mountains
At the Rogers Pass by John A. Fraser, 1886
Highest point
PeakMount Sir Sandford
Elevation3,519 m (11,545 ft)
Coordinates51°39′24″N 117°52′03″W / 51.65667°N 117.86750°W / 51.65667; -117.86750
Dimensions
Length525 km (326 mi) NS
Width175 km (109 mi) EW
Geography
Location map of the Selkirk Mountains
CountriesCanada and United States
Provinces/StatesBritish Columbia, Idaho and Washington
Range coordinates49°57′N 117°23′W / 49.95°N 117.38°W / 49.95; -117.38
Parent rangeColumbia Mountains
Borders onMonashee Mountains, Purcell Mountains and Cariboo Mountains
Geology
Type of rockMetamorphic rock

The Selkirk Mountains are a

Duncan Lake, Kootenay Lake and the Kootenay River. The Selkirks are distinct from, and geologically older than, the Rocky Mountains.[2] The neighboring Monashee and Purcell Mountains, and sometimes including the Cariboo Mountains to the northwest, are also part of the larger grouping of mountains known as the Columbia Mountains. A scenic highway loop, the International Selkirk Loop
, encircles the southern portions of the mountain range.

The Selkirks were named after Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk.

Modern history

USGS surveyors on Scotchman Peak in 1900

In 1857

A.B. Rogers discovered the mountain pass that bears his name in 1881–1882. As a result of the railway's construction via that route, Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks (Canada) in the heart of the Selkirks were among the first national parks created in Canada, along with Yoho and Banff National Parks in the Rockies. Until the completion of the Trans-Canada Highway via the Rogers Pass, automotive traffic between most of British Columbia and the rest of Canada necessarily was forced to follow the path of the Columbia River via its Big Bend
, around the north end of the Selkirks.

Fauna

This area, some of it protected in Washington's

grizzly bears are also known to roam through this region now in abundance.[4]

South Selkirk mountain caribou

The southern end of the Selkirk Mountains was the home of the last naturally occurring caribou herd in the contiguous United States,[5] the South Selkirk mountain caribou. The herd was cross boundary, spending some time in extreme northern Idaho, eastern Washington, and British Columbia, Canada. The South Selkirk mountain caribou is a woodland mountain caribou, an ecotype of the boreal woodland caribou, one of the most critically endangered mammals.[6]

In 2009 the herd of 50 animals was declining. Predation from wolves that had been reintroduced to the area negatively effected the herd, and by April 2018, only three remained,[6] and in January 2019, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) announced in its scientific journal, Science, that British Columbia's provincial biologists captured the female caribou in Canada and moved her to a captive rearing pen near Revelstoke in the hopes of "preserving highly endangered herds".[7] According to the AAAS, it is believed that this female caribou is the "last member of the last herd to regularly cross into the lower 48 states from Canada".[7][8]

Sub-ranges

Peaks

The 10 highest peaks[10]

Mt. Fox and Mt. Dawson from Asulkan Pass, British Columbia, c. 1902

References

  1. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(2000)112<1356:GOTPTR>2.0.CO;2
    .
  2. ^ Meier, Mark F.; Tangborn, Wendell V.; Mayo, Lawrence R.; Post, Austin (1971). "Combined Ice and Water Balances of Gulkana and Wolverine Glaciers, Alaska, and South Cascade Glacier, Washington, 1965 and 1966 Hydrologic Years". USGS. Geological Survey Professional Paper 715-A.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7166-0111-1
    .
  4. ^ "Wilderness.net: Salmo-Priest Wilderness". Retrieved 2007-12-28.
  5. ^ "Mammals of Eastern Washington". 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-12-10. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  6. ^ a b Robbins, Jim (April 14, 2018). "Gray Ghosts, the Last Caribou in the Lower 48 States, Are 'Functionally Extinct". The New York Times. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Moskovitz, David (January 17, 2019). "The contiguous United States just lost its last wild caribou". Science AAAS. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  8. ^ Wiles, Gary J. (January 2017). "Periodic Status Review for the Woodland Caribou (2017)" (PDF). Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: 37. Retrieved January 18, 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ "Three Rocks". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  10. ^ Selkirk Mountains, peakbagger.com, Retrieved 2023-09-04.

External links

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