Pleasant Island (Alaska)

Etymology

Pleasant Island was named in 1879 by William Healey Dall of the United States Geological Survey because of its "pleasant shore". The name was first published in the 1883 Coast Pilot.

Geography

Pleasant Island has a land area of 49 km2. It is the largest island in the Pleasant/Lemesurier/Inian Islands Wilderness, a 23151 acre wilderness area within Tongass National Forest. It is relatively flat, with its highest point, The Knob, reaching a height of 600 feet. The island has several freshwater streams and lakes.

History

Pleasant Island lies within the traditional territory of the Huna Tlingit. Oral histories indicate that the Tlingit have historically used Pleasant Island for a variety of subsistence activities, such as fishing, hunting, and berrying. A 1946 Indian land claims document, "Possessory Rights of the Natives of Southwest Alaska" by Walter Goldschmidt and Theodore Haas, records local accounts of Native houses on the island's northern shore.

In 1925, Pleasant Island was added to Tongass National Forest by presidential proclamation as part of a major expansion which included over one million acres surrounding the newly created Glacier Bay National Monument. In the late 20th century, the waters surrounding Pleasant Island saw intense Tanner crab fishing, driven by high demand from the Japanese market.

The residents of nearby Gustavus continue to use Pleasant Island for recreation and subsistence. The community's reliance on Pleasant Island was one of several motivations behind the 2012 annexation of Icy Passage by Gustavus; Icy Passage is the sole access corridor to the island.

Climate and ecology

Pleasant Island is characterized by a cool, maritime climate, with an average annual precipitation of 1400mm. Average temperatures range from −7°C to 17°C.

The coastal areas of Pleasant Island are dominated by western hemlock and Sitka spruce. The groundcover includes dense populations of Alaska blueberry, rusty menziesia, Lysichiton americanus, and Cornus canadensis. Other present, but less dominant species include red huckleberry, Rubus pedatus, Lycopodium annotinum, Maianthemum dilatatum, and Coptis aspleniifolia. The higher ground areas, above 45 meters elevation, are mostly covered by muskeg, with occasional lodgepole pine; many species of vascular plants can be found there, including Empetrum nigrum, Cornus suecica, Oxycoccus microcarpus, Eriophorum angustifolium, Carex aquatilis, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, and Rhododendron groenlandicum.

Pleasant Island's terrestrial fauna includes a resident gray wolf pack that established on the island around 2013, leading to the extirpation of the Sitka black-tailed deer population by 2018. As ungulate prey declined, the wolves shifted to feeding heavily on sea otters.

Access

The wilderness is accessible by boat, kayak or float plane.

Facilities

There are no public cabins, shelters or maintained trails on the islands.

References

• Pleasant Island: Block 1047, Census Tract 3, Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska United States Census Bureau

References

1. (June 26, 2012). "Small plane lands on beach, 5 aboard safe". [[Juneau Empire]].
2. Pringle, Robert M.. (2023-02-14). "Wolves, otters, ungulates, and a promising path for ecology". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
3. "Dictionary of Alaska Place Names - Page 762 - UNT Digital Library".
4. "Visit Wilderness".
5. (10 June 2025). "Switching to marine prey leads to unprecedented mercury concentrations in a population of coastal Alaska wolves". Science of the Total Environment.
6. (1998). "Haa aaní: = Our land: Tlingit and Haida land rights and use". Univ. of Washington Press.
7. "Names, boundaries, and maps: A resource for the historical geography of the national forest system of the United States".
8. (2010). "Navigating Troubled Waters". U.S. Department of the Interior.
9. "Petition for annexation to the city of Gustavus by legislative review".
10. "Local Boundary Commission Completes City of Gustavus's Petition Process with Commissioner Bell's Signature". Dept. of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development.
11. (2024). "The origin, connectivity, and individual specialization of island wolves after deer extirpation". Ecology and Evolution.
12. (1971). "Plant Diversity in a Chronosequence at Glacier Bay, Alaska". Ecology.
13. (September 1996). "Vegetation History of Pleasant Island, Southeastern Alaska, since 13,000 yr B.P.". Quaternary Research.
14. (2024). "The origin, connectivity, and individual specialization of island wolves after deer extirpation". Ecology and Evolution.