Selkirk Mountains

Modern history

In 1857 gold was discovered in the Selkirks. Coal, copper, marble, mercury, silver, and zinc were also found in the mountains. During the development of Western Canada, the Selkirks presented a formidable barrier to the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, until 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 Salmo-Priest Wilderness, is also home to mule deer and white-tailed deer, elk, black bears, cougars, bobcats, red fox, bald eagles, golden eagles, osprey, great blue heron, porcupine, badgers, coyote, martens, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, gray wolves and moose. Formerly rarely seen, grizzly bears are also known to roam through this region now in abundance.

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, 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.

In 2009 the herd of 50 animals was declining. Predation from wolves that had been reintroduced to the area negatively affected the herd, and by April 2018, only three remained, 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". 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".

Sub-ranges

• Asulkan Range
• Battle Range
• Big Bend Ranges
  • Adamant Range
  • Sir Sandford Range
  • Windy Range
• Bishops Range
• Bonnington Range
• Clachnacudainn Range
• Dawson Range
• Dishman Hills
• Duncan Ranges
  • Badshot Range
• Goat Range
• Hermit Range
• Holiday Hills
• Huckleberry Range
• Kokanee Range
• Lardeau Range
• Nelson Range
• Purity Range
• Sir Donald Range
• Three Rocks
• Valhalla Ranges
  • Ruby Range
• Valkyr Range
  • Norns Range

Peaks

The 10 highest peaks

• Mount Sir Sandford (3,519 m)
• Mount Dawson (3,377 m)
• Mount Selwyn (3,355 m)
• Adamant Mountain (3,345 m)
• Austerity Mountain (3,337 m)
• Mount Wheeler (3,336 m)
• Grand Mountain (3,287 m)
• Mount Sir Donald (3,284 m)
• Sugarloaf Mountain (3,274 m)
• Beaver Mountain (3,212 m)

References

References

1. (2000). "Geology of the Purcell Trench rift valley and Sandpoint Conglomerate: Eocene en echelon normal faulting and synrift sedimentation along the eastern flank of the Priest River metamorphic complex, northern Idaho". GSA Bulletin.
2. (1971). "Combined Ice and Water Balances of Gulkana and Wolverine Glaciers, Alaska, and South Cascade Glacier, Washington, 1965 and 1966 Hydrologic Years". USGS.
3. Wynn, Graeme. (2011). "Selkirk Mountains". World Book, Inc..
4. "Wilderness.net: Salmo-Priest Wilderness".
5. (2007). "Mammals of Eastern Washington".
6. Robbins, Jim. (April 14, 2018). "Gray Ghosts, the Last Caribou in the Lower 48 States, Are 'Functionally Extinct". The New York Times.
7. Moskovitz, David. (January 17, 2019). "The contiguous United States just lost its last wild caribou". Science AAAS.
8. (January 2017). "Periodic status review for the woodland caribou in Washington". [[Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife]].
9. {{cite gnis
10. [https://www.peakbagger.com/range.aspx?rid=1314 Selkirk Mountains, peakbagger.com], Retrieved 2023-09-04.