Soil and Vegetation Survey of the Delta River

The Delta River Soil Survey Area is located in the Alaska Range, approximately 220 miles northeast of Anchorage (Figure 1). The area, which includes lands adjacent to the Delta River and Tangle Lakes, includes public lands administered by the United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Primary land uses include recreation and fish and wildlife habitat. In 1980, the upper stretches of the Delta River, all of the Tangle Lakes, and the Tangle River were designated as part of the National Wild and Scenic River System by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. In 1983, a river management plan was developed by BLM to administer the lands of the area (USDI 1983). The survey area is approximately 46,871 acres in size. This includes a corridor approximately 40 miles long and from one to two miles wide along the Tangle Lakes and the upper Delta River (Figure 1). The Delta River, which originates at the outlet of Long Tangle Lake, runs in a northerly direction to the survey area boundary at Black Rapids Glacier.