The confluence of our story,
our commitment and our vision

We are inextricable linked to the Copper River, its tributaries and wild salmon that connect us all, from river to sea. Without the purity and health of the Copper River Watershed, we are nothing. In addition to advocacy and volunteering, we pledge 2% of annual revenues (or 10% of net profits, whichever is greater) to nonprofits working on wild salmon wilderness preservation, restoration and education in Alaska’s famous Copper River Watershed.

The glorious cycle of life offered by wild salmon define Alaskan culture and economies of Alaskan coastal communities. Alaska Glacial Essentials strives to honor and show gratitude for the gifts from Mother Nature and salmon culture by protecting the magnificent Copper River Watershed through philanthropy, activism and volunteering, thus ensuring wild salmon’s survival for generations to come. Together we can raise the next generation of stewards.

As part of our ongoing vision to harmonize commerce with social and environmental impact for the greater good, we request feedback from our nonprofit partners to measure our philanthropic impact over time. You can read their answers here.

Nonprofit Partners WE SUPPORT


The Alaska Center Education Fund logo

THE ALASKA CENTER EDUCATION FUND – Anchorage, Alaska

The Alaska Center Education Fund hosts programs to educate and engage Alaskans of all ages to support clean air and water, build healthy and resilient communities, and become empowered stewards.


Brooklyn to Alaska logo

BROOKLYN TO ALASKA PROJECT – Brooklyn, New York and McCarthy, Alaska

The Brooklyn to Alaska Project helps underpriveleged youth from Brooklyn to come experience the wilderness of the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains National Park through an adventurous and enlightening 10-day trip to promote cross-cultural respect, self-reliance, outdoor leadership and environmental stewardship.


Copper River Watershed Project logo

COPPER RIVER WATERSHED PROJECT – Cordova, Alaska

The Copper River Watershed Project promotes a salmon-rich, intact watershed and culturally diverse communities by forming partnerships for watershed-scale planning and projects including wild salmon habitat restoration, recycling, school education programs, food security, the youth Copper River Stewardship Program and sustainable community development programs.


Cordova Community Foundation

CORDOVA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION– Cordova, Alaska

The Cordova Community Foundation’s focus is to enhance the quality of life in Cordova, Alaska through community giving. As a remote coastal community, Cordova is aware of the importance of self-reliance. We have come together to produce local initiative for vision-oriented legacy planning and giving to improve the quality of life within Cordova.

WISE logo

WRANGELL INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT (WISE) Copper Center, Alaska

WISE’s Mission is to provide science and environmental education to all age groups, to foster and make readily available resources for learning, to support and participate in scientific research, and to share the natural wonders of the Copper River Basin.


Native Conservancy logo

NATIVE CONSERVANCY – Cordova, Alaska

The Native Conservancy empowers Alaska Native peoples to permanently protect and preserve endangered habitats on their ancestral homelands. They strive to maintain and secure titles to Native lands in conservation trusts to strengthen inherent rights of sovereignty, subsistence and spirituality.


Prince Wiliam Sound Science Center logo

PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND SCIENCE CENTER – Cordova, Alaska

The goals of Prince William Sound Science Center are to answer and address modern environmental issues through in-depth science in the Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound ecosystems. In particular, PWSSC education programs provoke inquiry into the natural world, increase science and ecological literacy, and foster responsibility for the sound use of natural resources. The education programs use hands-on learning and outdoor education to inspire personal connections to the natural world and responsible decision making to sustain it.


Wrangell Mountain Center logo

WRANGELL MOUNTAINS CENTER – McCarthy, Alaska

Surrounded by our nation’s largest national park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the Wrangell Mountains Center connects people with wildlands through art, science, and education in Alaska’s Wrangell Mountains.


The Copper River Watershed


The Copper River and its tributaries make up an impressive watershed of wilderness. The Watershed encompasses 26,500 square miles and the the far corners of five distinct mountain ranges. These include the Alaska Range, the Wrangell Mountains, St. Elias Range, most of the Chugach Mountains and a small section of the Talkeetna Range. They contain sources of both volcanic and sedimentary rock from some of North America’s tallest peaks, as well the largest subpolar icefield in the world, the Bagley Icefield, making the Copper River Watershed one of the most prolific and diverse glacial deposits in the world. As the glaciers slide down the mountains into the valleys, they grind on the bedrock below, creating what scientists refer to as “glacial flour.” That sediment is a good source of iron and nutrients for phytoplankton and marine plants. These nutrients in turn support abundant wild salmon runs on the Copper River.

The Copper River drains glacial silt from along its entire path. During summer months, the daily sediment load can be 750,000 cubic feet of mud and sand. Much of the river is frozen in winter from late November to April. The Copper River carries one of the largest river sediment loads known and over thousands of years, the river has built up a layer of silt over 600 feet deep as it leaves the Chugach Mountains and enters the coastal plain. These depositions have formed the Copper River Delta.

The Copper River Delta

Mountainous glaciers blanketing the basin have been melting since the last ice age ended 12,000 years ago depositing massive amounts of glacial silt downstream, upwards of 60-100 million tons per year! The Copper River Delta coastal plain spans over 700,000 acres and stretches almost seventy-five miles along the coast.

The Copper River Delta is the northernmost portion of the Pacific temperate rainforest that spans from California to Alaska. It is the largest contiguous wetland on the Pacific coast of North America and is considered one of the most important fisheries and wildlife habitats in the world. The Copper River Delta is home to all five species of Pacific wild salmon, bears, wolves, nesting eagles and geese, trumpeter swans, moose, black-tail deer, mountain goats, lynx, countless other mammals and millions of migratory shorebirds. The Delta is almost completely contained in the Chugach National Forest. While the Copper River Delta is successfully managed by the Chugach National Forest for conservation of fish and wildlife habitat- for commercial, recreational and subsistence purposes- it is not permanently protected. The Copper River Watershed lacks a comprehensive management plan that would protect it from unsustainable development that has jeopardized many rivers in the Pacific Northwest. The importance of protecting this highly productive ecosystem is apparent.


Explore more about Alaska Glacial Essentials

OUR STORY

Our feet immediately sank into deep buttery mud and we proceeded to cover our bodies - guests at the most wild spa in the world.

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OUR STORY

Our feet immediately sank into deep buttery mud and we proceeded to cover our bodies, as if guests at the most wild spa in the world.

Read More >

AK-BEAUTY

Wildly potent skincare Powered by Mother Nature that reveals the purity and essence of Alaska.

Read More >