Kitimat River Park

Kitimat River Park was designated as a park on May 20, 2004, following recommendations from the Kalum Land and Resource Management Plan.

Kitimat River Park is located in the CWHws1 biogeoclimatic zone (coastal western hemlock, wet sub-maritime subzone, Submontane variant). This zone occurs at low to mid-elevations. In general, it is one of the wettest areas in BC and typically has cool summers and mild winters. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 100 to 440 cm. The park is situated on an active floodplain of the Kitimat River. Vegetation differences throughout the park depend on differences in bench height and frequency of flooding. The soils in active floodplains are usually poorly developed. 

High bench sites have seasonally fluctuating water tables, but only flood every few years. Forests are typically dominated by Sitka spruce, however red cedar, western hemlock and Amabilis fir are also present. The shrub layer is dominated by devil’s club. Small amounts of salmonberry, Alaskan and oval-leaf blueberry and young conifers are also present in the understory. Spiny wood fern, oak fern, foamflowers, twisted stock, and leafy mosses are also common in this plant community. 

Middle bench plant communities have high and prolonged water tables that limit conifer establishment. The most common species in this area are black cottonwood, red-osier dogwood, red alder, and salmonberry. 

The low bench plant communities are found adjacent to the river and back channels and are subjected to prolonged annual flooding, sediment erosion and deposition. The occasional black cottonwood is found in this area, but the most common species are willows along with red and Sitka alder.