Prince of Wales Island, Alaska
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- For other islands named after the Prince of Wales, see Prince of Wales Island.
Prince of Wales Island is the third largest island in the United States, after Hawai‘i and Kodiak Island. It is one of the islands of the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle. The island is in the Prince of Wales - Outer Ketchikan Census Area.
The island is 135 miles (215 km) long, 45 miles (72 km) wide and has an area of 2,577 sq mi (6,675 km²), slightly larger than the State of Delaware.
The island is covered by the Tongass National Forest. It is the main homeland of the Kaigani Haida people, and the only home of the Prince of Wales Flying Squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus griseifrons.
Residents of Point Baker and Port Protection on the island's north end sued the U.S. Forest Service in 1974 to prevent the clearcutting of 400,000 acres of old-growth forest, including several salmon streams. The outcome was a December 1975 order preventing the logging, but political pressure from pro-logging interests resulted in the National Forest Management Act, which effectively nullified the decision and permitted the logging. The 1990 Tongass Timber Reform Act reimposed restrictions on logging.
Communities
- Coffman Cove
- Craig
- Edna Bay
- Hollis
- Hydaburg
- Kasaan
- Klawock
- Naukati Bay
- Point Baker
- Port Protection
- Port St. Nicholas
- Thorne Bay
- Waterfall
- Whale Pass
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