The Copper River rises out of the Copper Glacier, which lies on the northeast side of Mount Wrangell, in the Wrangell Mountains, within Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park. Brown Bears benefit from the river's famous salmon runs arising from the use of the river watershed by over 2 million salmon each year for spawning. The Copper River Delta, which extends for 2,800 km2 is considered the largest contiguous wetlands - partly tidal flats - along the Pacific coast of North America. It is used annually by 16 million shorebirds, including the world's entire population of western sandpipers. The upper freshwater marshlands are also home to the world's largest population of nesting trumpeter swans and is the only known nesting site for the dusky Canada goose.