Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Aleutian Island Unit
Map showing the location of Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
Map showing the location of Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
Map of Alaska, United States
LocationAlaska, United States
Coordinates52°N 174°W / 52°N 174°W / 52; -174
Area4,900,000 acres (20,000 km2)
Established1980
Governing bodyU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
WebsiteAlaska Maritime NWR

The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (often shortened to Alaska Maritime or AMNWR) is a United States National Wildlife Refuge comprising 2,400 islands, headlands, rocks, islets, spires and reefs in Alaska, with a total area of 4.9 million acres (20,000 km2), of which 2.64 million acres (10,700 km2) is wilderness. The refuge stretches from Cape Lisburne on the Chukchi Sea to the tip of the Aleutian Islands in the west and Forrester Island in the southern Alaska Panhandle region in the east. The refuge has diverse landforms and terrains, including tundra, rainforest, cliffs, volcanoes, beaches, lakes, and streams.

Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is well known for its abundance of seabirds. About 75 percent of Alaskan native marine birds, 15 to 30 million among 55 species, use the refuge. AMNWR also provides a nesting habitat for an estimated 40 million seabirds, representing 80 percent of all seabirds in North America. The birds congregate in "bird cities" (colonies) along the coast. Each species has a specialized nesting site (rock ledge, crevice, boulder rubble, pinnacle, or burrow). Other animals present in this refuge include caribou, sea lions, bears, coyotes, seals, Canada lynx, beavers, foxes, muskrats, wolf packs, moose, walrus, river otters, marten, whales, Dall sheep and sea otters.[1]

The administrative headquarters and visitor center are located in Homer, Alaska. In 1968, Simeonof National Wildlife Refuge, part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.[2]

Administration

The refuge is divided into five units. Clockwise around Alaska, starting in the southeast, their component territories include:

Gulf of Alaska unit

Alaska Peninsula unit

Aleutian Islands unit

Kagamil Island

Includes most of the land area of the Aleutian Islands, from Unimak in the east to Attu in the west: Near Islands, Rat Islands, Delarof Islands, Andreanof Islands, Islands of Four Mountains, Fox Islands, and Krenitzin Islands

  • Unimak Wilderness (Unimak Island)
  • Aleutian Islands Wilderness – 1,300,000 acres (5,300 km2), designated 1980[3]
  • Bogoslof Wilderness (Bogoslof Island) – 175 acres (71 ha), designated 1970[4]

Bering Sea unit

Refuge staffer holding a least auklet on St. George Island

Chukchi Sea unit

  • Big Hazy Islet - Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
    Big Hazy Islet - Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
  • Gull Island, a small rocky outcropping on Kachemak Bay is the summer home to an estimated 10,000 seabirds
    Gull Island, a small rocky outcropping on Kachemak Bay is the summer home to an estimated 10,000 seabirds
  • Thick-billed murres in the refuge
    Thick-billed murres in the refuge
  • East Amatuli Island, Barren Islands, Gulf of Alaska Unit
    East Amatuli Island, Barren Islands, Gulf of Alaska Unit
  • Castle Cape, Alaska Peninsula Unit
    Castle Cape, Alaska Peninsula Unit
  • Cape Thompson
    Cape Thompson
  • Three walrus near Cape Lisburne
    Three walrus near Cape Lisburne

See also

References

  1. ^ McCluskey, Ian (November 2, 2020). "Will Oregon see sea otters again?". OPB. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  2. ^ "National Natural Landmarks - National Natural Landmarks (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  3. ^ "Aleutian Islands Wilderness". wilderness.net. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  4. ^ "Bogoslof Wilderness". wilderness.net. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  5. ^ "Bering Sea Wilderness". wilderness.net. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
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