Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge

The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge is a 1941, founded 8055 km ² large protected area of the National Wildlife Refuge system on the Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska in the U.S. state of Alaska.

The Refuge extends across the southwestern part of Kodiak and includes the islands Uganik, Ban and the Red Peak area of Afognak. It offers a wide variety of landscapes and habitats of coastal areas on fjord-like bays, lakes, swamps and marshes to mountains, which reach a height of 1200 m. Spruce forests cover the lowlands on the east coast, while prevalent in the West tundra.

Wildlife

The reserve is home to over 2,000 brown bears and about 600 bald eagle pairs. More than 250 bird species live in the area of Refuges or talk during migration temporarily there on. In the coastal waters hibernate over 1.5 million seabirds.

In the rivers of the Refuges all five North American species of salmon are located. In the reserve there are 117 independent water systems with a size of two to 600 square kilometers, offering a variety of habitats for one of the largest species varieties in the Pacific Northwest.

160 of 238 occurring on the Kodiak archipelago bird species are found within the boundaries of the protected area, 100 of which nest there. Although Kodiak is not on a bird migration route, a variety of migratory bird species, albeit in small numbers, are observed in the reserve.

History

The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge was established on 19 August 1941, an area of just over 8000 km ². However, a narrow coastal strip remained in the public sector. This coastal strip fell in 1958 the territory of the Refuges too, but two peninsulas were taken from the reserve to the north simultaneously, which shrank the total area of 7365 km ².

1971 was the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 1255 km ² of protected area in the possession of the indigenous natives. 1975 and 1980 were areas on the islands to the Refuge. In the 1990s, the area was increased through purchases and donations for another 1110 km ² to today's 8055 km ².

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