Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Welcome to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge located on Alaska's northern coast. This refuge is known for it's abundance of wildlife which includdes over 45 species of land and marine mammals including pygmy shrews, bowhead whales, polar bears, grizzly bears, black bears, wolverines, wolves, moose, caribou, and so many others. Please treat their home with respect.

Refuge History: This refuge boasts over 8 million acres of wilderness and three designated Wild Rivers, the Wind, Sheenjek, and Ivishak rivers. One of the main reasons leading to the establishment of ANWR was to protect the large scale evolutionary and ecologicaly processes that happen here of this unbroken continuum of subarctic and arctic ecosystems. Some of the earliest human inhabitants were members of the Eskimo and Athabascan tribes. The National Park Service, Wilderness Society, and many scientists and other individuals fought hard for the preservation of this land and in 1960 their wish was finally granted. To this day there is still much debate over this land and as to whether or not to open a very small portion for oil drilling.

For the lover of the outdoors ANWR boasts miles of multipurpose trails, waters for fishing, and so much more. Come on out and explore.