Sandwiched between Becharof National Wildlife Refuge to the north and Izembek NWR to the south, Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge presents a breathtakingly dramatic landscape made up of active volcanoes, towering mountain peaks, rolling tundra and rugged, wave-battered coastlines. As is the case with most of Alaska's coastal refuges, salmon provide the principal "nutrient engine" for Alaska Peninsula, supporting the species that prey upon them and enriching the rivers and surrounding lands after they spawn and die.
Where there are salmon, there will usually be bears, and when the fish are running, Ugashik Lakes and the streams that surround them attract brown bears in great numbers. (Black bear are not found on Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge.) Other large land mammals include wolverine, the caribou of the approximately 7,000-animal Northern Alaska Peninsula Herd, wolves and moose. The latter are relative newcomers, first observed on the peninsula in the early 1900s, and uncommon until the 1950s. The refuge's coastal and offshore waters are home to sea otters, harbor seals, sea lions and migrating whales.
Alaska Peninsula's numerous wetlands and often rugged shoreline provide habitat for migratory birds, including ducks, geese and shorebirds. The refuge is also home to the westernmost black cottonwood forests in America, which offer both migration stop-over and nesting habitat to neotropical land birds.
Fishing
Many of the salmon from the world?s most valuable sockeye salmon fishery (Bristol Bay), spawn in the streams that originate on Refuge lands. The ecosystem of the Refuges is fueled by massive runs of the salmon that enrich freshwater streams and lakes with nutrients from the ocean. All five species of Pacific salmon (king, coho, sockeye, pink, and chum) spawn in the streams and lakes on the Refuge. The salmon runs begin in June and continue to September in Bristol Bay, and into December in the Chignik area.
Directions
The refuge office is located approximately 1/8 mile across from the King Salmon Airport. Signs leading to the office complex are readily visible, and assistance can be obtained from the refuge visitor center which is adjacent to the airport terminal. Regularly scheduled commercial flights are available between King Salmon and Anchorage.
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