Refuge Features

Kodiak “Island of the Great Bear.” Genetically distinct, Kodiak brown bear inhabit the wild, rugged Kodiak Archipelago in the Gulf of Alaska, 252 miles southwest of Anchorage. Inspired by enlightened sportsmen, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge in 1941 to conserve Kodiak bears and their habitat. Today, the refuge has a global conservation role - to instill regard for bears, salmon, and other wildlife; to protect interdependent species of fish, wildlife and plants within the largest intact, pristine island ecosystem in North America; and to ensure compatible management of wildlife, subsistence, recreation, and economic uses of refuge resources.

Misty fiords, deep glacial valleys, and lofty mountains distinguish the 1.9 million-acre refuge. Diverse habitats encompass 117 salmon-bearing streams, 16 lakes, riparian wetlands, grasslands, shrub lands, spruce forest, tundra, and alpine meadows. Collectively these habitats sustain 3,000 bears, account for up to 30 million salmon caught by the Kodiak based fishing fleet, support more than 400 breeding pairs of bald eagles, and provide essential migration and breeding habitat for another 250 species of fish, birds and mammals. Such natural wealth, attracts 8,000 to 10,000 visitors to the refuge.

Last updated: September 29, 2008