Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

Map of the AMNWR with protected areas marked in red

Kittiwakes in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

Sea lion colony on the Aiugunak Pinnacles

The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (AMNWR) is a 13,832 km² nature reserve that includes around 2500 islands, bays and reefs along the coast of the US state of Alaska . It stretches from Cape Lisburne in the northwest of the Lisburne Peninsula to Forrester Island in the south of the Alaska Panhandle and includes the coast off the Alaska Peninsula , the Kodiak Archipelago , the Pribilof Islands and the Aleutian Islands . The protected area is managed by the World Conservation Union in category IV ( biotope and species protection area ).

history

The Alaska Maritime Refuge has existed in its current form since 1980, when the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act brought eleven existing protected areas together with other regions into one large protected area. The origins go back to the beginning of the 20th century when the National Wildlife Refuge System was established under Theodore Roosevelt .

The Aleutian Islands WWII National Monument is located in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge . Like the National Wildlife Refuge, it is looked after by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service .

Wildlife

Approximately 75% of Alaska's native seabirds live in the AMNWR. An estimated 40 million seabirds, 80% of the North American seabird population, nest in this region. Even sea lions , seals , walruses and sea otters are found in the waters of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

Protected areas included

In 1968 the Simeonof National Wildlife Refuge, now part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, was designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service .