Togiak National Wildlife Refuge
| Togiak National Wildlife Refuge | |||
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| Location: | Alaska , United States | ||
| Next city: | Togiak | ||
| Surface: | 16,604 km² | ||
| Founding: | 2nd December 1980 | ||
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The Togiak National Wildlife Refuge is a 16,604 km² protected area of the National Wildlife Refuge System in southwest Alaska . It stretches from Bristol Bay in the south to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in the north. Part of the refuge are the Ahklun Mountains in the north, the Nushagak Peninsula , 35 rivers - including the Kanektok , Goodnews and Togiak River - and almost 1000 km of coastline on the Bering Sea . Wood-Tikchik State Park borders the refuge to the east .
The refuge is managed by the World Conservation Union in category IV ( biotope and species protection area ). With an area of 9200 km², almost half of the refuge is designated as a wilderness area , the strictest class of nature reserves in the United States.
Wildlife
The protected area is home to 48 species of mammals, 17 of which are marine mammals. 150,000 caribou from two large herds, the Nushagak Peninsula and the Mulchatna , roam the country. In addition to wolves , moose , brown and black bears , wolverines , red foxes , marmots , beavers , tree prickers and other land mammals also live here.
Around 200 species of birds have been observed in the region of the refuge, including endangered species such as the plush head duck and the black duck .
Pacific walruses live on the coast and in the sea in front of the refuge . Up to 12,000 animals gather at Cape Peirce in the extreme southwest of the reserve. Also, Steller sea lions , largha-seals and harbor seals have a habitat.
history
Excavations indicate a continuous settlement of the region around Togiak for over 2000 years. Up to 5000 years old traces of human presence have been found in Security Cove . The first contact of the native Alaskans in southwest Alaska with Europeans took place in 1778 when James Cook visited the area.
Before the region became a protected area, it was publicly owned under the administration of the Bureau of Land Management . In 1969 part of today's Togiak National Wildlife Refuge was placed under protection as Cape Newenham National Wildlife Refuge . In 1980 the 1070 km² of Cape Newenham NWR was expanded to today's 19,000 km² under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and the name was changed to "Togiak".
Web links
- US Fish & Wildlife Service: Togiak National Wildlife Refuge (official site; English)
- Togiak Wilderness (English)
Individual evidence
Alaska Maritime | Alaska Peninsula | Arctic | Becharof | Innoko | Izembek | Kanuti | Kenai | Kodiak | Koyukuk | Nowitna | Selawik | Tetlin | Togiak | Yukon Delta | Yukon Flats