| Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge | |
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IUCN Category IV (Habitat/Species Management Area)
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Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Aleutian Island Unit |
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| Location | Alaska, United States |
| Area | 4.9 million acres (20,000 km2) |
| Established | 1980 |
| Governing body | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
| Official website | |
The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (often shortened to Alaska Maritime or AMNWR) is a United States National Wildlife Refuge comprising 2,400 islands, headlands, rocks, islets, spires and reefs in Alaska, with a total area of 4.9 million acres (20,000 km2), of which 2.64 million acres (10,700 km2) is wilderness). The refuge stretches from Cape Lisburne on the Chukchi Sea to the tip of the Aleutian Islands in the west and Forrester Island in the southern Alaska Panhandle region in the east. The refuge has diverse landforms and terrains, including tundra, rainforest, cliffs, volcanoes, beaches, lakes, and streams.
Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is well-known for its abundance of seabirds. About 75 percent of Alaskan native marine birds, 15 to 30 million among 55 species, use the refuge. AMNWR also provides a nesting habitat for an estimated 40 million seabirds, representing 80 percent of all seabirds in North America. The birds congregate in "bird cities" (colonies) along the coast. Each species has a specialized nesting site (rock ledge, crevice, boulder rubble, pinnacle, or burrow). Other animals present in the park include sea lions, seals, walrus, whales and sea otters.
The administrative headquarters and visitor center are located in Homer, Alaska.
Contents |
The refuge is divided into five units. Clockwise around Alaska, starting in the southeast, their component territories include:
Includes most of the land area of the Aleutian Islands, from Unimak in the east to Attu in the west)