At 19 million acres, this northeast Alaska refuge is the largest in the nation. Here’s what you can find on the refuge:
- A complete range of arctic and subarctic ecosystems
- An extraordinary assemblage of wildlife
More than 250 animal species live on the refuge, including:
- Wolves and Arctic foxes
- Grizzlies and polar bears
- Musk oxen
- Millions of migrating birds from as far away as the Chesapeake Bay, Africa, and Antarctica. Many of these birds appear in your own backyard, then head to the Arctic for summer breeding.
For the past two decades, the oil industry has mounted lobbying campaigns to gain access to the coastal plain of the Refuge and convert it to a vast oil development field.
The Wilderness Society is working to protect this refuge and its extraordinary wildlife from losing habitat to oil drilling.