Air Resources Information System (ARIS)
Bering Sea National Wildlife Refuge

Overview

Highlights Overview AQRVs Monitoring       Additional Information Regional Air Quality Information Alaska Maritime NWR Website Bering Sea WA 300km Radius Map (PDF 655KB)

Bering Sea was established as a national wildlife refuge in 1909. It includes about 25 islands and headlands in the Norton Sound and the seabird and seal rookeries on the Pribilof Islands. The Pribilof Islands are located 400 km north of the Aleutian Chain. Also included are the Hagemeister Island near the coast west of Dillingham, and other smaller islands in the Bering Sea . Located within the Bering Sea Unit is Saint Matthew Wilderness Area. The St. Matthew Island group consists of St. Matthew and small nearby Hall island (north) and Pinnacle Island (south of St. Matthew). St. Matthew lies an additional 400 km north of St. Paul and 330 km south of St. Lawrence Island. St. Matthew is approximately 400 km from the Alaska mainland. Bering Sea Wilderness (St. Matthew island group) is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and provides sanctuary and nesting areas to large colonies of sea birds, including one of the few colonies of northern fulmars, and almost the entire world’s population of McKay’s buntings. Also found are Northern sea lions, seals, walruses, Artic foxes, and gray whales. An endangered bowhead whale is sometimes sighted and polar bears are occasionally seen.

• Congress designated Bering Sea as a wilderness area in 1970, declaring that the area should remain undeveloped and "unimpaired" for future generations. It now has a total of 81,340 acres. In 1977, Congress acknowledged the uniqueness of Bering Sea Wilderness by designating it a Class I air quality area, affording it special protection under the Clean Air Act. Congress gave the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), as the Federal Land Manager of Bering Sea Wilderness, the responsibility to protect the air quality and air quality related values (AQRVs) of the area from manmade air pollution. AQRVs include vegetation, wildlife, soils, water quality, visibility, odor, and cultural and archeological resources.

• Little is known about the effects of air pollution on air quality and AQRVs in Bering Sea . Potential air pollution threats to Bering Sea include oil and gas development in Alaska and long-range transport of air pollutants from other sources, including sources in Asia . Pollutant haze may obscure visibility at the wilderness area part of the time.

• The FWS has begun a program to better understand air pollution causes and effects, in partnership with the national Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) program.

• Lichens are significant components of Bering Sea ’s flora, and lichens have been shown to be sensitive to air pollution in other areas of Alaska and North America . Surveys of lichens, bryophytes, and vascular plants were conducted to obtain baseline information on distribution and occurrence of species.

• The FWS is working cooperatively with the State of Alaska to reduce air pollutant emissions and protect the air quality and AQRVs of Bering Sea. If Bering Sea is not protected, unique wildlife and scenic values could be threatened or lost. The FWS hopes to preserve and protect this special area of wilderness for future generations.