Rich in History and Culture

Celebrate Wilderness!

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Alaska refuges contain more than 18 million acres of wilderness and the year 2014 marks the 50thanniversary of the law that protected these spectacular areas-the 1964 Wilderness Act. Check out Alaska Wilderness celebration events.

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Centuries of Human History

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Although no communities lie within the boundaries of the Innoko National Wildlife Refuge today, this land has been important to people for generations. Athabaskan people have lived along the rivers for centuries, in historic villages and seasonal campsites. Miners and merchants built towns and roadhouses which were abandoned after the gold rush played out. Cultural traditions of hunting, fishing, and gathering plants live on for today’s residents.

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Iditarod National Historic Trail

In the early 1900s, Alaska was a wild frontier in the midst of a gold boom, and the Iditarod Trail was established as a supply route connecting Seward to Nome and the many mining camps in between. Much of the route followed older traditional trails connecting Native Alaskan villages. Today a major portion of this historic trail crosses the Innoko Refuge. Much excitement ensues every year as the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race passes through the region.

More about the historic trail
Healthy Wildlife Populations

A Natural Home

Barrow's goldeneye drake

Geese, ducks, swans & loons by the tens of thousands make use of superb nesting habitat within the Innoko Refuge. They are joined by a host of songbirds and around 20 hardy year-round resident bird species. A full suite of mammals and abundant fish populations round out the healthy wildlife community that the refuge works to conserve.

Wildlife at Innoko Refuge

About the Complex

Koyukuk - Nowitna - Innoko National Wildlife Refuge Complex

Innoko National Wildlife Refuge is managed together with Koyukuk and Nowitna refuges as a complex. A complex is an administrative grouping of refuges with a shared staff and resources. The complex is headquartered in Galena.

About the NWRS

National Wildlife Refuge System

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The National Wildlife Refuge System, within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, manages a national network of lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife, and plants.

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