Selawik National Wildlife Refuge

Local residents harvest both fish and land animals in all seasons, with the annual patterns depending on both species availability and the timing of favorable weather conditions.

Different communities may use more or less of certain wild foods depending on their location. For example, in...

Most hunting at Selawik National Wildlife Refuge by those from outside the region is in pursuit of caribou. While the refuge is remote and access difficult, non-local hunters may pursue caribou (and other big game such as wolves or bears) in the fall. Hunters typically fly to Kotzebue and hire a...

The two main rivers on the refuge are the Selawik and Kobuk, with numerous tributaries and sloughs. There are also 22,000 ponds and lakes and two large river deltas. The primary fishing opportunities are for sheefish (inconnu), chum salmon (on the Kobuk only), burbot, grayling and northern pike...

Although there are no boat launch or docking facilities provided at Selawik Refuge, in this vast roadless expanse, motor boats are a primary means of access during the ice-free months of the year.

Selawik Refuge is open for camping year-round, without any developed facilities or fees. In the summer, you can pitch your tent on a gravel bar, soft patch of tundra, or in the hills with a view. Most folks who camp in the winter months use some type of tent or shelter that has a wood stove or...

Snowmobiles are an allowed means of accessing the refuge during winter months - and in fact are one of the most common ways to get out into the country in much of roadless Alaska.

On refuge lands, you are allowed to cut wood for personal use (not sale) as follows:

With winter being our longest season, ice fishing is a great activity to get you outdoors on the shorter days and hopefully will also get you some fresh food! Sheefish, pike, burbot, and tomcod are the main species harvested by ice fishers, but some residents also use under-ice subsistence nets...

Both wild berries and edible greens are sought after here, and why not? They're nutritious, delicious, and abundant. Species of interest: blueberries, cranberries (lingonberries), blackberries (crowberries), salmonberries (cloudberries), sourdock, wild rhubarb, and fireweed.

Like many far-northern locales, bird activity here varies enormously during the year. The breeding season is when most varieties of birds are present, but they are widely dispersed across nesting habitat.

Some of the best, albeit fleeting opportunities, for birding are during the arrival...

Dogsledding was for generations the primary way Iñupiat traveled overland in the winter months. Today, dog mushing is still happening in Northwest Alaska, with winter trails being multi-use and shared by snowmachines, dogs, and the occasional skier or fat-tire bike. The Kobuk 440 is the dog sled...

Selawik Refuge staff are willing, ready and able to provide lessons and activities in classrooms. Teachers from the Northwest Arctic Borough School district are welcome to contact us with requests.

The Alaska Migratory Bird Calendar Contest is one of our biggest educational programs each...

Follow either the Alaska Department of Fish & Game trapping regulations, or the Federal subsistence trapping regulations (if you live in the region and are trapping on Federal lands). Species of interest to trappers include beavers, foxes, marten, river otters, lynx, muskrats and more.

There are no groomed trails for cross-country skiers at Selawik Refuge, but there is a wide open (snowy) landscape for those with the skills and desire to explore on their own. The network of marked winter trails which connect communities in northwest Alaska is primarily used by snowmobiles, but...