Togiak National Wildlife Refuge

Togiak National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Ahklum and Wood River Mountains, Togiak National Wildlife Refuge
Location	Alaska, United States
Area	4,102,537 acres (16,602.38 km2)
Established	1980
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
togiak.fws.gov

Dominated by the Ahklun Mountains in the north and the cold waters of Bristol Bay to the south, Togiak National Wildlife Refuge confronts the traveler with a kaleidoscope of landscapes. The natural forces that have shaped this land range from the violent and powerful to the geologically patient. Earthquakes and volcanoes filled the former role, and their marks can still be found, but it was the gradual advance and retreat of glacial ice that carved many of the physical features of this refuge.

The refuge has a surface area of 4,102,537 acres (16,602.4 km²). It is the fourth-largest National Wildlife Refuge in the United States as well as the state of Alaska, which has all eleven of the largest NWRs.

Wildlife

Caribou at the refuge

The refuge is home to 48 mammal species, 31 of which are terrestrial and 17 marine. More than 150,000 caribou from two herds, the Nushagak Peninsula and the Mulchatna, make use of refuge lands, which they share with wolves, moose, brown and black bears, wolverines, red foxes, marmots, beavers, and porcupines, among other land mammals. Seals, sea lions, walrus and whales are found at various times of year along the refuge's 600 miles (970 km) of coastline.

Some 201 species of birds have been sighted on Togiak Refuge. Threatened species can occasionally be found here, including Steller's and spectacled eiders. Several arctic goose species frequent the refuge, along with murres, peregrine falcons, dowitchers, Lapland longspurs and a rich variety of other seabirds, waterfowl, shorebirds, songbirds and raptors. Refuge staff and volunteers have also documented more than 500 species of plants, demonstrating a high degree of biodiversity for a sub-arctic area.

See also

• List of largest National Wildlife Refuges
• Ahklun Mountains

References

• Refuge profile
• Refuge website

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.