Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (often shortened to Alaska Maritime or AMNWR) is a United States National Wildlife Refuge comprising 2,400 islands, headlands, rocks, islets, spires and reefs in Alaska, with a total area of 4.9 million acres (19,800 km²), of which 2.64 million acres (10,680 km²) is wilderness). The refuge stretches from Cape Lisburne on the Chukchi Sea to the tip of the Aleutian Islands in the west and Forrester Island in the southern Alaska Panhandle region in the east. The refuge has diverse landforms and terrains, including tundra, rainforest, cliffs, volcanoes, beaches, lakes, and streams.

Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is well-known for its abundance of seabirds. About 75 percent of Alaskan native marine birds, 15 to 30 million among 55 species, use the refuge. AMNWR also provides a nesting habitat for an estimated 40 million seabirds, representing 80 percent of all seabirds in North America. The birds congregate in "bird cities" (colonies) along the coast. Each species has a specialized nesting site (rock ledge, crevice, boulder rubble, pinnacle, or burrow). Other animals present in the park include sea lions, seals, walrus and sea otters.

The administrative headquarters are located in Homer, Alaska.

Administration

The refuge is divided into five units. Clockwise around Alaska, starting in the southeast, their component territories include:

Gulf of Alaska unit

* Forrester Island Wilderness (Forrester Island, Lowrie Island, Wolf Rock)
* Hazy Islands Wilderness (Hazy Islands
* Saint Lazaria National Wildlife Refuge (St. Lazaria Island)
* Middleton Island
* Chiswell Islands
* Tuxedni Wilderness (Chisik Island, Duck Island and Egg Island)
* Barren Islands (East Amatuli Island, West Amatuli Island, Ushagat Island, et al.)
* Trinity Islands (Sitkinak Island, Tugidak Island, et al.)

Alaska Peninsula unit

* Sutwik Island
* Semidi Islands (Aghik Island and Chowiet Island, et al.)
* Simeonof Island (part of the Shumagin Islands)

Aleutian Islands unit

* Includes most of the land area of the Aleutian Islands, from Unimak in the east to
Attu in the west)
* Bogoslof Wilderness (Bogoslof Island)

Bering Sea unit

* Hagemeister Island
* Pribilof Islands (St. George Island, St. Paul Island, Otter Island, Walrus Island)
* Bering Sea Wilderness (St. Matthew Island, Hall Island, Pinnacle Island)
* Besboro Island
* Sledge Island
* King Island

Chukchi Sea unit

* Chamisso Wilderness (Chamisso Island, Puffin Island)
* Cape Thompson
* Cape Lisburne

See also

* United States Fish and Wildlife Service
* Saint Lazaria National Wildlife Refuge

External links

*Official site: [http://alaskamaritime.fws.gov/index.htm Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge]
*Unofficial site: [http://www.amnwr.com AMNWR field camp photos]