Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge
Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge
Fairbanks, AK 99701
Phone:907-456-0329
Fax:907-456-0428
Web: kanuti.fws.gov
Established: 1980.
Location:Inside the Arctic Circle, about 150 air miles northwest of Fairbanks.
Facilities:Visitor center.
Activities:Camping (no designated campsites), boating, canoeing, river floating, hiking, fishing, hunting, flightseeing.
Special Features:The region's typically short, hot summers give rise to numerous thunderstorms and lightning strikes. This results in a continuous cycle of burn and recovery that creates diverse habitats with different plant species and levels of maturity within each species. The resulting mosaic of habitat types supports a unusually wide variety of wildlife.
Habitats: 1.6 million acres of streams, wetlands, muskeg, lakes, birch and poplar meadows, and boreal forests.
Access: No road access. Refuge's headquarters and visitor center, shared with the National Park Service, is located in the small community of Bettles, which usually can be reached by commercial airline from Fairbanks. Visitors can also access the refuge during the summer and early fall via float trips from Dalton Highway, which runs just east of the refuge.
Wild life: 130 species of birds and 37 species of mammals including bears, wolves, moose, wolverine, beavers, muskrats, marten, and mink. Also migratory fish: sheefish and chinook, chum, and coho salmon.
See other parks in Alaska.