ANWR Facts Location Coastal plain of northern Alaska & Canada Size 20 million acres Designated wilderness 8 million acres # of Animal Species Over 200 Indigenous People Gwich'in Size of Porcupine Caribou Herd 130,000 animals Free E-Newsletter Receive Arctic News, Weather and Travel Information Click Here! Did you know? The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the largest refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The ANWR is drained by dozens of major rivers. The ANWR contains no roads, no lodging and no established campsites. The Gwich'in have fought for permanent protection of the calving grounds for more than a decade. Some 125 bird species migrate to the coastal plain from four continents, every province in Canada and every state in the U.S. During a two-week period at the beginning of June, 40,000 caribou calves are born on the coastal plain each year.

The Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is a vast, essentially undisturbed wilderness ecosystem within the coastal plain of northern Alaska and Canada. Thriving with hundreds of species of birds, plants and mammals that have learned to survive and adapt to its cold climate, the National Wildlife Refuge contains a broad spectrum of diverse habitats. From the broad delta systems and rich coastal waters to the interior lakes and tundra wetlands of the high arctic, the refuge contains important breeding grounds for many key species, including the endangered Porcupine caribou. Currently, the ANWR is the subject of a heated political controversy about whether portions of the refuge should be opened up to oil exploration and development. Many groups are concerned about the potentially harmful impacts this type of disturbance could have on the refuge's fragile systems.

Underlying the Arctic Coastal Plain is a thick, unbroken layer of permafrost. Water that melts on top of the permafrost collects into what are called 'thaw lakes' which cover some 50 percent of the ecoregion. Wetland vegetation is common, dominated by shrubs, dwarf birch, sedges and grasses, and there are small raised peat mound bogs or marshes along the coast. Mosses and lichens almost entirely blanket wet soils. Plants only have three months to grow, June to August, but during this time, spectacular displays of wildflowers occur.

Each year the Porcupine Caribou Herd -- over 100,000 strong -- travels 500 miles to the coastal plain where tens of thousands of calves are born each June. Feeding on the nutritious shrubs, grasses, and lichens of the tundra environment, the young and vulnerable calves are relatively safe from predators while the adults can restore their strength after the long Arctic winter. In addition to the caribou, the refuge also contains large populations of moose, musk oxen, wolves, foxes, hares, lemmings, grizzlies and polar bears. Millions of migratory birds, such as snow geese, snowy owls, terns, eagles, spectacled and steller's eiders, king eiders, yellow-billed loons, and numerous shorebirds use the refuge as nesting and breeding grounds. Swarms of mosquitoes are common in the summer as well. In the offshore waters, walrus, sea otters, endangered bowhead whales, belugas and three species of seal rear their young.

Though the future of this region is as yet, undecided, one thing is sure: the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge represents one of largest examples of intact wilderness left on Earth. The outcome of the debate over its fragile resources will undoubtedly have far reaching impacts not only for the local flora and fauna but also for the future of national wilderness areas.