Refuge Manager
Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge
P.O. Box 287
Galena, Alaska 99741
(907) 656-1231
Rivers are the heart of the Koyukuk country—its living pulse and historic past. Fourteen rivers and hundreds of creeks meander throughout the refuge providing habitat for salmon, beaver and waterfowl. There are also over 15,000 lakes. The topography is relatively gentle featuring an extensive floodplain surrounded by hills with a boreal forest. The landscape includes the Nogahabara Dunes—a 10,000-acre active dune field. The field was formed from wind-blown deposits about 10,000 years ago. It is one of two active dune fields in Alaska.
Spring flood waters of the Koyukuk River carry away signs of the past season and recharge the lowlands. The floodplain provides ideal nesting habitat for ducks, geese, and other water-adapted birds. By September more than 400,000 ducks and geese migrate from the refuge to southern wintering grounds.
Black bear are abundant in forests and grizzly bear inhabit the open tundra. Furbearers on Koyukuk include otter, lynx, beaver, marten, muskrat, and mink. Wolves and moose are common. Other large mammals on the refuge include caribou from the western arctic herd that often winter on portions of the refuge.
VISITOR USE: Koyukuk has excellent moose hunting and fishing (northern pike and grayling).
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