Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge

Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Mountain Range Alaska Peninsula NWR
Map of the refuge
Location	Alaska, United States
Nearest city	Cold Bay, Alaska
Coordinates	56°N 159°W / 56°N 159°W / 56; -159Coordinates: 56°N 159°W / 56°N 159°W / 56; -159
Area	14,421 km2 (5,568 sq mi)
Established	1980
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website	Alaska Peninsula National NWR

The Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Alaska whose use is regulated as an ecological-protection measure. It stretches along the southern coast of the Alaska Peninsula, between the Becharof National Wildlife Refuge on its east and the end of the peninsula at False Pass in the west. In between, however, it is broken into sections by lands of the Aniakchak National Monument and Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is administered from offices in King Salmon, Alaska and was established to conserve Alaska Peninsula brown bears, caribou, moose, marine mammals, shorebirds, other migratory birds and fish, and to comply with treaty obligations.

The refuge was established on December 2, 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act (ANILCA) following designation as a national wildlife monument in 1978 by the then President Jimmy Carter. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 1983, the Fish and Wildlife Service undertook the responsibility to manage the Becharof Refuge, along with the Ugashik and Chignik units of the Becharof National Wildlife Refuge.

In 1989 the park area was affected by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill which devastated the Alaska Peninsula.

In an effort to determine species presence, distribution, habitat use, and migratory patterns, extensive studies have been conducted in the refuge. Biologists have studied extensively in the biologically rich Naknek River basin which provides an important habitat for thousands of ducks, geese and swans. From mid-March through mid-May, refuge biologists monitor waterfowl from established points from Naknek Lake to Kvichak Bay in Naknek. Biologists have been working in the area since 1992 to count waterfowl by species approximately four times a week.