Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska.
Homeland of Koyukon Athabascans, the 3.5 million acre Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge lies within the extensive floodplain of the Koyukuk River of interior Alaska, about 270 miles west of Fairbanks. The refuge's rich wetlands combine with lowland boreal forests of spruce, birch and aspen to support a diversity of wildlife, from healthy numbers of moose populations to large waterfowl populations from four continental flyways.
Within the boreal forest of the refuge, a unique geological feature is found: the Nogahabara Sand Dunes. The roughly circular active dune field spans about six miles in diameter, and was formed thousands of years ago when wind-blown glacial sand was deposited at the base of the Nulato Hills. One needs only to step to the top of a 50-foot high dune to recognize its uniqueness. This active dune area contains about 16,000 acres and is only a small part of a Pleistocene dune field that is now mostly inactive. Four-hundred thousand acres of the refuge, including the dunes, are designated as Wilderness.
The Koyukuk and Northern Innoko Refuges are part of the vast roadless region that makes up much of northern and western Alaska. Traversing the Koyukuk and Kaiyuh takes two days by motor boat and more than an hour in a small airplane. Commuter aircraft provide regularly scheduled air transportation from Fairbanks and Anchorage to Galena, where the Refuge headquarters is located. Visitors can charter small aircraft for travel to the Refuge from Galena. The Koyukuk River is a major tributary of the Yukon River, and some visitors, mostly moose hunters, use the river to enter the Refuge by boat. The Koyukuk River mouth is approximately 312 miles downriver from the Dalton Highway Bridge on the Yukon River or the Tanana River Bridge at Nenana. Local residents travel extensively on the Yukon and Koyukuk Rivers, by boat in the summer and snow machine in the winter.