Overview of the Refuge
History and Regional Characteristics
The Arctic Refuge is held in trust for current and future generations as a vital part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The System consists of more than 500 refuges whose primary purpose is wildlife conservation. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a vast and beautiful wilderness, one unique in North America. Unique because it has a full range of arctic and subarctic ecosystems. Unique also because the systems are whole and undisturbed, functioning as they have for centuries, largely free of human control and manipulation. Inupiat Eskimos and Athabascan Indians live in this place, following their ancestors who survived…
