Alaska

Alaska
About Us
[SPECIAL ALERT: Questions about marine mammals or Threatened/Endangered species? Please contact our Marine Mammals Management Program or Ecological Services staff at our Southern Alaska or Northern Alaska field offices directly. Thank you!]

In Alaska we are shared stewards of world renowned natural resources and our nation’s last true wild places. The lands and waters of this place we call home nourish a vast and unique array of fish, wildlife and people. We cultivate a reverent awareness and respect for all things, from Alaska’s smallest plants and most iconic animals to its diverse communities and cultures. Our hope is that each generation has the opportunity to live with, live from, discover and enjoy the wildness of this awe-inspiring land and the people who love and depend on it.

Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges

We are shared stewards of 16 refuges in Alaska totaling over 76 million acres: Alaska Maritime, Alaska Peninsula, Arctic, Becharof, Innoko, Izembek, Kanuti, Kenai, Kodiak, Koyukuk, Nowitna, Selawik, Tetlin, Togiak, Yukon Delta, Yukon Flats

Regional and Field Offices

Our Alaska regional office is in Anchorage, Alaska and houses staff from all Service programs including (but not limited to) our Alaska Marine Mammals Management Office, Alaska Migratory Birds Office, and Conservation Genetics Lab. Our field offices include our Northern Alaska Fish and Wildlife Field Office (Fairbanks), Southern Alaska Fish and Wildlife Field Office (Anchorage), our Kenai Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in Soldotna, a small office in Juneau, and a satellite office in Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow).

Connect with Us

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium and check out our two podcasts: Fish of the Week!/ My Life Wildlife

Please hit the contact us button to contact someone who can help you find what you're looking for. 

In This Region
Alaska
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Leadership

Regional Highlights

a shiny fish in someone's hand
Yaaw / Pacific Herring
On Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, the Tlingít and Haida people call it "herring egg weather"—a snow flurry may usher in blue skies that quickly cloud up and cast down rain or snow…all within minutes. Boats are readied and hemlock trees and branches cut. Yaaw (Tlingit for Pacific...
Story
History and Culture
An interpretive sign depicting Cripple Creek and its history, in front of the Chena River and fireweed stems.
Natural flows return to Cripple Creek
Nearly 90 years after its channel was abandoned, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service employees, partners, local students and community landowners strive to restore its natural flow.
Story
Habitat Restoration
Tim Ericson, sitting at the front of a boat, paddles on the Deshka River. The photo is taken from the back of the boat, and Ericson looks back at the camera over his shoulder. The boat is filled with supplies, including moose antlers.
Tim Ericson's Elemental Experiences
From volcanic close calls to rainy river floats, the fish and wildlife biologist’s conservation career is only just getting started.
Story
Our People
Close Up of Federal Wildlife Officer/Pilot taxis at an airport with the entry window/door open.
A 67 Million Acre Open Air Office
How do you pack for a patrol of an area the size of Mississippi? What do you pack? A lunch? What about a week's worth of food, a tent, sleeping bag, and your flight helmet? Those are exactly what Senior Federal Wildlife Officer (SFWO) Cody Smith packs at a minimum for a patrol of his over 67-...
Story
Our People
Silhouette of a person in a boat on a river at sunrise
Birding bitter sweetness
"Maybe “BBS” actually means “Birding bitter sweetness” and not “Breeding Bird Survey” when it comes to great gray owls…" Chris Harwood, avian biologist at Kanuti Refuge, recalls some favorite feathered encounters during remote breeding bird surveys.
Story
Wildlife Wonders
man standing by a river
A lifetime on the land, a gift for finding the lost
Berry received the Valor Award at the U.S. Department of the Interior Honor Awards Convocation in Washington D.C. on Sept 12, 2019 for rescuing a Selawik resident stranded on river ice during break up.
Story
Our People
tufted puffins along the shore of Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
Seabirds of Alaska
Seabirds depend on the world’s oceans for food and spend most of their lives at sea.
Story
Wildlife Wonders
two women by a stream in the forest
Alaskan Women Engineer Passage for Wild Salmon
“Our habitat team has put in a lot of fish-friendly culverts,” says Heather, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s current fish passage engineer in Alaska. "And we have a lot more planned. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is committed to doing everything possible to improve prospects for salmon.”
Story
Habitat Restoration
Blue and white ship sails towards land over calm blue waters and a blue sky with a few clouds.
Sailing the Oceans of Alaska
From spunky inflatable skiffs to a fully equipped 120-foot research ship, boats give our scientists access to the immense 6,640 mile coastline of Alaska (over 30,000 miles if you count all the islands. Which we do.). Boats also help us to study the wildlife that depends on the diverse marine waters...
Story
Science and Technology
Woman with white skin drum leads group of people walking down a road. Kids on bikes flank her.
Unangax people remember the Forgotten War
Greg Fratis, Sr. was two years old the day his village of St. Paul, Alaska was forcibly evacuated during World War II. Years later, he heard the full story from his elders: the town’s annual baseball tournament was underway when a relative ran home with the news on June 14, 1942.
Story
History and Culture
a man bringing in a fish in a net
Dandy Dollies of Far-North Alaska
We sat down with fish biologist Randy Brown to talk about the Dolly Varden of Alaska's North Slope/Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Story
Migratory Species
Alaska Native woman
Healing from the Inside Out
Perspectives from the first Indigenous woman to ever serve as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Native American liaison
Story
Our People
Portrait of an elderly Alaska Native man
The Loss of Bird Songs
Trimble Gilbert is a Gwich’in Elder and speaker of Dinjii Zhuh Ginjik, the Gwich’in language. He was born and raised in Arctic Village, Alaska where he currently resides. Trimble shares his observations of birds from over the years, traditional stories told by his Elders, and changes in weather and...
Story
History and Culture
wetlands sprawl out across the landscape from above
Winding River, Wetland Wonder
Why are two and a half million acres of land in Northwest Alaska conserved as a wildlife refuge? What makes this place so special? In a word, wetlands. The lands that today make up Selawik National Wildlife Refuge, and that are the homeland of generations of Iñupiat, are top-notch wildlife habitat...
Story
Wildlife Wonders