Izembek National Wildlife Refuge

Izembek National Wildlife Refuge on the Bering Sea side of the Alaska Peninsula protects one of North America’s richest wetland ecosystems. Though Alaska’s smallest national wildlife refuge, it includes vast wilderness centered on Izembek Lagoon, whose enormous eelgrass beds make it a crucial feeding and resting place on the Pacific flyway. More than 200 wildlife species occur here, and each fall a quarter-million migratory birds gather, including the entire world population of black brant. Its importance has been recognized internationally, while modern debates over a proposed road between King Cove and Cold Bay have highlighted the tension between access and long-term conservation.

Cold Bay, Alaska · United States