Izembek Wilderness

Infobox_protected_area | name = Izembek Wilderness
iucn_category = Ib


caption = Joshua Green River Valley in Izembek Wilderness
locator_x =
locator_y =
location = Aleutians East Borough, Alaska, USA
nearest_city = Cold Bay, Alaska
lat_degrees = 55
lat_minutes = 15
lat_seconds = 56
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 162
long_minutes = 35
long_seconds = 28
long_direction = W
area = convert|307982|acre|km2|0|sign=off
established = 1980
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
governing_body = US Fish and Wildlife Service

Izembek Wilderness is a convert|307982|acre|km2|0|sign=on wilderness area in a coastal region of the the U.S. state of Alaska panhandle, facing Bristol Bay. Located within the convert|315000|acre|km2|0|sign=on Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, all of the land has been designated Wilderness, with the exception of that along a gravel road system and several private holdings. The area was designated wilderness in 1980 with the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. [http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=74520 Izembek National Wildlife Refuge] - USFWS] [http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&wname=Izembek%20Wilderness Izembek Wilderness] - Wilderness.net]

Wildlife

Izembek Wilderness hosts a quarter-million migratory birds every fall, including the entire world's population of black brants and thousands of Canada and emperor geese, Steller's eiders, and various species of duck and shorebird. Izembek Lagoon contains one of the largest eelgrass beds in the world, providing food and shelter for the birds. Tundra swans live on the Refuge year-round and thousands of gray, minke, and orca whales migrate along the coast. Hundreds of thousands of salmon spawn in the Wilderness. Other common wildlife in the Wilderness include brown bear, seal, walrus, Steller's sea lion, sea otter, and caribou from the Southern Alaska Peninsula herd.

References

ee also

*List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
*Wilderness Act

External links

* [http://izembek.fws.gov/ Izembek National Wildlife Refuge] - US Fish & Wildlife Service
* [http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&wname=Izembek%20Wilderness Izembek Wilderness] - Wilderness.net
* [http://www.wilderness.org/WhereWeWork/Alaska/IzembekNWR.cfm Izembek National Wildlife Refuge] - The Wilderness Society