The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released the draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, and it includes action alternatives that support recommending Wilderness areas for Congressional consideration.
If the USFWS receives a strong enough response, this could be the first time that the Service could recommend Wilderness protection for [...]

As this blog reported on January 17, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had recently performed an environmental assessment that proposed the aerial killing of wolves on Unimak Island in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge as a way to help the local caribou herd. Ninety-eight percent of Unimak Island is congressionally designated wilderness, and [...]

March 1 marks the birthday of Olaus Murie (b. March 1, 1889), one of America’s most respected conservationists.
Born in Minnesota to Norwegian immigrants, Olaus became a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey, now the Fish and Wildlife Service. His job took him to Alaska to study caribou, and there he met his [...]

On January 18, 2011, the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia hosted a symposium on the 50th anniversary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. During the first day of the symposium, former President Jimmy Carter — who signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980 — talked about the large [...]

Nature.com highlights a report put out by the Ornithological Council — an association of ornithology organizations in the Americas — regarding mistakes made in the rat-eradication effort on a remote Aleutian island in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.
The eradication effort on Rat Island was conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Nature [...]

Former President Jimmy Carter attended the first day of the Arctic Refuge 50th Anniversary Symposium at the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia.
From the NCTC:

A wintery blanket of snow cover greeted former President Jimmy Carter and conference attendees as the National Conservation Training Center celebrated the 50th anniversary of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge during [...]

Just released is a new book from Douglas Brinkley — author of “The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America” — and the new book is titled “The Quiet World: Saving Alaska’s Wilderness Kingdom (1879–1960).”
According to the New York Journal of Books review:

In sum, the book covers the beginning of the conservation movement [...]

Back in May 2010, this blog reported on the confrontation between the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over proposed aerial killing of wolves on Unimak Island, which is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and National Wilderness Preservation System. At the time, the state claimed [...]

Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and one of the challenging activities taking place at this beautiful and important refuge is the protection and recovery of the endangered Steller’s eider.
Steller’s eiders are the smallest eiders in size and are restricted to northern latitudes where they breed in freshwater [...]

Alaskan Alpine Treks has posted a wonderful video celebrating the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Sit back and enjoy the photographic splendor. And someone please send this to Representatives John Boehner and Michele Bachmann. It will save them another plane trip to the refuge looking for wildlife.
 

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. No refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge System is as well known — and as vigorously fought over — as the Arctic Refuge.
While much is written about the Arctic NWR, much bad information continues to circulate. Many in the media get [...]

In a letter dated November 19, 2010, 25 United States senators asked President Barack Obama to take additional steps to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (which could include making it a national monument), thus protecting the Refuge from risky and potentially damaging energy development.
The letter states:

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the establishment [...]