The combination of sweeping landscapes and rich biological diversity found in the Arctic Refuge, and especially its sensitive Coastal Plain, is unmatched anywhere in the circumpolar North. The extra-ordinary diversity present on the coastal plain is a result of geography: the high mountains of the Brooks Range curve north against the Arctic Ocean and compress a full complement of Arctic and subarctic landscapes and ecosystems into one compact unit. The coastal plain is home to more than 180 species of birds as well as numerous mammals, including polar bears, caribou, musk oxen, wolves, wolverines, moose, Arctic and red foxes, black bears, brown bears, and Dall sheep. For many of these animals, the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge provides habitat essential to their survival.
Polar Bears
Many of the region’s polar bears den onshore during the winter, and over a third of the dens are in the coastal plain of the Refuge (also called the 1002 area). This denning period is critical to the species’ survival because the cubs are not only born in the dens, but also spend their first three months of life there.
Caribou
In the summer, the Coastal Plain is the birthplace and nursery grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd, which migrates hundreds of miles to give birth and raise calves on the Coastal Plain. Ocean breezes on the Coastal Plain keep insects at bay, and the level ground helps the caribou spot wolves and other predators. The caribou graze on the nutritious summer vegetation that thrives on the plain until the calves and mothers are strong enough for the fall migration back to their wintering grounds in the boreal forests of Alaska and Canada.
Birds
Millions of migratory birds also depend on the Refuge’s tundra and coastal lagoons for nesting, molting or feeding during the brief but intense Arctic summer. Many species fly thousands of miles to get to the Arctic, including the tundra swans from Maryland, peregrine falcons from Florida, sandhill cranes from New Mexico, and other birds from every state in America. Through their annual migrations, birds connect this fragile arctic habitat to birdwatchers and hunters throughout the continental United States.
Native Peoples
The Arctic Refuge is an inhabited wilderness. Two groups of indigenous people — the Neetsa’ii Gwich’in of the mountains and boreal forest and the Inupiat of the Arctic coast — hunt, fish, gather plants, roots and berries; and travel on these lands. It is difficult to overstate the importance of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to these Alaska Natives.
The Porcupine caribou herd, in particular, is central to the culture of the Gwich’in and the economic and social fabric of their lives. The caribou provide the Gwich’in with food, clothing, medicines, winter survival gear, sleds, tools and more. In addition, the Gwich’in stories, songs and traditional culture are deeply intertwined with the herd and its migrations. The Gwich’in call the Coastal Plain, Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit: “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins.” Every Porcupine caribou gets its start in life on the narrow coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge.
