1967 KODIAK NATIONAL WILDLIFE KODIAK, ALASKA COVER PHOTO bv Jim Gilbert: A seagull hopefully examines the catch of a subadult brownie near Karluk Lake, Kodiak ~ational Fildlife Refuge. DATE DUE ') KODIAK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE KoDIAK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE was established in 1941 to preserve the natural habitat of the famed Kodiak bear and other wildlife. U n­ like many refuges that were estab­ KODIAK lished to bring back former habitat destroyed by man, this refuge remains unchanged. Kodiak Island is the largest island in the Gulf of Alaska and is sepa­ rated from the Alaska Peninsula by the 30-miles-wide Shelikof Straits. The island is approximately 103 miles long and 57 miles wide, and contains 3,500 square miles. About 2,780 square miles of its southwest portion and the 60 square miles of Uganik Island constitute the Kodiak Na­ tional Wildlife Refuge. From its location, Kodiak Island is generally thought to own an inhos­ pitable climate. Actually, the weather is mild. Temperatures rarely fall to ) zero in \\"inter and may attain 80° in summer. Precipitation averages 60 inches per year, including 45 inches of snow falling mainly in March. A definite gradual change in the plant life and terrain of Kodiak is seen as one flies over the island, from dense Sitka spruce forest on the mountainous northern part to rolling tundra in the south. At low eleva­ tions one sees green meadows, and thickets of alder, elderberry, salmon­ berry, and willow, and cottonwood trees. Spring and summer wildflow­ ers-lupine, iris, orchids, forget-me­ nots, fireweed-splash mountainsides with their colors. Mammals native to Kodiak Na­ tional Wildlife Refuge, besides the bear, are red fox, land otter, weasel, tundra vole, and little brown bat. Whales, porpoises, seals, and sea lions frequent the estuaries rich in marine foods. Transplanted to Kodiak, mostly after the 1920's, were blacktail deer, snowshoe hare, beaver, muskrat, Kodiak Bear J NATIONAL UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR WILDLIFl RtFUG[ FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE KODIAK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE BUREAU OF SPORT FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE w• --••oc,..._ GPO 928 -827 Refuge Leaflet 57-R- July 1967 -·--........ reindeer, mountain goat, mink, red bear, because of poor eyesight, will pecially fond of elderberries that on Kodiak Refuge, with associated squirrel, and marten. Except for advance upon a human intruder, ripen in August and September. shallows and marshes, make the area mink and marten, these introduc­ stop, then stand erect, resume the ad­ Bears become easy to observe in July important to waterfowl. More than tions have been generally successful. vance, and then hurriedly run away and August, when they congregate 13 million duck use days, 600,000 Recently Dall sheep and moose have when the man is identified. A novice along streams to feed on salmon goose use days, and about 15,000 been brought in. will invariably misinterpret such be­ swarming through riffles and over swan use days are made of these It is of course the bears that es­ havior as a charge, when in fact the falls on their way upstream to spawn waters annually (a use day is presence pecially excite the visitor's curiosity. bear is simply trying to determine and die. The bears catch spawned of one waterfowl for one day) . Biologists estimate 2,400 of these tre­ through nose and ear the nature of and weakened fish by pouncing with Much of the use is during winter. mendous animals inhabit Kodiak the unknown animal he can only forefeet to pin the fish to the stream Most common are erriperor geese, Island. Females may weigh up to dimly discern. Nevertheless, these are bed. A comical sight is that of a mallards, scaups, goldeneyes, bufHe­ 800 pounds, males usually up to large and powerful wild animals. young bear, wildly running up and heads, scoters, oldsquaws, eiders, pin­ 1,200 pounds. Many a story extols the Rare instances of unpredictable be­ down a stream, pouncing here and tails, and harlequin ducks. ferocity and danger of this impres­ havior require respect and good there with fish skittering in all direc­ The bald eagle, national emblem sive beast-tales generally based on judgement. tions, but too clumsy to make a catch. of the United States, resides on the exceptional incidents and gross ex­ Most bears den from December Cubs, weighing less than a pound refuge in such numbers as to be in aggerations. Experienced outdoors­ until April. During the verdant at birth, are born in dens in Febru­ almost continual view of an observer. men find that bears avoid contact spring and early summer they are ary and March. A litter is usually At least 200 pairs nest on shoreline with man, fleeing even when con­ vegetarians, as well as later when three, but may be anywhere from one pinnacles, on cliffs, or in cottonwood fronted inadvertently. An occasional . berries have ripened. They are es- to five. Young bears remain with trees. their mother for 2 years. The distinctive songs of golden­ Bear management requires a crowned sparrows and Lapland long­ Young bald eagles at their nest (W. Troyer) knowledge of bear life history. Ref­ spurs are heard on every hand in uge workers have devised means summer. Other small birds include the rich resources of the vast North the Kodiak bear. One may learn by and mt:thods of trapping, anesthetiz .-....pine grosbeaks, song, fox, and Savan­ Pacific. The 20 canneries on the is­ conversation with the older residents 7 ing, and marking the large animals td Jlah sparrows, Wilson's and yellow land employ several thousand people of the villages the past history of determine basic facts like extent of warblers, violet-green swallows, belt­ to process halibut, clams, herring, these interesting settlements. Russian ·daily and seasonal movements, re­ ed kingfishers, and thrushes. Willow shrimp, Dungeness and king crab, colonization of another day is mani­ productive rates, maximum longevity, and rock ptarmigans are numerous. and salmon. The salmon fishery con­ fested in the proficient use of the etc. Biotelemetry will enable biolo­ The eerie call of the common loon tributes the most to the local econ­ Russian language by older natives, gists to monitor daily and seasonal can be heard from almost every lake. omy and grosses 10 or more million and in the traditional form of wor­ activity, greatly aiding efforts to learn Glaucous and mew gulls, as well as dollars a year. The refuge plays a ship, for each village has a colorful behavioral aspects of this intriguing sandpipers, phalaropes, plovers, and vital part in perpetuating this valu­ Russian Orthodox church that also animal. oyster-catchers are plentiful. Nearly able industry by giving continued serves as the center of village ac­ Kodiak bears are hunted on Ko­ every islet is a gull rookery, and there protection to unique spawning nver tivities. diak Refuge under regulations of the are several kittiwake colonies of thou­ systems and migration routes. Refuge headquarters at Kodiak Alaska Department of Fish and sands of birds. Extensive nesting colo­ Long before the white man ven­ may be reached by morning and Game. An annual take of between nies of tufted puffins and cormorants tured to Kodiak the island was in­ afternoon flights from Anchorage by 150 and 200 animals is permitted. may be found on numerous offshore habited by aborigines called Koniags. Pacific Northern Airlines. Several This harvest borders on the maxi- . islands. Readily discernible to airline travelers modern hotels are available, but sum­ mum that may be killed without Besides bear, hunters may take are the earthen outlines of dwellings mertime accommodations require threatening the population. A system other game species in accordance called barbaras that mark the loca­ reservations. No special permit is of continuous surveys helps detem1ine with State regulations. Fishing, too, tions of former villages. These phe­ necessary to enter the refuge. Several population status and hunting effects. is permitted. Rainbow and Dolly nomenal people, once numbering at local bush pilots and one local airline A long-term record of the age and Varden trout abound in lakes and least 6,000, were destined upon the facility furnish transportation to al­ size makeup of the kill gives a base streams, while salmon and steelhead advent of the Russians in 1763 to be most any part of the area, and com­ for evaluating quantity and quality may be caught during their upstream the subjects of the same sad saga as mercial fishing boats can be chartered of trophies. migrations. Silver salmon weighing the American Indian. Today, only for excursions around the island. Blacktail deer, introduced from up to 10 pounds are caught with 800 people of Koniag ancestry are There are no roads on the refuge. southeastern Alaska in 1924, have lures, and on parts of the refuge left on Kodiak to remind us of a cul­ More detailed information con­ dispersed throughout the island and large king salmon, weighing 20 to 60 ture forever sealed in antiquity. cerning Kodiak Refuge may be se­ are readily observed in winter forag- pounds, also can be taken by the Over half of the natives reside in cured by writing the Refuge Man­ ing along the beaches, particularly angler. four villages on or adjacent to the ager, Kodiak National Wildlife A bear trail high above one of the lakes on the Refuge. Hundreds of Cluring low tide periods, when kelr J \ Because of its strategic location, refuge. They depend primarily on Refuge, Box 825, Kodiak, Alaska ~l. odiak bears traveling over the same trail caused the deep depressions as each is part of their food. is the center of an expanding commercial fishing for a livelihood, 99615.