Chamisso Wilderness

Protected area in Alaska, United States

66°13′28″N 161°49′30″W / 66.22444°N 161.82500°W / 66.22444; -161.82500Area455 acres (184 ha)Established1975Governing bodyUS Fish and Wildlife Service

Chamisso Wilderness is a 455-acre (184 ha) wilderness area in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was designated by the United States Congress in 1975.

A small subunit of the Chukchi Sea Unit of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Chamisso Island and nearby Puffin Island were combined as a wildlife refuge in 1912, designated Wilderness in 1975, and added to the AMNWR in 1980.^[2]

Chamisso Island, named after the naturalist Adelbert von Chamisso, comprises one large sand spit and a low beach zone surrounding a covering of tundra with a few marshy bogs. Although Chamisso Island is much larger, Puffin Island houses many more nesting birds, especially horned puffins, black-legged kittiwakes, and thick-billed murres which build their nests on the steep-walled cliffs that fall into Spafarief Bay. Iñupiat cross from the mainland to gather eggs, primarily from kittiwakes and murres. With the exception of birds and the occasional fox that crosses frozen sea in winter, nothing lives on the islands that make up Chamisso Wilderness. Walruses, seals, and whales can often be seen in Spafarief Bay.^[2]

References

^ Protected Planet Website- Retrieved March 30, 2023
^ ^a ^b Chamisso Wilderness Archived 2012-10-12 at the Wayback Machine - Wilderness.net

External links

Chamisso Wilderness - Wilderness.net
U.S. Geological Survey Map at the U.S. Geological Survey Map Website. Retrieved March 30, 2023.

Protected areas of Alaska

Federal

National Parks	Denali Gates of the Arctic Glacier Bay Katmai Kenai Fjords Kobuk Valley Lake Clark Wrangell–St. Elias
National Historical Parks	Klondike Gold Rush (Chilkoot Trail) Sitka
National Monuments	Admiralty Island (USFS) Aleutian Islands World War II (FWS) Aniakchak Cape Krusenstern Misty Fjords (USFS)
National Preserves	Bering Land Bridge Noatak Yukon–Charley Rivers
National Wildlife Refuges	Alaska Maritime Alaska Peninsula Arctic Becharof Innoko Izembek Kanuti Kenai Kodiak Koyukuk Nowitna Selawik Tetlin Togiak Yukon Delta Yukon Flats
National Forests	Chugach Tongass
Forest Service units	Mendenhall Glacier
U.S. Wilderness Areas	Aleutian Islands Andreafsky Becharof Bering Sea Bogoslof Chamisso Chuck River Coronation Island Denali Endicott River Forrester Island Gates of the Arctic Glacier Bay Hazy Islands Innoko Izembek Karta River Katmai Kenai Kobuk Valley Kootznoowoo Koyukuk Kuiu Lake Clark Maurille Islands Misty Fjords Mollie Beattie Noatak Nunivak Petersburg Creek–Duncan Salt Chuck Pleasant/Lemesurier/Inian Islands Russell Fiord Saint Lazaria Selawik Semidi Simeonof South Baranof South Etolin South Prince of Wales Stikine-LeConte Tebenkof Bay Togiak Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Tuxedni Unimak Warren Island West Chichagof-Yakobi Wrangell–Saint Elias
Wild and Scenic Rivers	Alagnak Alatna Andreafsky Aniakchak Beaver Creek Birch Creek Charley Chilikadrotna Delta Fortymile Gulkana Ivishak John Kobuk North Fork Koyukuk Mulchatna Noatak Nowitna Salmon Selawik Sheenjek Tinayguk Tlikakila Unalakleet Wind
National Conservation Area	Steese

State

State Parks	Afognak Island Chilkat Chugach Denali Kachemak Bay Point Bridget Shuyak Island Wood-Tikchik
State Forests	Haines Southeast Tanana Valley