What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 5pm Tuesday 8am - 5pm Wednesday 8am - 5pm Thursday 8am - 5pm Friday 8am - 5pm

Selawik National Wildlife Refuge

Home
United States
Kotzebue, AK
Selawik National Wildlife Refuge

For official information about Selawik National Wildlife Refuge, go to http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Selawik.

For more about the US Fish and Wildlife service go to www.fws.gov This page contains information from Selawik National Wildlife Refuge in Northwest Alaska, which is managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and is located within the homelands of the Iñupiat people. Selawik National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1980 to conserve the Western Arctic caribou herd, waterfowl, shorebirds, other migratory birds, salmon, and sheefish; to provide for continued subsistence uses; to fulfill treaty obligations; and to ensure necessary water quality and quantity.

10/05/2026

Thank you Native Village of Noatak for the invitation!
We will be visiting next week to share hunter information updates and hear your questions and concerns.

10/02/2026

❄️ The snow is starting to fall, and it's not just the tundra changing colors!

🪽 An aqargiq (willow ptarmigan) will grow entirely white feathers in the winter to better blend in with its snowy surroundings! You'll have to keep a sharp eye out for our Alaska state bird to spot them.

📸 Photo courtesy of Allison Lincoln
If you have any nature or wildlife photos that you would like to share, feel free to send them to us.

09/30/2026

Scenic orange for the last day of September.

photo by S.Hillebrand/USFWS

09/28/2026

Attention Kiana hunters!

🦌 There will be Hunter Success Community Meeting in Kiana tomorrow, Tuesday Sept. 29 beginning at 5:30 pm in the Kiana Community Building.

🦌 Come to get updates on moose and caribou numbers, permits, and changes in regulations, as well as to share your own questions and concerns with biologists and managers.

We hope to see you there!

09/25/2026

Pop Quiz! True or False: if a moose hunter is 17 or younger, they don't need to fill out any paperwork.
🫎Answer: False! While hunters under age 18 aren't required to have a hunting license, they still need to pick up either a moose permit or harvest ticket so they can report their harvest. Moose harvest tickets are free and available from ADFG.
🫎If hunting under the federal subsistence season, harvests should still be reported according to the instructions on the permit or harvest ticket. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions!

photo: tinniikaq (moose) along the Selawik River by USFWS

09/24/2026

Tuttu Talk - Tavra? 🦌🦌
Our radio program, "Tuttu Talk," will be on a short break for the next few weeks due to subsistence council meetings and KOTZ fundraising schedule. Stay tuned for updates on future episodes!

photo: caribou graze on a brown tundra hillside with snow-covered mountains in the background, courtesy K.Joly/NPS

09/23/2026

🌅 Good morning, Selawik!

🦌 Jordan will be back in town this week, helping out with household caribou harvest surveys. The survey program, led by the AK Department of Fish & Game's Subsistence Division, is key to understanding what the subsistence use/needs are for caribou in your community (so managers are working from accurate info). The survey responses are anonymous and not connected to any enforcement actions.

🫎 If you see her around town, don't be a stranger--feel free to stop and say "hi!"

Photo by Jordan Bartlett/USFWS

09/22/2026

🍂 Is it that time already?

🌅 Today, September 22, marks the Autumnal Equinox. The sun sits lower in the sky every day now, with today marking the moment when it rises directly above the Equator.

🎨🖌️ With the change in seasons has already come a change in the beautiful colors of the tundra. In our far north location, fall colors peak well before the "official start of fall..." but that doesn't make them any less beautiful!

🍂 What is your favorite part of this season? Feel free to share some pictures in the comments!

Photo of the changing tundra colors on the Selawik River by Jordan Bartlett/USFWS

09/21/2026

You say "September," we say "Amiaġaiqsivik" -- in the upper Kobuk dialect of Iñupiaq, the month when caribou lose velvet from their antlers.
🦌🫎 What is 'velvet?' It's a soft, fuzzy layer of tissue that supplies blood and nutrients to the antlers while they're growing each year. Once the antlers have reached their full size, the blood flow stops and the velvet dries up.

photo: a bull caribou (tuttu) with velvet peeling from his antlers swims across the Kobuk River, September 2001. Photo by Selawik Refuge/USFWS.

09/18/2026

Hey wait...those aren't loons! 👀
At first glance, the dark-colored water birds swimming and diving in Kotzebue Lagoon yesterday seemed like loons...
BUT on closer inspection, you can see that they don't have any white coloration - and they also have a hooked tip on the bill.
⚓
This is a pair of *pelagic cormorants,* seabirds that are normally found in saltwater areas including Kotzebue Sound. While not a common sight in Kotzebue itself, these fish-eaters were probably stopping off for a quick meal en route to their winter home further south.

During migration periods, you never know when an unusual bird might show up - so it's an interesting time to keep your eyes peeled!

photo courtesy M.Sweeney

Address

160 2nd Avenue
Kotzebue, AK
99752

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Telephone

+19074423799

Website

http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Selawik/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Selawik National Wildlife Refuge posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your organization to be the top-listed government service in Kotzebue?