Every spring and fall nearly half a million Western Arctic Caribou—the second largest caribou herd in North America—migrate through Kobuk Valley National Park. The caribou range covers 140,000 miles, and the Kobuk River, which runs roughly 61 miles through the park, is a critical point in the migration route.

When a local landowner needed to sell his property along the river—land that provides many strategic caribou crossing sites—he wanted a buyer who would conserve the land rather than develop it. As a Native Alaskan, he appreciated the value of his property as a significant part of the caribou migration corridor as well as a vital resource for his community. Local residents feed their families with caribou from the river crossing in the fall; in fact, there is archaeological evidence that people have hunted caribou along the river for 9,000 years. Losing the land to development could have changed the migration route and impacted not only the caribou herd, but the people who rely on it for sustenance.

Because the property is in a key location for the caribou migration, the National Park Service wanted to buy the land and incorporate it into Kobuk Valley National Park. But the park service didn’t have the funding to buy the property at the time of sale. NPS approached the Fund with the request that we purchase the land and hold it until the necessary funding became available. We frequently partner with the National Park Service in conservation efforts and were more than happy to help the NPS acquire this land. We transferred the land to the park service in the spring of 2010.

Our work in Kobuk is a great example of how we work with the government and local landowners to save critical landscapes. We have saved nearly 7 million acres across the United States.

To learn more about the caribou migration across Alaska visit the Kobuk Valley National Park website.

Photo Gallery

Thank you to Wendi Lyn for granting permission to use her images from the Kobuk River and Kobuk River Valley. All images are copyright Wendi Lyn and can be viewed on Flickr.

• 
  Caribou Crossing the Kobuk
• 
  Kobuk River Valley, Alaska
• 
  Across the River