Kobuk Valley National Park
Caribou crossing Kobuk River. Photo by Wendi Lyn/Flickr
Did You Know?
- Kobuk Valley National Park sits above the Arctic Circle.
- The park includes a critical migration route for caribou.
- Native Alaskans rely on caribou for subsistence hunting.
Recent Project
In 2013, we helped the National Park Service acquire 120 acres from a local landowner for addition to Kobuk Valley National Park. The property is located in the North Slope Borough.
Every year, Alaska’s Western Arctic caribou herd migrates across a third of the state, including Kobuk Valley National Park. This remarkable herd, with nearly half a million caribou, crisscrosses sculpted sand dunes, breaks trails through the tundra and swims across the Kobuk River in a seasonal tradition that draws subsistence hunters from the Inupiaq community.
We’re working to preserve both wildlife and Native Alaskan traditions in Kobuk Valley National Park. When a local landowner needed to sell his property along Kobuk River, he wanted a buyer who would conserve the land, rather than develop it. Although the National Park Service planned to buy the land and incorporate it into Kobuk Valley National Park, it lacked immediate funding to do so. The Conservation Fund stepped in, purchasing and conserving the land until the necessary funding became available and we could transfer the property to the Park Service.
Since 1985, we’ve protected nearly 320,000 acres across Alaska, from pristine coastlines to rugged mountains and rapidly urbanizing areas. Our work preserves traditions, advances local economies and conserves one-of-a-kind natural areas that are critical to salmon, caribou, and other wildlife, as well as the communities that call Alaska home.
