Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
[2] There is a wide variety of terrain in the refuge, including muskeg and other wetlands, alpine areas, and taiga forest.The refuge protects several large mammals, including wolf packs, brown bears, black bears, dall sheep, moose, Canadian lynx, and caribou, as well as thousands of migratory and native birds.It further possess two larger canoe trails, which link large networks of lakes and rivers, often via portages.[7] The longest, the Swanson River Canoe Route, spanning 80 miles, begins either at Paddle Lake or Gene Lake, and ends where the Swanson River meets the Cook Inlet at Captain Cook State Park.[13] In 2019, lightning again ignited a major wildfire, named the Swan Lake Fire, and again it was allowed to burn unchecked for some time, until it began to threaten the communities of Sterling and Cooper Landing, as well the Sterling Highway and the Refuge's Skilak Lake Road, the only roads allowing access to towns on the lower Kenai Peninsula.
IUCN categoryAlaskaUnited StatesKenai Peninsula Borough, AlaskaSoldotna, AlaskaANILCAU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceKenai PeninsulaKenai Fjords National ParkAlaska National Interest Lands Conservation ActSoldotnawilderness areamuskegalpinebrown bearsblack bearsdall sheepCanadian lynxcaribouSkilak LakeTustumena LakeKenai RiversalmonSterling Highwaycanoe systemsportagesKenai riversSterlingSwanson RiverCook InletCaptain Cook State ParkShanta Creek WildfireFunny River FireAlaska ZooMinnesota ZooSwan Lake FireCooper LandingTrumpeter swansDolly VardenRainbow troutLowlandGeographic Names Information SystemUnited States Geological SurveyUnited States Department of the InteriorThe MilepostInternet ArchiveSnow RiverTrail RiverTrail LakesKenai LakeRussian RiverHidden LakePrimroseAlaska Nellie's HomesteadCrown PointMoose PassFunny RiverRidgewayChugach National ForestKenai Mountains – Turnagain Arm National Heritage AreaKenai River Special Management AreaProtected areasFederalDenaliGates of the ArcticGlacier BayKatmaiKenai FjordsKobuk ValleyLake ClarkWrangell–St. EliasNational Historical ParksKlondike Gold RushChilkoot TrailNational MonumentsAdmiralty IslandAleutian Islands World War IIAniakchakCape KrusensternMisty FjordsNational PreservesBering Land BridgeNoatakYukon–Charley RiversNational Wildlife RefugesAlaska MaritimeAlaska PeninsulaArcticBecharofInnokoIzembekKanutiKodiakKoyukukNowitnaSelawikTetlinTogiakYukon DeltaYukon FlatsNational ForestsChugachTongassForest Service unitsMendenhall GlacierWilderness AreasAleutian IslandsAndreafskyBering SeaBogoslofChamissoChuck RiverCoronation IslandEndicott RiverForrester IslandHazy IslandsKarta RiverKootznoowooMaurille IslandsMollie BeattieNunivakPetersburg Creek–Duncan Salt ChuckPleasant/Lemesurier/Inian IslandsRussell FiordSaint LazariaSemidi