U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 

Revised Comprehensive Conservation 

Plan 

Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge 

September 2008 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mission Statement 

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is 

working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance 

fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing 

benefit of the American people. 

Refuge Mission Statement 

The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is to 

administer a national network of lands and waters for the 

conservation, management, and, where appropriate, 

restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and 

their habitats within the United States for the benefit of 

present and future generations of Americans. 

—National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 

1997 

The comprehensive conservation plan details program planning levels that 

are substantially greater than current budget allocations and, as such, is for 

strategic planning and program prioritization purposes only. This plan does 

not constitute a commitment for staffing increases or funding for future 

refuge-specific land acquisitions, construction projects, or operational and 

maintenance increases. 


United States Department of the Interior

FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 

Regional Office, National Wildlife Refuge System-Alaska 

Division of Conservation Planning & Policy 

1011 East Tudor Road – MS-231 

Anchorage, Alaska 99503 

 (907) 786-3357

Dear Reader: 

 

This Revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan (plan) for Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge will 

guide management of the Refuge for the next 15 years. This plan provides a vision, goals, and 

objectives for future management of the refuge. It addresses the issues raised during public 

scoping and comments received during public review of the draft plan. Based upon comments 

received our management will be based on a modified Alternative C (Preferred Alternative) from 

the draft. 

Comments received during public review of the draft plan and our responses to them are included 

in this document in Appendix N. The environmental assessment and draft plan are on file with 

our offices in Fairbanks and Anchorage. 

Draft compatibility determinations for Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge were included in the draft 

revised comprehensive conservation plan and comments were accepted as part of the review of 

that plan. Our responses to comments on those draft compatibility determinations are also 

addressed in Appendix N. A discussion of compatibility determinations can be found in 

Appendix J, section 2.4. More information on the compatibility process and the complete text of 

each compatibility determination can be found at the refuge office or at 

http://alaska.fws.gov/nwr/planning/completed.htm. 

You may obtain a copy of the final plan, a summary, or a compact disk containing both at the 

offices listed below. You may also view the plan online at: 

http://alaska.fws.gov/nwr/planning/plans.htm. 

Requests for copies of the plan, CD-ROMs, 

or further information should be directed to: 

Requests for further information about 

the Refuge should be directed to: 

Peter Wikoff, Planning Team Leader 

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 

1011 E. Tudor Road, MS-231 

Anchorage, AK 99503 

Phone: (907) 786-3357 

Email: fw7_kanuti_planning@fws.gov 

http://alaska.fws.gov/nwr/planning/index.htm 

Mike Spindler, Refuge Manager 

Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge 

101 12th Ave., Room 262 

Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 

Phone: (907) 456-0329 

Email: kanuti_refuge@fws.gov 

http://kanuti.fws.gov/ 

Thank you for your interest
Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge 

Revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan 

“Kk’oonootne” is the Koyukon Athabascan name that led to an early mapmaker 

assigning “Kanuti” to the Refuge’s namesake river. Kk’oonootne means “well-traveled 

river by both man and animals.” Another possible meaning is “fish roe river.” The 

Kanuti River has also been called “Old Man River.” Native place names and their 

meanings in Kanuti Refuge and the areas around the villages of Allakaket and Alatna 

were gathered by Koyukuk River resident and elder Eliza Jones in the late 1980’s and 

early 1990. Eliza Jones worked closely with then Refuge Information Technician 

Johnson B. Moses, an Allakaket elder with extensive local knowledge of Refuge 

resources. Place names used in this plan were based on their report (Jones and 

Arundale 1997). The translations of animal and plant names come from the Koyukon 

Athabascan language dictionary (Jetté and Jones, 2000). (Photo B. Raften, USFWS) 
Acknowledgements 

We would like to thank the numerous people who helped with this document but were not 

listed as official preparers. Many were involved in editing specific sections or reading and 

commenting on the entire plan. Without their efforts, this plan would be a far inferior 

document. 

Bill Diel, Bureau of Land Management 

Michael Whalen, University of Alaska Fairbanks 

Eliza Jones, Koyukon linguist 

The tribes of Allakaket, Alatna, and Evansville 

Glenn Stout, Galena Management Area Biologist, Alaska Department of Fish & 

Game 

Members of the public, agencies, and non-governmental organizations who 

attended scoping meetings and provided comments 

And finally, all the Fish and Wildlife Service Employees, too numerous to thank 

individually and ranging geographically from Alaska to Washington, D.C., who 

provided comments and text.