1952 Map of Kantishna River C-6

About this map

Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge encompasses the western portion of this interior Alaskan landscape, which was mapped via photogrammetric methods in the early 1950s. The terrain is characterized by a complex network of wetlands and meandering waterways, notably the Big Mud River which cuts across the central flats and the Chitanana River flowing through the southeastern corner. These rivers create a shifting mosaic of oxbow lakes and marshy basins typical of the Yukon River drainage system. The presence of the Fairbanks Meridian and the West Boundary line highlights the early surveying of these unmarked Bureau of Land Management lands, which were later formally established as federal reservations under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. This survey provides a record of the wilderness hydrology before later 20th-century environmental protections were codified.