1952 Map of Ruby A-3

About this map

Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge dominates this interior landscape, preserving a vast network of wetlands and meandering waterways as they appeared during the early 1950s. The Nowitna River snakes across the central terrain, characterized by intricate oxbow lakes and complex drainage patterns typical of the subarctic floodplain. Along the eastern margin, the Sulukna River feeds into this aquatic system, while Lost River and Oat Creek define the hydrology of the western and northern reaches. A singular survey marker, VABM Sulu 290, stands as a fixed point of reference in a wilderness otherwise devoid of roads or permanent settlements. The map reflects a period before the formal establishment of the refuge by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, though it incorporates those administrative boundaries from the 1980s over the original 1952 aerial photogrammetric data.