1952 Map of Ruby D-2

About this map

Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge dominates this subarctic landscape in the early 1950s, a region defined by an intricate network of wetlands and meandering waterways. The topography, mapped via aerial photogrammetry in 1952, reveals a dense mosaic of lakes and ponds that characteristically saturate the lowlands surrounding Bering Creek. These seasonal water bodies and marshes transition into higher ground toward the south, where the elevation is marked by survey points like VABM Little 1149. The presence of the Little Mud River in the southeast indicates the complex drainage patterns typical of the Yukon River watershed. This survey captures the wilderness in a transitional state, showing the vast unsurveyed and unmarked land lines predetermined by the Bureau of Land Management before extensive ground surveying had reached this interior corridor.