Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, a vast coastal plain: Bethel hub of region.

• Author: Barbour, Tracy

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Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta at a Glance

Population: Approximately 25,000

Location: Where the Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers empty in the Bering Sea

Key Contacts: Andrew Guy, president and CEO of Calista Corp.; Maver Carey, president and CEO of Kuskokwim Corp.; and Joseph Klejka, mayor of Bethel

Main Industries: Government (particularly local), health care, retail and transportation

Schools: University Alaska Kuskokwim Campus-Bethel

Hospital: Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital in Bethel

Airport: Bethel Airport, one of the busiest in the state

Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is one of the largest deltas in the world. The area--an expanse of land that occurs where the mighty Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers empty in the Bering Sea--is about the size of Oregon.

With 900 miles along the Bering Sea, the Y-K Delta is an intriguing contrast of landscapes. It is marked by marshy wetlands, transitional grasslands, sporadic forests and small mountain groups. Some of the mountains, such as the Kilbuck Mountains, ascend thousands of feet in elevation.

The Y-K Delta is a remote place where roads are almost nonexistent, necessitating travel by airplane, boat and snowmachine. The isolated, rural nature of the region makes it an expensive place for people to live and do business.

The largest city in the Y-K Delta is Bethel. which has about 6.000 residents. Other Y-K Delta communities of significant size include Kwethluk. Kipnuk. Quinhagak and Akiachak.

The delta has about 25,000 residents, 85 percent of whom are Alaska Natives: Yupik Eskimos and Athabaskan Indians. Many of these residents rely on a traditional subsistence lifestyle of hunting, fishing and gathering, due to the area's prevailing scarcity of jobs and low wages. A considerable number of the area's residents earn cash incomes well below the federal poverty threshold.

YUKON DELTA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

The Y-K Delta is protected as part of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, a vast area covering about 20 million acres within the northern boreal zone of Southwestern Alaska. The refuge contains a wide range of habitat types, from rolling foothills to coastal meadows. It is home to two large islands: Nunivak and Nelson.

Nunivak Island, which has volcanic origin, features sandy beaches that merge into active sand dunes. Nelson is covered with lakes and streams in the southern portion and accented by rugged peaks in the north. "The delta is definitely unique and brings something to the refuge system that you don't see elsewhere," said Refuge Manager/Pilot Gene Peltola Jr.

The Yukon Delta NWR is synonymous with wide-open tundra. But perhaps nothing defines the refuge more than its wildlife--specifically, waterfowl. The refuge supports one of...