 Theodore Roosevelt would be proud. In 1903, he established our National Wildlife Refuge System with a three-acre bird sanctuary in Florida. Today, that system has grown to include the Basharov and Alaska Peninsula refuges, 5.5 million acres between them. These brown bears fishing for salmon on the Basharov coast are thriving proof of the importance of protecting wild habitat. The brown bears on the Alaska Peninsula are among the largest of their species anywhere, weighing up to 1,200 pounds and growing to 10 feet tall. Conditions here are ideal for their well-being. They have plenty to eat, including five species of salmon, and they have room to roam and rear their young. Here, they're free to do what bears do best. They fish, sleep, fight, and scratch where it itches. The refuge purposes are to conserve wildlife populations, habitats, and waters, and to provide subsistence opportunities for local residents. The refuges include a spectrum of habitats from Seacoast to Alpine Peak. In a sense, life in the refuges begins up here, 3,000 feet above sea level. Life-giving waters are gradually released from glaciers, where they've been stored since the last Ice Age, 10,000 years ago. These ancient waters will find their way down to the salmon and bears, to the water fowl and other wildlife that depend on them. They race and pitch down ragged slopes, then slow and spread out in the braided rivers far below, draining valleys carved by banished glaciers. Rivers and many smaller streams feed Basharov Lake, the second largest lake in Alaska. It measures 35 by 15 miles, with the surface only a few feet above sea level. Loons and other water birds nest here by the tens of thousands, and bears feed on salmon along its shores. At Gas Rocks on Basharov Lake, huge quantities of carbon dioxide gas burst up from vents in the lake bed. Scientists have shown that the gas comes from deep within the earth, in the same region where molten rock is formed. The vents are thus related to recent volcanic activity in the area. On an outcrop of the Gas Rocks, you might see an American pipit feeding on Alaska's infamous insects. Pipits are common breeding birds on the Alaska Peninsula, nesting mainly at the higher elevations. From shrubby cover, a golden crown sparrow sings its three-note refrain, the theme song of the region. In older thickets, look for the yellow warbler, common red pole, and Wilson's warbler. Bald eagles ply the winds along Basharov and other lakes, along streams when salmon are running, and along the sea coast. Because trees are few, they often build nests on cliffs. Eagles feed on carrion and waterfowl, but their favorite entree, when available, is salmon. Basharov Lake is part of the nursery area for the second largest run of sockeye salmon in the world. It produces millions of salmon per year for the valuable commercial fishery on Bristol Bay and for subsistence fishing by rural Alaska residents. Refuge waters also offer angling for char, brailing, and five species of salmon. The Fish and Wildlife Service monitors fish populations by creel surveys and other methods. Scale samples help determine ages and growth rates of fish, as seen on this silver salmon. Catch and release fishing is one way you can help preserve the fish populations on the refuges. These cold water fishes grow very slowly. It may take several years for a fish to reach adult size. Near Basharov Lake lie a pair of unusual low-rimmed craters, one of which is seen here, and a bit farther off, the snowy volcanic cone of Mount Pulik. The craters, the Eukinrech Mars, were formed in 1977 by violent explosions of lava and steam. The barren Eugasic caldera is one of the many volcanic centers on the refuges. The Alaska Peninsula belongs to the Ring of Fire, the zone of frequent earthquake and volcanic activity that circles the Pacific Ocean and results from the collision of moving plates of the Earth's crust. Nine of the 14 volcanoes on the refuges have erupted in the last century. South of the caldera are the Eugasic narrows, where the upper and lower Eugasic lakes are joined by a winding channel. It's a popular spot for fly-in fishing and also the site of the earliest known human settlement on the refuges, 9,000 years ago. Then as now, the attraction must have been the abundant fish moving through the narrows. Surrounding these lakes and covering much of the land area of the refuges is the Arctic tundra, the predominant life zone on the Alaska Peninsula. Tundra consists of spongy mosses, lichens, and other ground-hugging vegetation. Blueberries are eagerly eaten by tundra wildlife from tiny voles to lumbering bears. Nagunberries are another favorite. The tundra is the home of wolves, moose, and herds of constantly migrating caribou. In turn, these species attract subsistence and sport hunters and wildlife photographers. The golden plover keeps a jittery watch for foxes, wolves, and other predators. Like other tundra birds, golden plovers nest on the ground, where else, and rely on camouflage for protection of themselves and their young. Gray wolves range throughout the peninsula. They prey on caribou and moose, especially calves and the older, weaker individuals that are easier to kill. They may also take small mammals and birds. Subsistence and sport harvest of wildlife on these lands is older than the refuges themselves. The Fish and Wildlife Service regulates such harvest to maintain healthy populations of resident and migrant wildlife. Smiley Knutson, a local resident and native alleyute, knows the special meaning of fishing and hunting. I grew up with salmon, and salmon has always been a part of our traditional lifestyle. And they come back in two, three, four, five-year cycles, head back up to their lake or creek of origin to spawn. Once they've reached this area, then they spend a lot of time making a lot of nests by working their tail back and forth over an area to wash away the smaller gravel and make it sort of a depression in the gravel where they lay their eggs and then the male comes along and shoots the sperm and then eventually die. We've always traveled to these areas to where we know the redfish are, and usually catch a lot of them, split them and dry them. It's a special food to us. And not only that, traveling to where the salmon are, it's usually where we find a bear to hunt, too. And it's always been a tradition to hunt bear. And the bear feeds off the salmon late in the fall like this and build up their body fats to hibernate. And we harvest the salmon because there's no body fats, and yet we harvest the bear because there is a lot of bear fat. So in the wintertime when we eat the salmon to dry the redfish, and then the bear that we use, we've processed the fat and eat right along with the dry fish to replace that fat that doesn't exist in the fish. Caribou along with mousse is a big part of our staple food. We like caribou meat because it is lean. I've always hunted caribou, and I think of a caribou as a gorgeous animal. Usually you'll almost always find them walking into the wind and out in the open because I think that they know they cannot run anything that comes after them. Oftentimes when they're excited, they'll prance stiff-legged, which is what I like to see the way they run stiff-legged. They have a wide hoof spread that's designed for running on crusty snow and helps them when the ice is clear, too, to get a good grip, and they've adapted well to the tundra. As a wildlife spectacle, a large herd of caribou might seem hard to match, but a single pair of ravens can be pretty impressive, too. You can find ravens anywhere on the refuges, but the Pacific Coast region is a particularly good place. Ravens scavenge along the beaches, and they prey on the young and eggs of seabirds nesting on the cliffs. On cliffs like these at Puali Bay, seabird colonies include common and thick-billed mures, puffins, and kiddywakes. Mures build no nests, but lay their pear-shaped eggs on narrow, precarious ledges. Under water, they fly with their wings, diving as deep as 200 feet to find food. Seabirds come in a variety of sizes and colors, from the clown-like tufted puffin to the more stately red-faced cormorant. After the Exxon Valdez grounding in 1989, 400 miles away, some seabird populations on the refuges fell by 50% to 60%. Today, most visible surface oil is gone. Birds are coming back. The peregrine falcon glides along the beaches in search of an unwary shorebird. From that seed planted in 1903 by Theodore Roosevelt, those mere three acres, our national wildlife refuge system has grown to more than 90 million acres in over 500 different units. The Basharov and Alaska Peninsula refuges have become priceless additions to the world's most outstanding collection of lands and waters dedicated to wildlife conservation.