Journey to St. Matthew

IslandThe Most Remote Place in Alaska

By Marc Romano and Heather Renner

St. Matthew Is.

Pribilof Is.

> 200 milesMekoryuk

• First discovered by the Russians in 1764

• Protected as a bird refuge by Teddy Roosevelt in 1909

• Included as part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in 1980

Photo Ned Rozell

• Visited by the Harriman Expedition in 1899

Hall Island Camp

Bull Seal Point Camp

NASA Photo

St. Matthew Expedition Crew

Photo Ian Jones

St. Matthew Island Reindeer Population

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“We landed on St. Matthew Island early on a cold gray August morning, and judge our astonishment at finding hundreds of large polar bears . . . lazily sleeping in grassy hollows, or digging up grass and other roots, browsing like hogs.” -Henry Wood Elliott 1875

USFWS Photo Photo Rich Kleinleder

VS.

Map courtesy of American Geographical Society Library

Photo Ned Rozell

Photos Rich Kleinleder

Photo Monte Garroute

Photos by Derek Sikes

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2012 St. Matthew Island Expedition Participants

• Marianne Aplin – USFWS• Casey Bickford – UAF• Steve Delehanty – USFWS• Tony DeGange – USGS• Monte Garroute – UAF• Dennis Griffin – State of Oregon• David Klein – UAF• Rich Kleinleder – URS Corp.• Aaron Poe – USFWS• Heather Renner – USFWS• Marc Romano – USFWS• Ned Rozell – UAF• Derek Sikes – UAF

Special thanks to the crew of the M/V Tiglax