This national wildlife refuge is home to mammalian and bird species such as muskox, wolverine, grizzly bear, moose, black bear, two species of fox, snow goose, beaver, tundra swan, caribou, marten, Canada goose, river otter, Canadian lynx, raven, porcupine, mink, and wolf packs.

Refuge lands extend eastward toward the headwaters of the Selawik River and the Continental Divide.

Some of the land includes alpine tundra, arctic tundra, taiga, lake and wetland complexes, large river deltas, open grass and sedge meadows, and previously glaciated mountains and river valleys.

This area is a transition zone where the northernmost boreal forests give way to open Arctic tundra.

The complex array of freshwater and brackish lakes, riparian areas, and wet meadows, provide habitat and large, undisturbed, tracts for a variety of wildlife species.