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Nelson Island (Qaluyaaq in Central Yup’ik) is an island located in southwestern Alaska in the Bethel Census Area. It encompasses 843 square miles and is the 15th largest island in the United States. It is approximately 35 miles wide and 42 miles long. The island is separated from the mainland of Alaska by the Ningaluk River to the north, the Kolavinarak River to the east and the Etolin Strait to the southwest. Nunivak Island is located on the other side of Etolin Strait. The communities of Tununak, Toksook Bay and Nightmute are located on the Nelson Island. The summer fish camp of Umkumiut is located on the southeastern coast, within the city limits of Toksook Bay. The remaining 77% of the island is unpopulated. The community of Newtok is being relocated to the island due to erosion on the mainland. The new location will in on the northern coast near the Ningaluk River. More than 90% of the population is Central Yup’ik (Yupiit) who still live a traditional subsistence lifestyle, utilizing fishing, hunting and gathering greens and berries for their diet. The island is named after Edward William Nelson, a Smithsonian Institution naturalist who studied the people of the island in 1878. In 1909, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt set aside lands in southwestern Alaska for a wildlife refuge. More lands were added on December 2, 1980, when U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) into law. This created the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, which includes Nelson and Nunivak islands. Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge was established to conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats in their natural diversity, including, but not limited to shorebirds, seabirds, tundra swans, emperor, white-fronted and Cackling Geese, black brant and other migratory birds, salmon, muskox, and marine mammals; to fulfill treaty obligations; to provide the opportunity for continued subsistence uses; and to ensure water quality and necessary water quantity. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, n.d.)