Alaska

To say Alaska is large is to make a horrible understatement. You can cut the state in half and both halves would still be larger than Texas. About 65% of Alaska is owned and/or managed by various agencies of the Federal Government. The Bureau of Land Management manages some 87 million acres (about 23.8% of Alaska). At 19,286,482 acres, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, is the largest wildlife refuge on Earth. 101 million acres of the state is owned by the government of Alaska. 44 million acres is owned by a dozen regional and dozens of local Native corporations. About 1% of Alaska is owned by private interests.

Half the glaciers on Earth are in Alaska. That said, the highest temperature ever recorded in Alaska was 100°F, recorded at Fort Yukon (8 miles north of the Arctic Circle) on June 27, 1915. The lowest temperature was -80°F at Prospect Creek on January 23, 1971.

Alaska also has quite a few active volcanoes, some of which always emit smoke. Most of them are in the Aleutian Island chain or on the Alaska Peninsula.

Alaska is also known for its incredibly abundant wildlife. Some areas see as many as 700 different species of birds through the year.