The Steese National Conservation Area encompasses 1,200,000 acres (4,900 km²) of public land about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, and is administered by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Landscape Conservation System. Created by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980, the Steese NCA's special values include Birch Creek National Wild River, crucial caribou calving grounds and home range, and Dall sheep habitat.