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The article gives basic data on the name of the river and extensive information on the environment, but next to nothing on the history. The Kobuk has been studied quite extensively (as North Alaskan rivers go) by archaeologists, particularly J. L. Giddings, and features numerous important archaeological sites including Onion Portage. Nor is any mention made of the Kobuk Gold Rush (1900), which was rather unique because it was actually a sham set up by equipment dealers in Seattle and Vancouver. If somebody has the time and inclination to add these, relevant literature would include Giddings' "The Arctic Woodland Culture of the Kobuk River" (Museum Monographs 8, 1952) and "Ancient Men of the Arctic" (1967), as well as "Alaska Geographic Vol. 8 (3) The Kotzebue Basin" (1981).-- Death Bredon ( talk) 08:53, 12 March 2009 (UTC) reply

I'll agree the article had gotten a bit out of hand, but there was a lot of good information that got summarily lopped. I propose to revive the natural history sections as a spin-off article, perhaps Natural history of the Kobuk River basin. Comments? Dankarl ( talk) 16:23, 16 September 2009 (UTC) reply

Needs at least a short summary in the main article. I think the morphology and hydrology sections shouldn't have been removed. Although I think, if you were to make a subpage describing this, I looked at the old revision of the page; it has general descriptions on each species. The subpage should be a list, don't just cut and paste it. Out of time now, though, four minutes until I am forced to leave this computer. Shannon ^talk _contribs ^sign!_:) 21:07, 16 September 2009 (UTC) reply

I am not sure what you're suggesting - take the descriptions out? In some cases these look pretty general but in other cases there is ecological information specific to the Kobuk.

Sorry, I meant to clarify on that later. For example, from the old revision:

Ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) are small fish which can survive in marine, brackish and fresh water though they require freshwater to spawn. [44] They overwinter in deep waters but move to shallower waters to spawn from May to July. Their diet is mainly composed of copepods and chironomids, but they also feed upon other invertebrates and fish eggs.

I meant that for example, the scientific names, the general descriptions should be taken out. Keep the information on their range, purpose in the Kobuk River, I saw a lot of allusions to other rivers and general information on the Arctic. Shannon ^talk _contribs ^sign!_:) 23:53, 16 September 2009 (UTC) reply

So maybe there are 4 articles here:

1. Kobuk river with hydrology and geomorphology added back

2. Ecology of the Kobuk river - start with the aquatic sections as they are and add an intro; trim as needed (but I don't think scientific names have to go); wikilink heavily.

3. List of terrestrial animals of the Kobuk River basin - trim out most of the descriptive material except where Kobuk-specific.

4. List of birds of the Kobuk River basin, probably without the separate Gates of the Arctic list

one concern is I do not see a lot of precedent for lists at the regional or ecosystem level. Dankarl ( talk) 15:29, 17 September 2009 (UTC) reply

no, what I mean is one article listing all of the fishes, birds, of the Kobuk River Basin, such as Ecology of the Kobuk River Basin. Like articles like Ecology of the Sierra Nevada and Wildlife of San Juan Creek. Shannon ^talk _contribs ^sign!_:) 20:49, 17 September 2009 (UTC) reply

My concern there is that the 3 wildlife sections are very different in level and tone. The birds is clearly a list, not in tabular form quite but could just as well be. The mammals section is a list with fairly general info about each species. The aquatic section has a good deal of ecology and life history info worked in, much of it at least mentioning Kobuk river aspects. I wouldn't want to pare it down to just a list, nor am I convinced the other sections would ever get to its level.

I am now trying to develop a 2-3 paragraph ecology section for the main article. I expect this will only cover the river and lake, not the terrestrial aspects. Dankarl ( talk) 21:13, 20 September 2009 (UTC) reply

Restored geomorphology and hydrology sections from version of 27 July 2009, last edit by 68.108.195.142. I will eventually go over these for encyclopedic tone and accessible language but think they will do for now. Dankarl ( talk) 15:05, 20 September 2009 (UTC) reply

Meanwhile I may begin working on improving the history section and may merge Kobuk River Stampede into this article. Shannon ^talk _contribs ^sign!_:) 20:49, 21 September 2009 (UTC) reply

There is a Salmon River in Kobuk Valley National Park; it is not the Kobuk river. [1] I reverted a listing of Salmon River as an alternate name in the infobox; it continues to be listed as a tributary. Dankarl ( talk) 00:32, 11 December 2011 (UTC) reply