Author: Poppy Benson

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Friends get Unfriendly with Aleutian Invasives in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Tues, 10/21, 5 pm

Presented by Mark Conrad, Deb Kurtz and Dan Esler, Friends Volunteers

Tuesday, October 21, 5 pm Alaska Daylight Time
In person at the locations below or online via Zoom

This program will happen even if the government is still shutdown.  Note new location for Homer presentation and Soldotna Watch Party.  Both are at their respective college branches.  This will not change even if government opens back up on Monday or Tuesday.

  • Anchorage  – Deb and Dan in person at REI’s Community Room, 500 E. Northern Lights Blvd.
  • Homer – Mark will be in person with Deb and Dan on zoom at the Kachemak Bay Campus, KPC, Bayview Building, Rm B102, Pioneer Avenue
  • Soldotna – Watch Party at Kenai River Campus, Kenai Peninsula College, Ward Building, Rm 116, 156 College Rd. 
  • Or join us from anywhere via Zoom 

Imagine a 1400 mile journey by research ship through the misty, storm swept Aleutians to two special islands where help is needed fighting invasive species.  Along the way you spot life birds, swarms of seabirds and  marine mammals in abundance.  You work with great people – scientists, refuge people and the crew of the R/V Tiglax. This was the volunteer opportunity for three of our members this past July.  Join us to hear Mark, Deb and Dan talk about their experience –  the Aleutians, the danger invasives pose to island ecosystems, their hard, back breaking work, their visits to Adak with its crumbling abandoned military base and Aiktak, the isolated summer home of two seasonal biotechs.  It was a big adventure and good work was done.  







Mark assures me that there will be birds, lots of birds and beautiful photography.  Northern fulmars at sea.  PC: Deb Kurtz/Friends

The Aleutians have been part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge for over 100 years.   Despite this protected status, the remoteness and the vast distances, big actions – World War II and the frantic construction of military bases and very small actions – a dirty boot coming ashore – have brought non-native invasive species, both plants and animals to these wildlife rich islands.   Rats on Adak and Poa lawn grass on Aiktak were the focus for this trip.  Rats are voracious predators on birds, eggs and chicks and introduced plants spread.  Norway rats arrived on these remote islands by shipwreck and WWII supply ships.  The non-native grass probably came on a refuge employees boot and is spreading along all disturbed areas. 

Caption for Title Photo:  R/V Tiglax in Ugamak Bay off Aiktak Island.  PC Deb Kurtz/Friends

Biographies 


Mark Conrad was recently “retired” from a 30+ year career in conservation in Wyoming, researching and protecting water quality and wildlife habitat when he felt the call to check out Alaska in 2021.  He eventually settled in Homer, throwing himself into volunteer work with the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and other birding and conservation groups.   He monitors sea duck and shorebirds, works seasonally as a bear guard and with Friends has built rat traps and swallow boxes and participated in cleanups.  His Wyoming background in water quality and invasive weeds made him well suited for this volunteer opportunity.  Mark’s bachelor’s degree is from University of California Davis and his master’s from University of Wyoming.  Mark enjoys travelling, hunting, fishing, kayaking, xc skiing, birding, and learning about the maritime environment. Mark said he really enjoys the community of Homer and the whole state.  He is glad he made the move.

 

Deb Kurtz first came to Alaska on the ferry in 1999 for a summer of hitchhiking around the state to backpack and hike.  Two years later she returned for a seasonal job as a wilderness technician for the US Forest Service in southeast Alaska.  For the next 20 plus years she worked for the Forest Service, the Park Service, non-profits and the private sector doing marine bird and mammal surveys, invasive plant management, time lapse photography, snow surveys, glacier monitoring, oceanographic measurements, watershed management, fisheries surveys, and waterfowl banding.  Deb has been a Friends member for a few years, but it was her recent retirement that allowed her to take on a longer-term volunteer project like this.  Deb earned a bachelor’s in geography with minors in geology and environmental sciences from SUNY Geneseo and a master’s in earth science with a thesis on invasive plant modeling from Montana State.  Deb loves Alaska’s wildlands and wildlife and can be found recreating and exploring across the state’s mountains, rivers, coast, and tundra with a pair of binoculars and a camera around her neck. She lives in Anchorage.

 

Dan Esler’s parents called his bachelor’s degree from Northland College in outdoor recreation and biology “Camping for Credit.”  Dan went on to get a master’s from Texas A & M with his thesis on hydrilla, an invasive water plant, and a PhD from Oregon State.   He first came to Alaska for a three-month technician job with breeding waterfowl on the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge and stayed.  Most of his career was with USGS as a wildlife research biologist with an interest and expertise in nearshore marine ecology and birds, especially sea ducks.  He also spent 12 years on the faculty of Simon Fraser University in Canada as a researcher.  His work and outdoor adventures, often centered around birding, have taken him to many of Alaska’s national wildlife refuges including Yukon Delta, Yukon Flats, Kodiak, Kenai, Alaska Maritime, Izembek, and Tetlin refuges.  Dan notes that Tetlin Refuge is a favorite spring spot for spotting species hard to see elsewhere in Alaska like Sora, Ruddy Duck and Common Yellowthroat.  Dan lives in Anchorage and enjoys all sorts of outdoorsy and naturey activities.

 

Mark, Dan and Deb with Fish and Wildlife staff Mychele Smith and Stacey Buckelew, invasive species biologist in front of the Puffin Palace where two biotechs spend the summer alone on uninhabited Aiktak Island monitoring seabirds.  Note the team has dug the Poa grass out from around the Puffiin Palace, and it is now ready for laying geotextile fabric to prevent new growth.   Aiktak is one of the annual monitoring seabird sites for the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.  The decades of data gathered here are not only important for documenting trends in seabird populations but is also used by other researchers to shed light on the state of life in the ocean and environmental disruptions.  PC/USFWS




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Shutdown! Cancelled! Closed!

Federal Shutdown Demonstrates the Importance of Refuge Staff

The federal government shutdown that has come down hard on Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges is a forewarning of the consequences of another budget cut.  Most staff were sent home two weeks ago and are not being paid.  Those deemed “essential staff,” which usually means the refuge manager and possibly a maintenance worker, must keep working through a shutdown although they aren’t being paid either.

Visitor centers that would normally be open in the winter are shuttered – in Homer (Alaska Maritime Refuge), Soldotna (Kenai Refuge) and Kodiak. All public programs are canceled, including school programs, community programs, and special events like Migratory Bird Day. Field work is paused, except for that mandated by legislation such as what’s required to run the trapping season in the Kenai Refuge or the biological work necessary to support hunting seasons such as Izembek Refuge’s annual Pacific Black Brant population study. This is the only field work going on but the staff or contractors involved are at least being paid. Refuge land, trails, campgrounds, and public use cabins are still open to the public but there is no maintenance, so if you visit, please bring your own toilet paper, take out your own garbage and please treat facilities with care.

Shutdowns are hard on staff. All projects and forward momentum are lost. Inevitably federal dollars are wasted in a budget environment where there was so little to begin with. On top of what the refuge staffs have already been through this year, this is a tougher one than most.  So far, it doesn’t seem like any staff have been terminated, which would be illegal, but is happening in other agencies.  Any further reductions in the refuge budget for FY26 will be even harder on staff.

Please help so that Refuge staff can go back to work and keep doing what they love – caring for our refuges and sharing their wonders with school children and visitors.



What You Can Do:

1) Document the impacts of the shutdown. If the lack of Refuge staff impacts your use of refuges, visitor centers or educational programs or has an economic impact on you or your business, please send notes to Friends so we can elevate them in advocacy with policymakers.

2.) Call, email, or meet with your U.S. Senators and Representatives. Ask for their support to pass a continuing resolution (CR) that funds the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its National Wildlife Refuge System, and to include language safeguarding federal fish and wildlife management in any budget negotiations. Share specific local impacts you or your community are seeing (e.g., closed Refuge offices, cancelled programs, vandalism, lack of maintenance, lack of information about hunting and fishing seasons, disrupted collection of necessary biological data). Encourage them to press for protections in any subsequent appropriations package. Yes, I think it’s important to make clear that the CR is not the end of it.

 



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It Wasn’t the Trip We Expected but it Was Pretty Great: Sailing to the Refuges Aboard the Tustumena

By Poppy Benson, Outreach Chair

The nine of us Friends sailing out of Homer in early September expected to see coastal refuges and we did.  We expected that in meeting with three refuge staffs we would learn from them their current challenges and we did.  We expected to see marine wildlife in abundance and the wild and rugged grandeur of Alaska’s coastline and we did.  We expected to have a wonderful time with a compatible group and we did.  We just didn’t expect we would never get to our destination of Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island where we had planned three days of hiking, cultural experiences and even a community presentation.

It was quite a shock when the Captain gathered all the passengers together in Cold Bay and said “We aren’t going any farther.  The storm is too bad. We are tying up here for two nights and going back”.  Wow!  But Alaskans are nothing if not adaptable to weather and we quickly realized this gave us a unique opportunity to really explore Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.   Izembek is probably the most expensive Alaska refuge to get to by plane, and here we were.  We revisited the Grant Point overlook in sunny conditions, hiked down to look at the eel grass up close, checked out spawning salmon in every stream, drove backroads looking for bear and had many more quality conversations with Izembek staff.  Nearly all the world’s population of Pacific Black Brant stop over at Izembek during fall migration.  The first week of September was too early to experience Brant filling the skies but we were lucky to spot small flocks of both Brant and Emperor geese.  Pam Seiser of Fairbanks remarked, “So many resources in such a small place – bear, birds, fish, ptarmigan.  It must be a hunter’s paradise.” View a short video on Izembek here.

One goal of our Discovery trips is to give members a chance to experience off road refuges.  The value of that was articulated by President Marilyn Sigman. “After being nearly blown off a ridge overlooking Izembek Lagoon, I have a much better feel for what a special place the Refuge is, the natural route and stopping off place for birds that migrate across the narrow isthmus between the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean.”   Once a month the Tustumena provides a unique opportunity to experience five hard-to-access refuges.  It sails from Homer out the Aleutian chain calling in three ports that are headquarters for refuges – the Alaska Maritime Refuge in Homer, Kodiak Refuge in Kodiak City and Izembek at Cold Bay.  It passes by islands of the Alaska Maritime Refuge in route to Unalaska Island which is 90% refuge.  It cruises by Kodiak, Alaska Peninsula and Becharof refuges although you don’t set foot on them.  In Cold Bay, Izembek refuge staff meet every ferry with a van to take passengers out to a scenic overlook on the refuge. Visits to small isolated Alutiiq villages adjacent to the refuges gave us a glimpse of life there from Old Harbor’s lovely Russian Orthodox church to the charm of Chignik and the bustling fishing port of Sand Point.

The second goal of a Discovery trip is to meet the staff and learn firsthand about the work of their refuges and what Friends could do to help them fulfill their mission.  All the refuges are lacking staff.  Kodiak has 7 down from 15 a year ago.  Izembek only 3.  The hiring freeze continues keeping them from filling any positions such as the badly needed maintenance worker for Izembek.   Both Kodiak and Izembek need funding to get employees or volunteers to the field.  We funded the travel for two volunteers to Izembek this fall and we may be able to do more of that.   Marilyn Sigman’s takeaway from observing the situation at Izembek was that “Izembek has such an amazing team, but there is only a Refuge Manager, Assistant Refuge Manager, and Biologist – no maintenance person for many WWII-era buildings (which we learned originally had plumbing pipes installed running uphill) and vehicles with no services available in Cold Bay. If the furnace breaks down in the middle of the winter, as it did last year, it was the Refuge Manager who had to fix it. She also takes her turn scrubbing toilets in advance of a public tour whenever the ferry stops in Cold Bay. The biologist gives the tour while driving a bus.”  It was sobering seeing the reality of their situations. 

We learned, we laughed, we adventured.  See a photo gallery of our trip here.  This is the third Discovery trip.  Read about our Arctic and Yukon Delta refuge trips here.  A Togiak Refuge trip for 2026 is in the planning and will be ready for booking before the holidays.  Keep on eye on this newsletter as trips fill up nearly instantly.



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From Florida to Alaska: Barbara’s Volunteer Adventure!

Friends member Barbara Ryan from Pompano Beach, Florida, spent 6 weeks this summer volunteering at the Alaska Peninsula/Becharof Refuge Interagency Visitor Center in King Salmon. This is her second big volunteer gig with us — last year she spent 3 weeks at Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge!

Under the guidance of her supervisor, Sarah Lang, Barbara has been learning, helping, and experiencing it all — from helping visitors, to assisting in a summer camp, to seeing subsistence fishing firsthand from the netting to the smokehouse. And yes, she even landed a salmon at Katmai National Park on her day off — her most memorable catch yet!

Alaska Peninsula/Becharof refuge is very grateful for her help as they have only one employee in visitor services and no seasonal staff.  “Barbara has been such a blast to have around and an asset to our team,” Sarah says. “Thank you for connecting her to us.”  Barbara’s hard work, enthusiasm, and adventurous spirit are exactly what make our volunteer program so special.

The refuge was able to pay her way from Anchorage to King Salmon in southwest Alaska and furnished housing in their bunkhouse.  More and more refuges are asking for this kind of long-term help in order to keep the visitor centers open. Think about it for next summer.  Volunteer positions are usually advertised the first of March.
































Barbara Ryan helping a camper at the refuge’s summer program.



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A Groundbreaking Partnership for People and Wildlife: Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge and Koniag, Recording online here

Presented by Amy Peterson, Community Affairs Liaison for Koniag and the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge.

This event was held on Tuesday, September 16, 5 – 6 pm Alaska Daylight Time

 

  • Kodiak – Amy Peterson in person at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, 402 Center Ave. Reception follows.
  • Homer – Watch Party at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, 95 Sterling Hwy.
  • Soldotna – Watch Party at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Ski Hill Rd
    • 3 pm Walk for the Wild on Centennial Trail.  Meet at trailhead at Visitor Center
    • 6 pm After talk; Wild Foods Potluck
  • Anchorage – Watch party at BP Energy Center, Fir Room, 1014 Energy Ct.
  • Via Zoom

Home of the great Kodiak bear, Kodiak Refuge is one of the nation’s most significant national  wildlife refuges, yet people have lived there and depended on refuge resources for thousands of years.  Searching for a creative way to increase cooperation among all partners on Kodiak Island,  then Refuge Manager Mike Brady and Koniag Regional & Legislative Affairs Executive Tom Panamaroff came up with the idea of a Community Affairs Liaison position.  It was to be the first in the nation and would be jointly funded by the refuge and the corporation and supervised by the corporation.

Join Amy Peterson as she describes her invaluable role as Community Affairs Liaison. Amy’s job is facilitating communication and education between the Refuge and Kodiak Island tribes, corporations, and stakeholders, with emphasis on stewardship, tribal consultation, community collaboration, and cultural and educational outreach. This collaboration is not just limited to the Refuge but occurs throughout the Kodiak Archipelago region to improve the cooperative management of resources within the Refuge, which has specific geographic, cultural, and historical significance.

Shelby Carlson said about being a Koniag Ranger, ” I’m passionate about sharing our cultural heritage, connecting with visitors, and helping others experience the beauty and history of our land.”  Shelby was born in Larsen Bay.

The nearly two million acre Kodiak Refuge makes up almost two-thirds of Kodiak Island.  Six villages are on or adjacent to the refuge and the refuge borders lands owned by Alaska Native village and regional corporations. In addition, lodges, commercial fishing sites, visitors, Kodiak City and Kodiak Coast Guard Base create a diverse human environment. The refuge needed someone who could navigate those worlds and bring people and organizations together and that is Amy. Come hear from upbeat Amy all about this hopeful project that is improving things for people and wildlife and creatively helping the refuge in a time of staff and budget crunch. And there will be a quiz! With prizes! And you can play online.

This program which started in 2021 has since been copied by Yukon Delta Refuge with a Community Affairs Liaison in Mountain Village. Other refuges across the country have made inquiries to Kodiak about how to do something similar.

Koniag Refuge Ranger, Veronica Johnson has worked two summers in the refuge visitor center.  This is one of the youth programs we will hear about.   The photo was taken in front of a mural in the Alutiiq Museum, which is a refuge partner.

Background

Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge is famous for its brown bears — largest of the brown (grizzly) bears — salmon, rugged coastline and emerald green scenery. The refuge was created in 1941 to protect Kodiak bears and their habitat. Today, the refuge has a broader purpose striving to protect interdependent species of fish, wildlife and plants within the largest intact, pristine island ecosystem in North America; and to ensure compatible management of wildlife, subsistence, recreation, and economic uses of refuge resources.

Koniag is an Alaska Native regional corporation formed pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Headquartered in Kodiak, Alaska, Koniag is owned by nearly 4,600 Alaska Native Shareholders of Sugpiaq and Alutiiq ancestry who have called the Kodiak Archipelago region — including the lands within the Refuge — their traditional homeland for more than 7,500 years. Koniag Shareholders and their Descendants continue to live on or near Refuge lands and rely on the harvest of wild foods and natural resources from within the Refuge for cultural, economic, nutritional, and spiritual sustenance.

We at Friends have contributed in a small way to the partnership by securing a grant from the Sam and Mary Lawrence Foundation which was matched five times over by Koniag to fund a student program, YETI,  in the summer of 2024.  These are the 2025 YETI (Youth Environmental Education Internship) students.

Biography

Amy Peterson’s background prepared her well for this unique role as the Community Affairs Liaison for Koniag and the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. Although raised outside the state, she is the daughter of two schoolteachers who taught in Old Harbor and Port Lions. When Amy came to Alaska, she settled in Old Harbor, working 17 years for the school district which gave her a solid background in youth programs. In addition, she worked for the Old Harbor Native Corporation and in the Village Clinic as her original training was as a certified medical assistant.  She has five children and nine grandchildren and divides her time between Old Harbor and Kodiak City.  Amy cherishes family life and engaging in traditional activities such as berry picking, fishing, and preparing comfort foods.

Franklin D. Rooseveldt created the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge in 1941 “for the purpose of protecting the natural feeding and breeding range of the brown bears and other wildlife on Uganik and Kodiak Islands.”  


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Arctic Refuge: Art and Advocacy, Sept. 6 in Homer

Join us, Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges for a lovely evening of Arctic Refuge art, adventure tales, and ideas for advocacy on Saturday, September 6 from 5 to 7 pm at Bunnell Street Art Center.  Fairbanks artist Lynn Larsen’s Arctic Refuge landscape paintings will be on display at the gallery.  Lynn and her partner, Arctic Refuge guide Ron Yarnell, will share their experiences from more than 35 years exploring the Arctic Refuge and their thoughts about its future.  Friends Advocacy Chair, Nancy Lord, will update us on the status of threats to the refuge, what Friends, working with partners, is doing to counter the threat of drilling and how you can help.  Light refreshments will be served.

In 1988 Lynn made her first trip to the Brooks Range, a journey that changed the direction of her life and her art work. After that trip on the Wind River, she started drawing and painting landscapes. Flying over the Brooks for the first time, she felt she had found what she had been seeking and returned to the Brooks Range every summer to raft, backpack, and hike.

Lynn’s art will be on display at Bunnell for the entire month of September.  The show entitled Time –  Arctic Refuge will open with a First Friday event on September 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. which will include an artist’s talk.  Many of Lynn’s recent works can be seen at https://arcticrefuge.art/lynn-larsen/



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August Advocacy Report 2025

By Nancy Lord, Advocacy Committee Chair

Here are updates on issues with which we’re engaged.

FY26 Refuge System Budget: The House and Senate Appropriation Committees marked up the budget bills to provide $505 and $525 million respectively to the Refuge System, compared to $550 in FYs 24 and 25. Senator Murkowski played a key role in the Senate committee. After the August Congressional recess, both bodies will resume budget work, but it’s unclear whether a budget will be agreed upon or whether we may expect a continuing resolution or a government shutdown.

Izembek Refuge Road: This is an on-going issue with a coalition of partners.  Survey work for the proposed road is underway. Hearings on a land trade will be held Aug. 18-21.

Arctic Refuge  (with Arctic Defense Coalition):
Friends is involved in the Trustees of Alaska’s appeal to the Dept. of Interior’s decision to reinstate the oil leases that were previously cancelled. Seismic work is underway. The reconciliation bill passed by Congress requires four new lease sales in the refuge within the next seven years.

Staff reductions – 37 Alaska Refuge system employees are gone; 220 are left. The staff reduction along with the ongoing hiring freeze have left refuges woefully understaffed.

Other issues receiving our attention and involvement include the proposed Johnson Tract Mine (potential impact on the Alaska Maritime Refuge’s Chisik Island), Selawik Refuge Broadband Project (80 miles of overland cable), oil and gas exploration drilling on state land adjacent to Yukon Flats Refuge, predator control on state lands adjacent to refuges, and several administrative actions including one designed to control refuge visitor center exhibits and signage.


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Tales from our 20th: Friends Flocked to Kenai Refuge

By Poppy Benson, Outreach Chair

As Friends newcomer Keith Jost of Anchorage said, “This is a really nice group of people.”  And so they were – all 70 of them that converged at Kelly Lake Campground on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges on July 12.  Friends came from throughout south-central Alaska to canoe, fish, hike, learn about wildfire on the refuge, eat great food, and enjoy the company of other refuge supporters.  31 camped overnight enjoying loon calls in the night and scolding by yellow-legs in the day. 

The planning team was blown away with this enthusiastic response so we think we might need to do something similar every year.  The demand is there for this type of experience.  We more than met our objectives in getting people together to strengthen Friends bonds, getting people out on a refuge, making new friends, and learning about Friends, some of the issues facing refuges, the Kenai Refuge and the very significant Swan Lake fire.

We were fortunate in that two of the founding members – David Raskin our first president and Carla Stanley our first vice president were able to make the event. They were part of a handful of citizens that met at the Kenai Refuge Education building in November of 2005 and decided to form Friends.  It has been quite a ride since then.  We have grown to over 375 members, with 100 – 200 attending every meeting in person, at refuge watch parties or by zoom, dozens in the field volunteering and numerous refuge projects funded by Friends.

Could we make something similar happen in Fairbanks?  Perhaps at the Tetlin Refuge?  Want to be in on such fun times and show your support for Alaska’s National Wildlife efuges?  Join us.  We would love to have you. 

Thanks to our photographers:  Becky Hutchinson, Carla Stanley, Kieth Jost, Claire Holdaway, Kristine Sowl, Dan Musgrove, Marie McConnell, Paul Allen and Poppy Benson



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Thoroughly Enjoyed the Process: Monitoring Walrus from Hawaii

By Jenna Berting, Friends member from Washington State

The walrus monitoring project gave me a chance to use my skills to help wildlife even though I was working remotely in Hawaii at the time!   I heard about the opportunity on the Friends website and applied and volunteered with the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge to assist in a research project monitoring Pacific walrus populations. I volunteered 23 hours over the course of a month, working remotely, to help count walruses captured by remote game cameras stationed at five different haul-out locations within the refuge. This monitoring plays a critical role in understanding walrus behavior, population dynamics, and environmental impacts on these marine mammals.

I collaborated closely with Jannelle, a wildlife biologist at the refuge, who guided the process and served as a supportive and knowledgeable mentor throughout the project. Working with Jannelle was the highlight of the project – the encouragement and willingness to assist made this not only a learning experience but a truly enjoyable one.

 We used QGIS, a geographic information system tool, to overlay various data layers that supported visual analysis and improved accuracy in our counts. In many instances, we reviewed side-by-side images from dual-camera setups to match and align photographs before finalizing the counts.

 



















Walrus at Bird Rock haulout, Togiak Refuge.   I applied the dots as I identified each walrus and the QGIS program tabulated them.  Pc USFWS

Walrus counting was occasionally visually challenging due to factors such as lighting conditions (e.g., sunset or overcast skies), weather interference, and the sheer density of walruses in the images—sometimes stacked on top of one another or spread out across vast distances. Despite these difficulties, I thoroughly enjoyed the process and learned so much.

This experience expanded my knowledge of walrus behavior, particularly their haul-out patterns, social groupings, and how tightly they cluster in large groups along the shoreline. I gained valuable skills in remote data analysis, wildlife monitoring techniques, and spatial mapping using QGIS tools. I look forward to supporting similar conservation initiatives in the future!



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July Advocacy Report

By Nancy Lord, Advocacy Chair

I’m writing this on July 4, a day we normally celebrate for our American freedoms. This year is different. Today, President Trump signs the big bill that encompasses his agenda for reforming American life.  In nearly a thousand pages, policy and funding changes will influence nearly every aspect of our lives, including the management of our public lands.

This comes on top of what we’ve already experienced in the refuges–huge staff losses through unrelenting pressure, incentives to quit and firings, a hiring freeze, and interference with public communications, exhibits and programming. The bill mandates the opening of public lands to increased extractive industries with reduced environmental oversight or mitigation and curtails scientific research–especially anything related to climate. Incentives for wind and solar projects have been replaced with incentives for fossil fuels.

An effort to sell off public lands was successfully beaten back but may well return in another place or form. One proposal would administratively transfer BLM lands in Alaska to the state to expedite development projects.

Your Friends organization has repeatedly reached out to Alaska’s congressional delegation to emphasize the importance of our refuges and the need to fund their protection and management, not just for their resident fish and wildlife but for human visitors, communities, and future resilience. We asked you, our Friends, to do the same.

Alaska Senators Murkowski and Sullivan and Representative Begich all fell in line with the Republican party to approve the bill. They are particularly happy with the requirement that four lease sales be scheduled within the Arctic Refuge (as well as others in sensitive areas in Alaska) and the loosening of environmental regulations. They consider it a win to “unlock Alaska’s resources.”

While close analysis of the bill’s provisions and their specific effects is just beginning, we can say for sure that Alaska’s public lands are and will be losing the protections and management that they require.

While it’s easy to be discouraged, we must not let up our advocacy!

Please continue to let your elected representatives know that you value our refuges and all they provide for wildlife, environmental quality, recreation, public enjoyment, and the future. Their values cannot be maintained without adequate funding and staffing, adherence to environment laws, and mitigations for environmental harm. Stress that climate change in the north is a very significant threat, not only to plants and wildlife but to the safety of people and the future of the entire warming planet!

Please visit our website regularly for updates and action alerts, and do the same by friending us on Facebook.

And make sure you get out this summer to enjoy some reflective time in one or more of our national wildlife refuges. Join us this Saturday on the Kenai Refuge to recharge with other refuge supporters.  Be especially kind to refuge staff who are working very hard in difficult circumstances.






















The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge staff on this nearly two million acre refuge is down to 19 employees from the 33 who worked there at this happy time when Friends helped them on a trail clearing project in 2017 (pictured here).  With that staff they manage incredible varied habitat and wildlife resources including important salmon runs, a dense moose population, caribou, Dall sheep, bears, eagles and waterbirds and a large public use program of visitor centers, campgrounds, public use cabins, an extensive trail network and two canoe systems all of which attracts a million visits a year from all over the country.



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