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.