Volunteer Activities – Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges

Volunteer, Volunteer, Volunteer

By Poppy Benson, Vice President

Want to do hands on field work? Share your enthusiasm for refuges with visitors? Be a campground host at a very lovely spot? Eight refuges have submitted their wish lists for volunteers and they are now posted on our Current Volunteer Opportunities webpage. Add some wildlife to your summer. Check them out, check your calendar and apply!

There are some intriguing multi week field projects including hare monitoring on Yukon Flats Refuge and biological monitoring and maintenance at Kanuti’s remote cabin. Both these will require some training so talk to them right away to arrange this. Izembek is looking for black brant survey team members but this year they want two. Friends will pay airfare Anchorage to Cold Bay. And that always fun project of banding ducks at Tetlin Refuge for a week is back for a 5th year. Alaska Peninsula Refuge wants help with their visitor center and summer events for the whole summer but two people could split the summer. Airfare, food allowance and refuge housing are provided. Izembek also wants visitor services help but we don’t have money to cover airfare although lodging would be provided. Kenai Refuge needs a campground host at Hidden Lake.

One day or afternoon projects include three big outreach events – the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, Seabird Fest and the Kenai Sports and Recreation Show; help with fencing the banks of the Kenai to prevent erosion during the salmon runs; and cleanups on the Alaska Maritime (April 19) and Kenai (date TBD). Friends cosponsors the Shorebird Festival, May 7 – 11 in Homer and volunteers are needed for staffing the Friends Outreach Table and the Birder’s Coffee and for helping the refuge with Festival events. You can sign up for either or both Friends and refuge work. The Festival is our biggest project and traditionally our best source of new members and, it’s really fun! Come on down to Homer and help out. May 3 and 4 is the Kenai Sports and Recreation Show in Soldotna and May 30 – 31 is Seabird Fest in Seward. Friends are needed to help the refuges with activities and education at these events.

You can find all projects listed here including who to talk to for more information. Applications are needed for most projects and you must be a member for most projects. You can join or renew here. In addition, refuges with visitor centers – Kodiak, Kenai, Yukon Delta in Bethel, Alaska Peninsula in King Salmon and the Alaska Maritime in Homer can always use help. Contact those refuges if you live in the area.

Volunteering at the Friends Outreach Booth at the 2023 Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. We need at least 25 volunteers to cover all 5 days of Festival events and outreach.

I was surprised we got as many projects as we did given the DOGE induced chaos at the refuges – uncertain job futures, stripped staff, credit card use suspended making acquiring field supplies impossible and no budget yet for this fiscal year. Should government uncertainties resolve, I think we would get some more projects so stay tuned to our volunteer current opportunities page.

“The Trip of a Lifetime!” Surveying Brant on the Izembek Refuge

By Cindy Mom, Seldovia Friends member

I had the privilege to volunteer on the brant survey at Izembek National Wildlife Refuge this fall. Afterwards, it took me two days to get home from Cold Bay to Seldovia, and even when my cargo was unpacked and put away, I felt like my mental and emotional experiences from Izembek were still very present – not unpacked yet at all. What a beautiful and wild place! I still see the thick luscious eelgrass in my mind’s eye, and all those brant slurping it up with pure delight. The raucous sounds of thousands of happy geese can’t help but make you happy, too.

The Refuge staff and visiting biologists welcomed me to the Brant crew, and made it easy to explore and enjoy the Refuge. Our six-person crew (usually split into two groups of three) visited the brant goose habitat, the incredibly extensive eelgrass bed of Izembek Lagoon. To get to our observation points we hiked across the tundra or boated in inflatable skiffs to shallow waters or shorelines. Once there, we set up spotting scopes and counted flocks of brant, using clickers to tally adults vs. juveniles. While one or two people scoped and counted, one person recorded data and watched for bears.

The Izembek Lagoon is one of the very few places on earth that I have visited that feels still intact, and complete, and of-itself. Pc Cindy Mom

As the entire population of Pacific black brant, about 150,000 birds, stages for about eight weeks in the Izembek Lagoon Complex, Izembek’s Brant Age Ratio Survey provides an estimate of the age composition of the entire arctic and subarctic breeding populations. This survey provides the only measure of annual productivity for the brant and an index of recruitment as most first-year mortality occurs between hatch and fall migration.

The absolute best part was getting to work with an amazing crew of wildlife biologists, who know how to efficiently get the job done and still have fun while doing it. Everyone had such obvious and infectious enjoyment in the work and the beautiful wild Refuge, it made it easy to deal with the discomforts of field work in wet, windy, and cold conditions. I truly feel this was the trip of a lifetime, and appreciate the opportunity to explore the Izembek Refuge, learn about eelgrass and brant, see walruses and several life birds, and contribute something to this important study. My travel expenses were covered by the Friends, which made this trip possible; otherwise, it would have remained an unreachable dream. Thank you, Friends!

Wet, windy and cold. It was October out there! We only lost two survey days to extreme weather. I organized the refuge library on those days. PC Randall Friendly.

Collecting Puke and Weathering Storms: My Challenging but Rewarding Time in the Barren Islands

By Karyn Murphy, Homer Friends member and Alaska Maritime Refuge Liaison

During this past summer, I was given the opportunity to join with a biologist from the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and a grad student from Oregon to go to the Barren Islands for several weeks to work and live at the East Amatuli Island field camp. The seabird rich, uninhabited Barren Islands are about 60 miles south of Homer where Cook Inlet flows into the Gulf of Alaska. Our focus would be three-fold: check productivity plots of Fork-tailed Storm Petrel burrows and measure any chicks found; set up mist nets to capture petrels as they returned at night to feed their chicks and to collect the puke they regurgitated upon capture for later analysis; and setting up timelapse camera gear to monitor puffin colonies.

Fork-tailed Storm Petrel chicks are cute fluffballs! We recorded wing length, weight and amount of down all of which helps approximate age of the chick.

The data we gathered contributed to decades long records which indicate not just how well the refuge’s trust species are doing but also what the birds’ health has to say about the health of the ocean they feed from. Weather was very stormy and windy with a few lovely sunny days. The icing on the cake was getting picked up by the refuge research ship the R/V Tiglax for our return to Homer. What a challenging and rewarding opportunity! So grateful to have had this time at the East Amatuli Island field camp. I hope others are inspired to volunteer for opportunities within our Alaska national wildlife refuge system!

I’m not laying down on the job here. We were often up to our armpits reaching to the very back of the storm petrel burrows to find and gently extract the chick for measurements.

Selawik Summer: 4 Above the Arctic Circle

This past summer four Friends volunteered in different capacities with the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge in Kotzebue in far northwestern Alaska. Selawik had not asked for volunteers in many years but Brittany Sweeney, new to her position as Deputy Refuge Manager, saw an opportunity to augment their small staff. Here are our volunteers’ stories.

I Had Never Introduced Myself to an Entire Village Before: But here I was with a VHF radio in my hand.
By Saralily Stein, Anchor Point Friend

“Good morning Selawik! My name is Sarahlily, and my friend Lynda and I are here from the Fish and Wildlife Service. We’ll be leading nature crafts in the NANA building this afternoon from 1:30 – 4:30pm. Ages eight and up are welcome to join us.” I looked over at Adam, and he gave me a thumbs up. Phew!

This July, I spent nine days volunteering with Selawik National Wildlife Refuge. With the help of refuge staff and tribal administrators, I led three nature art workshops in the villages of Selawik and Buckland.

Two workshops focused on botanical ink making. Participants used local plants such as kikmiññat (cranberries) to make watercolor paintings. We had a great time experimenting with different leaves, berries, and flowers. In addition to the art side of the project, we tried to include both cultural and scientific components by incorporating the Iñupiaq plant names and using acids and bases to modify the colors of the inks. In Selawik, the ink workshop had only three participants. In Buckland, we had forty!

The other workshop focused on cyanotype printing. Also called sun printing, this craft uses light sensitive paper to make botanical prints. We took a plant walk to gather materials and then used those plants to make cards and socks.

In Selawik, I was joined by Lynda Knutsen, who was working at Selawik refuge on a detail. Refuge Information Technician (FWS Village liaison) Adam Ramoth picked us up from the airport, showed us around, and made sure we had everything we needed. We stayed in a funky little bunkhouse with creative plumbing, friendly neighbors, and a couple of opinionated outdoor dogs. Selawik is a boardwalk community. So, instead of driving cars around on gravel roads we rode around the wooden boardwalks on “Hondas” (four-wheelers) with a little trailer to carry our totes of art supplies.

In Buckland, refuge deputy manager Brittany Sweeney joined me, and the two of us stayed in the school building. Tribal administrator Sheila Washington helped us get the word out and corral the many enthusiastic kids during the workshop. I was so impressed by these kids! They were kind to each other, sharing the art supplies with one another and helping each other find what they needed. Making ink with them was a blast.

In between workshops, I stayed in Kotzebue at the refuge bunkhouse. Just across the Chukchi Sea from Russia, Kotzebue was a great “homebase” to explore, relax, and prep for workshops. In addition to managing the many logistics that go into village travel, Brittany went out of her way to welcome me, even inviting me and Lynda over to her home to try local sheefish.

A huge thank you to Friends for making this trip possible. A special taikuu (thanks) to Jerry Hupp who coordinated logistics, ordered the art supplies, and organized the budget. I hope to volunteer again in the future!

Friends secured a small grant from the Fish and Wildlife Service Retirees’ Association to fund Sarahlily’s travel and supplies.

Buckland Village children with the ink they made from plants and postcards created with the ink. PC Brittany Sweeney.

Two in Town: Bev and Louis first visit to NW Alaska

As told to Poppy Benson

“I’m grateful I went,” said Bev Cronen of the three weeks she and her partner Louis Dupree spent volunteering at Selawik refuge headquarters in Kotzebue. “It was interesting to just get a taste of what it is like to live off the road system,” she added. “I took pictures of prices in the store because I am sure my friends wouldn’t believe it. $14.87 for a loaf of Dave’s Bread!” Bev and Louis also got in on a community meeting when Senator Sullivan came to town. More than 50 locals attended and those that spoke expressed their concerns mainly about the Ambler Road. The prevailing sentiment was anti-road. Locals felt they did not have enough say in a road which would be disruptive to them and their way of life. Bev and Louis also enjoyed just walking around town observing people and their neighborhoods.

Bev and Louis answered the call to help with office work and a variety of small maintenance tasks. With no administrative staff at the refuge, the four full time and two part time employees have gotten quite behind on simple things like dealing with files, small paint jobs and shredding documents. Bev reported that the government housing was lovely, the staff very hardworking and working with Brittany Sweeney, Deputy Refuge Manager was a highlight. And the feeling was mutual. Brittany dedicated a Selawik Refuge Facebook post to the two writing the refuge owed them a “HUGE thank you . . . .. They assisted with anything and everything we asked, from maintenance tasks to mail runs, filing and more. Our office has never looked better than after their visit; these two avid sailors left us in ship shape!” Bev reported it was gratifying to help the staff and she would go back again.

Bev Cronen and Louis Depree of Homer at Selawik Refuge Headquarters in Kotzebue. PC. USFWS/Brittany Sweeney

Off to a Good Start: New Refuge Liaison Visits the Refuge

Our Friends refuge liaison positions were created so that each of the 16 refuges have one member that looks out for that refuge and its needs. It isn’t often however, that the refuge liaison pays their way out to a remote refuge to really get to know the refuge and the staff. Nancy Deschu of Anchorage did juist that in July traveling to Kotzebue. Nancy has a particular interest in rivers and fisheries being a retired hydrologist and spent time with refuge biologist Bill Carter with the idea of writing an article. She also got filled in on refuge concerns – new broad band towers proposed for the refuge, the Ambler Road, not enough staff and not enough money. Refuge staff wondered if Friends could help with grant writing, chasing soft money, volunteers for at least three-week stints and increasing public awareness of this little-known refuge. Both Brittany Sweeney, Deputy Refuge Manager and Nancy felt the trip was invaluable for getting Nancy up to speed on Selawik concerns.

Fall, Fun Staff, and Interesting Visitors: My Time at Coldfoot

By Gail Mayo, Fairbanks Friends Member

My first view of the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center was through a windshield splattered with mud. I had just completed, in pouring rain, the drive from Fairbanks to Coldfoot over the Dalton Highway. In spite of that grimy beginning my two week volunteer time was a beautiful experience. The southern edge of the Brooks Range was in full fall colors and the weather remained warm and often sunny. The South Fork of the Koyukuk ran clear, no ice.

The visitor center is an imaginative building with enticing exhibits that give visitors a good introduction to the vast wilderness reaching in all directions around them: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the northeast, Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge to the southwest, Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge to the southeast, Gates of the Arctic National Park to the northwest, and the Dalton Highway Corridor (BLM). It was very fun to interact with visitors who were trying to understand wilderness and how to experience it.

The staff representing the three agencies (Fish & Wildlife Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management) were friendly, helpful and appreciative. Judy Brant and I were there to help with the final two weeks of being open to the public. There were several days when the visitor count was well over 100, and there were never any days without interesting visitors. One of our jobs was keeping count and never counting anyone twice. Sometimes this required group effort! Many visitors were tourists who wanted to experience the Dalton Highway. Others were hunters, miners visiting their claims and aurora watchers.

There is a Fish and Wildlife Service field camp a short distance north of Coldfoot with a variety of lodging possibilities from dry cabins to comfortable houses. Judy and I stayed in a house that had recently been upgraded. It was very comfortable and had indoor plumbing; a luxury in the far north. We both appreciated the convenient housing that gave us time to do some exploring.

Fall colors on the Dalton Highway. PC Randy Lewis

Friends’ Volunteers Flock to Tetlin

Due to staff shortages and the demands of two visitor centers on the highway, Tetlin Nationl Wildlife Refuge really needed our help this summer and our members responded. Eight volunteered to band ducks, one to work a month in their border visitor center and one was so invaluable they hired him. Read what they shared about their experiences.

Nothing like Leaping into Retirement with a Month of Volunteering at Tetlin Refuge!
By Jackie Smith, Soldotna Friends member

To be honest, I had no idea how far out the Tetlin Refuge Visitor Center was – almost to the Canadian border and 70 miles beyond Tok. But my pup Mia and I settled in to refuge housing at Northway Junction 15 miles from the visitor center where I would work. It’s hard to call the time at work “work” because everyone we met was so happy to be there – excited to get information about where they were headed or to share their experiences (especially with road conditions!).

We gave directions, reviewed maps, sold souvenirs and gifts including Native baskets and beadwork, and showed a video of the details of the refuge and its Alaska Native background. The swan exhibit, a collection of animal pelts and a display where visitors can make footprints of the various refuge inhabitants were popular and great fun for the kids! I was most impressed with how the local Native culture is such a big part of the exhibits. The two Athabascan staffers even demonstrated beading.

I loved having the chance to work with these ladies from the village of Northway and learn about Athabascan culture. Sylvia Pitka, Cora Demit and Marilyn Paul with a visitor on the visitor center deck with the beautiful refuge view.

I met most of the headquarters staff and many of the summer folks working on the refuge and in Tok, and bonded with Bill and Mary (we’re all nurses!) who came from Florida to be the hosts at the refuge campground at Deadman Lake. Including side trips to pick blueberries on the Denali Highway and visit Beaver Creek, Chicken and Dawson City, I am now able to truly appreciate smoothly-paved roads! The only thing I missed out on was the duck banding, so I might have to go back! Thanks so much for the opportunity to see eastern Alaska and the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge. It was all quite an adventure.

Duck Banding at Tetlin Refuge is more than Just Banding Ducks!
By Lin and John Kennedy, Soldotna Friends

Lin Kennedy with Deputy Refuge Manager and Duck Whisperer Ross Flagen. PC Lewis Westwick

It’s the getting there, and the camping, and the people. As the trip to the refuge’s Deadman Lake campground is over 500 miles from Soldotna, we tood two days to enjoy and photograph the beautiful scenery, with time to stretch our legs and exercise our dog. On our arrival Sunday afternoon, we checked in with the campground hosts, Bill and Mary, who we knew from the year before, found our “reserved” campsite and set our trailer up for the week.

Mallard, Pintail, Green Winged Teal and Wigeon ducks were all fitted with bands throughout the week. The process generally runs fairly smooth, but there are always some bumps in the road. It was Duck – 1, Lin – 0 when I applied a band not realizing the pliers were locked open, failed to close the band, and the duck got away with the band falling to the bottom of the boat with a loud clang. As Ross Flagen, Tetlin Deputy Refuge Manager, says “It happens to everyone.”

Our mornings and early afternoons were spent at Deadman and Yarger lakes checking the duck traps and working through the ducks that were trapped. Ducks that were already banded were released and the newbies were held in bright orange crates waiting for their turn to receive their beautiful new ankle bracelet. John Kennedy releasing banded duck. PC. Lewis Westwick.

By midafternoon we were usually finished and free to explore and enjoy Tetlin Refuge.  Deadman Lake campground offers quiet, large, spaced-out sites, canoes complete with paddles and PFDs free to use, free firewood and a short boardwalk complete with a viewing platform on the lakeshore. Blueberries are abundant in season for picking and spicing up the morning pancakes.

The Seaton Roadhouse site, east of Deadman Lake on the AlCan, offers panels with historical information, trails with viewing decks and benches, and a beaver pond with many ducks and even a pair of swans the afternoon we visited.  And of course, a visit to Tetlin Refuge would not be complete without a visit to the visitor center. The staff was very friendly. The deck of the visitor center offered wonderful valley and mountain views.

We experienced beautiful sunshine and blue skies most days, with a chill in the air in the mornings that could only mean one thing: fall is on the horizon. Before we knew it our week at Deadman Lake ended and it was time to head back to Soldotna.

I frequently comment, “we are not birders.” After two years of participating in this worthwhile project, perhaps we are.

The Refuge’s Lakeview campground on Yarger Lake just west of Deadman is smaller but has a great viewing blind. PC Poppy Benson

In addition to the Kennedys, Dan Musgrove, Soldotna; Barbara O’Donnell, Fairbanks; Lewis Westwick, Danny Moss, Susan Moeller, and Deborah Vandruff, all of Anchorage also volunteered for a week of duck banding.

Indispensable Dan
From Volunteer to Employee
By Poppy Benson, Vice President for Outreach
One of Friends most hard working, most cheerful and all around good guy volunteers is Dan Musgrove of Soldotna. These Dan characteristics were not lost on the Tetlin Refuge staff particularly Deputy Manager Ross Flagen. Dan had volunteered three times for the Tetlln Refuge – two weeks of duck banding and other duties as assigned and a winter gig via snowmachine to chop wood and get remote cabins ready for the summer. So Ross knew Dan could work. When the frustrating government hiring system failed to find candidates for all the summer positions Tetlin needed, Ross figured out a way to hire Dan as a 30-day emergency hire. This retired oil field worker put on the brown uniform and became a ranger! Dan did mostly maintenance work for that month but he still wasn’t tired of Tetlin. He returned in August to volunteer for another week of duck banding. Now that is helping out a refuge in need!

My Spring Volunteering with the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge

By Barbara Ryan
Pompano Beach Florida Friends Member

It certainly was my pleasure to serve as a volunteer this spring at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. Their summer seasonal employees had not yet started work and the Refuge asked Friends for help with this shoulder season. I started off helping with the spring break Bear Awareness Program for families, which provided educational hands-on kids stations to teach children bear awareness through age-appropriate scavenger hunts, collage making, coloring events, and face painting. Over seventy-five participated.

Bear awareness is an important subject on an island which is home to 3500 Kodiak bears, the largest subspecies of brown bears. Helping with this was my first task.

Providing visitor information was a big part of my job and included information on the gray whale migration around Kodiak Island, where to go tide pooling, how to find beach glass, assisting with hunting and fishing regulations, explaining the road and river systems and abundant hiking trails, birds and species reference lists and where to find them on the road system. I also registered participants for the Kodiak Refuge Science and Salmon Camp Program which continues to be hugely popular year after year.

Kodiak Refuge Visitor Center is a vibrant resource providing meeting space for trainings such as an Alaska Oil Spill Response Conference and community events such as an Alutiiq sponsored Native bead bracelet making workshop. The refuge visitor center is centrally located amidst several museums, the town of Kodiak Visitor Center, the Alaska Marine Ferry Terminal and cruise ship docks, all within walking distance.

The Visitor Center store on a busy cruise ship day.

Because the spring season is not as busy as summer, I had time to experience the history and fascinating culture from Kodiak archaeology to the cultural heritage of the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq people, and provide a memorable tour of the visitor center to visitors.

The staff was a delight to work with and I have made some new friends from this Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges experience.

Get Out on a Refuge, Do Some Good, Volunteer!

by Poppy Benson, Friends Vice President for Outreach Want to get to the Pribilofs or Izembek? Discover Tetlin? Get your hands on a duck? Share your love for Alaska Refuges with friendly people? Our Alaska National Wildlife Refuges are looking for our help as they are dealing with short staffs and small budgets. Here’s a sampler of volunteer opportunities. See all the projects (some are new since the last newsletter) on our volunteer web page here.

Share your knowledge of Alaska at Tetlin’s Interagency Visitor Center
Band ducks on the Tetlin Refuge.
Real science: aging black brant at Izembek.
Or come on down to Homer May 8 – 12 for the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival co-sponsored by Friends and the Alaska Maritime Refuge. Sign up for Friends outreach here and for festival events here.
Spring clean a refuge – Kenai April 26-27, Alaska Maritime Homer April 20
Spread the good word about refuges at Outreach Booths at events in Seward, Soldotna, and Homer.

Some volunteer jobs are just a few hours commitment and others offer a chance to spend a month on a refuge. Take some time this summer to experience a refuge through helping. For more information go to the web page or contact us at volunteer@alaskarefugefriends.org. Volunteer applications are online. It’s a lively job working the Friends Outreach Table at the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival and we need 15 – 20 people to cover all the shifts. Sign up here. Friends Rosa Meehan of Anchorage and Board President Marilyn Sigman of Homer working the booth at the 2023 Festival.

Do You Want to Visit a Refuge? Volunteer, Volunteer, Volunteer!!!

Volunteer, Volunteer, Volunteer!!! by Poppy Benson, Vice President for Outreach

Setting up a Starlink solar system, deploying rat traps in the Pribilofs and teaching first aid in McGrath are three of the most unusual volunteer requests from the refuges this year. And that always fun project of banding ducks for a week on the Tetlin Refuge is back for a 4th year as well as brant aging surveys on the Izembek Refuge in October. Tetlin Refuge is also looking for visitor center help in Tok in 30 day shifts over the summer. Shorter term projects include helping with an Anchorage public meeting on rat eradication in the Aleutian Islands, building rat traps in Homer for the Alaska Maritime, a cleanup at the Maritime Visitor Center on April 20 (and expect one on the Kenai Refuge in May dates, TBD), and two big events – the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival and the Kenai Sports and Recreation Show.

Friends cosponsors the Festival, May 8 – 12 in Homer, and volunteers are needed for Friends outreach– staffing our Outreach Table and the Birders’ Coffee–and for Festival events. The Festival is our biggest project and traditionally our best source of new members and, its really fun. Come on down to Homer and help out. May 4 and 5 is the Kenai Sports and Recreation Show in Soldotna. Friends are needed to help the Kenai Refuge with its activities and to do outreach for Friends and the Refuge.

Some of these projects need help right away so don’t delay in checking them out – the Starlink system, rat trap assembly and the first aid instructor for Innoko Refuge would ideally happen in March – April. You can find all projects listed here including who to talk to for more information. Applications are needed for most projects and you must be a member for most projects. You can join or renew here.

In addition, refuges with visitor centers – Kodiak, Kenai, Yukon Delta in Bethel and the Alaska Maritime in Homer – can always use help. Contact the refuge.

Yes, there are fewer volunteer opportunities this year than last as only five refuges requested our help as opposed to seven last year. I can only speculate that this is due to the refuges not having a budget as Congress only passed the budget last Friday. And then there are the significant staff shortages. It takes staff and money to plan projects. Hopefully, with the budget resolved we might yet see some more projects for this year.

Izembek Brant Project Report

by John Sargent, Fairbanks Friends Volunteer

John Sargent volunteered with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge assisting with the Pacific Brant Age Ratio Study during October 3 to 13, 2023. Nearly all of the worldwide distribution of brant stage at Izembek Lagoon during the autumn migration before moving on to warmer climates in California and Mexico where they spend the winter months. Izembek Lagoon is also one of the largest concentrations of eelgrass in the world and was the first in North America listed as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance.

The purpose of the study is to estimate the number of juvenile brant born this year relative to adults. This information will be used to determine the 2023 productivity of brant along the Pacific Flyway. By the end of the survey, we successfully met our goal of classifying 39,000 juvenile and adult brant in Izembek Lagoon! To access the lagoon we drove in pickups, walked in the tundra, boated in zodiacs and took side-by-side ATVs to get to more remote areas.

The Izembek adventure was scheduled to start on October 2, but was delayed one day because of the looming government shutdown that did not happen. Then, a few days later, while awaiting at the Anchorage airport for his flight to Cold Bay, John learned that his flight would be cancelled because of eruptions of the Shishaldin Volcano in the Aleutian Island of Unimak, west of Cold Bay. As the volcano calmed down, John and another volunteer, Catherine Trimingham, boarded the Aleutian Airlines flight to Cold Bay to finally start the Brant Age study adventure. While attempting to make a landing, at Cold Bay the plane lifted off again, presumably due to strong cross winds to make another attempt, which the pilot safety did. Such is life in one of the windiest and remote places in North America, and one of the most volcanically active regions in the world! Once at the refuge we settled in to the comfy house that served as the bunkhouse with full kitchen and hot running water.

Acknowledgements: John would like to thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Izembek National Wildlife Refuge staff, especially Wildlife Biologist Alison Williams, Refuge Manager Maria Fosado, Biological Science Technician Cristina Trimingham, Wildlife Biologist Michael Swaim, volunteer Catherine Trimingham, and USGS Field Assistant Technician Evan Buck for field support, sharing field work, and making my stay and experience most enjoyable and memorable. Thank you all!

Bird and Wildlife Observed or reported on or near the lagoon:

Black brant (very abundant- 100s of thousands), cackling geese (abundant) northern pintail, mallard, harlequin duck, gadwall, Eurasian widgeon, green wing teal, emperor geese, white fronted goose (one), greater yellowlegs, large feeding flocks of rock sandpiper, dunlin sandpiper, bald eagles, short eared owl, marlin, peregrine falcon, glaucous wing gulls, juvenile Sabine’s gull, tundra swan, red breasted mergansers, Steller’s eider (one), black legged kittiwakes, snipe, fox sparrow (dark subspecies), willow ptarmigan, red necked grebe, Pacific loon, ravens, black billed magpies and Lapland longspurs. Also, wolf, brown bear tracks, brown bear scats, and diggings for ground squirrels; arctic ground squirrels; red fox, Pacific walrus (hundreds sunbathing), harbor seals and sea otters abundant feeding in lagoon. Coho salmon carcasses in creeks.

Ahhh… we finally made it to Izembek Lagoon to start the Brant Age Ratio Survey! The weather was blustery and we lucked out to have only limited rainfall, mild temperatures (mid 40s) and no further substantial eruption of volcanos! John Sargent counting brant.

Mike wearing his comfy wool hat while characterizing brant juveniles and adults at Izembek Lagoon.

Brant geese at Izembek Lagoon.

Alison, Christina, Evan and Catherine counting a large flock of brant. Most birds were too far away from shore to count but with use of a zodiac we were able to access more out-of-the-way areas of the lagoon.

Zostera marina (eelgrass), one of many worldwide species of seagrasses. Brant forage almost exclusively on eelgrass leaves during their autumn in Izembek Lagoon. The seeds are an important food for dabbling ducks.

And the sun did shine a few times! This is the eelgrass beds during low tide. During low tide we walked the Zodiac to deeper water. This was fortunate because it enabled us to get up close and personal with the eelgrass, the productive muds rich in detritus, and the abundance of shellfish and crabs that inhabit this important resource. We also saw many sea otters and harbor seals in the lagoon, and a large group of sunning walrus near the entrance with the Bering Sea!

We rejoiced when Frosty Peak, a large volcano became visible on the last day of our survey.

Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Wildlife Biologist, Alison Williams. surveying for brant at Izembek Lagoon. I thank her for her knowledge, skill at boat handling (especially in ocean swell near the outlet to the Bering Sea), and her kindness and graciousness during the survey work, planning, and making this a truly memorable experience.

In the Field: Friends Volunteering

by Poppy Benson, Friends Board Vice President
It was a busy September for Friends with volunteers helping with the Walks for the Wild, our September meeting and our special event. But three Friends were far afield with Meg Parsons of Anchorage and Mike Coffing of Homer at Izembek Refuge and Caroline Brouwer, currently from Hawaii, at Kodiak Refuge. Here is what they had to say.

The Izembek Quonset Hut Hustle: Wind, Wildlife and Wide-open Views
By Mike Coffing

Winds of 37 knots with gusts to 60+ knots were my welcome to Izembek Refuge at Cold Bay! Although the winds were always blowing, they were usually not as strong and were much more friendly most of our stay. The warm smiles, friendly and supportive Izembek Refuge staff were absolutely amazing. We were there to help clear out a large, WWII era, Quonset hut located 10+ miles north of Cold Bay and near Izembek Lagoon. During each round trip with the pickup truck, hauling 15 loads of equipment and supplies from the Quonset to the Refuge HQ in Cold Bay, our eyes were scanning the roadside “tundra” and open horizons for wildlife. We were never disappointed. After the day’s work of lifting, loading, hauling and unloading supplies, the warm refuge bunkhouse with the full kitchen, hot showers and comfortable beds was most relaxing.

Meg Parsons added:The Quonset hut is huge- unlike any I have seen previously. It was full of an assemblage of Refuge materials- research equipment and building supplies which was very like many homesteads I have experienced. One keeps things since it could be possible to use in the future. pc: Meg Parsons

We got in on one of the biggest local events of the year, the 3-day Labor Day Silver Salmon Derby, where we helped by weighing in fish. A kickoff “Ribs/Chicken and ALL the fixings” dinner, a polar plunge, a bonfire and potluck added to the fun.This annual fundraiser supports the Cold Bay Emergency Services.

Meg Parsons at Russell Creek with her first ever silver salmon. She said of her arrival at Izembek, “I flew from Anchorage to Cold Bay with the view of cloudy blue skies opening up to view the terrain of water, remote islands, and volcanoes. A great start to an area new to me and my excitement was exhilarating!” pc. Laticia Melendez/USFWS

Our last day we accompanied refuge staff when they gave a Refuge tour, using two small busses and two pickup trucks, to arriving passengers on the Alaska Ferry Tustumena from town to Grant’s Point, located at the edge of Izembek Lagoon. Meg added that “I enjoyed extending enthusiasm and appreciation of Izembek to the ferry passengers.”

Working at Izembek Refuge was a great experience. Thanks to Matthew and all the Refuge staff for having us.
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An Incredible Time at Kodiak: Bears, Coast and a Wonderful Staff
By Caroline Brouwer

L-R Caroline Brouwer, Sierra Speer, Erin Strand, Patricia Prince, Natalie Fath, Danielle Fujii-Doe in the Kodiak Visitor Center. pc: USFWS

Overwhelmed with cruise ships at a low staff time of the year, Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge asked for a Friends volunteer to help in September at their Visitor Center. Alaskan brown bears, whales, and talking about the National Wildlife Refuge System are some of my favorite things, so I jumped at the opportunity to apply and was lucky enough to be selected by the refuge.

I got to Kodiak Island just in time for the silver salmon run to start and the frenzy of bears feasting on salmon, fattening up for the winter. It’s been a dream of mine for years to go see the island, the refuge, and its bears. The bears, I saw, in droves. But Kodiak Refuge is so pristine partially because its not on the road system, so I spent my free hours hiking on non-refuge lands and gazing in awe at the beautiful islands and coastline.

Four out of the 10 days I was on the island, were cruise ship days with passengers flooding the town. Over 1,600 passengers passed through the Visitor Center on those four days, which was a great opportunity to talk about refuges and wildlife. One of the glorious things about the Refuge System is that refuges are not as highly visited as National Parks, offering a more solitary experience than parks. The downside is that many people have no idea what a refuge even is, or that there is this incredible System of public lands set aside for wildlife of which Kodiak is just one piece.

Education is part of our Friends mission: teaching visitors about wildlife refuges, and the importance of refuge habitat and species protection. They can then become stewards and advocates for refuges.

The Kodiak staff were incredible and capable, but, like most refuges, they have lost much of their capacity to complete critical tasks due to budget cuts. It was valuable to me as Friends Advocacy Committee Chair to see this for myself. Our advocacy column in this same newsletter is devoted to the budget, so please click on that article as well to hear how the funding fiasco currently happening in Washington, DC is affecting refuges on the ground.

Many, many thanks to the talented Kodiak Refuge staff, particularly Mike Brady, Danielle Fujii-Doe, Natalie Fath, and Amy Peterson and hardworking, generous and knowledgeable volunteers and seasonal staff– Sierra, Patricia, Nicole, Jan, and Stacey. A special shout out to Erin Strand whom I credit with keeping me alive by teaching me everything I know about bear safety, as we staffed a community event at the Coast Guard base. Thank you to everyone for making this trip so incredible. I hope I was able to give back as much as I received!

My last night was the most exciting (terrifying? incredibly stupid?) part of the trip. I went to the Buskin River to catch one last glimpse of the magnificent bears. The only bear I saw was in the process of expelling a huge tapeworm from his rear end. Fascinated, I watched him while he ate salmon. I lost sight of him, then heard him splashing loudly in the river too close to me. I hustled out of the area and turned on the video on my phone as I walked away, and then – well, see for yourself.

For an explanation of tape worms in Alaskan bears … check out thisarticle

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