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. pc Becky Hutchinson