Page 2 – Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges

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.

Art in the Arctic POSTPONED to 2025

Update:The Art in the Arctic Art Show is now Postponed to 2025.

Arctic, Kanuti and Yukon Flats Refuges had hoped to provide an Art in the Arctic show as great as, or perhaps better than, the year before, but unexpected challenges with the venue unfortunately preclude us from having a successful event on April 18, 2024.

The Show is postponed until Art in the Arctic 2025, as other refuge commitments and an upcoming field season preclude us from postponing again.

We respect the artists’ time and effort too much (and believe the messages we asked them to interpret too important) to deliver an event that doesn’t meet the high bar we’ve set for Art in the Arctic.

We look forward to celebrating the fish and rivers of the Arctic with you at a later date.

When Friends receives further updates we will notify all.

The Art and History of Unangax Bentwood Hats, workshop with Patty Lekanoff-Gregory

This event was held on Saturday, March 9, 6 – 7pm

Alaska Maritime Refuge Visitor Center, Sterling Highway, #1, Homer.

Join us for a special visit and lecture from Unangax artist Patty Lekanoff-Gregory. Patty is a world-renowned artist and one of the leading craftspeople helping to promote the once-lost tradition of bentwood hat making. Come learn more about the cultural and historical significance of this intricate craft!
Free!

Three Amazing Rivers of the Central Yukon Watershed with Refuge Manager David Zabriskie

Friends Membership Meeting
This event was held on Tuesday, March 19, 5-6 pm AKDT

Homer – Watch Party at Alaska Maritime Refuge Visitor Center, 95 Sterling Hwy.
Soldotna – Watch Party at Kenai Refuge Visitor Center on Ski Hill Road
Anchorage– Watch Party at BP Energy Center, Spruce/Willow Room, 1014 Energy Ct.

Three wildlife-rich refuges along the central Yukon River are named after the rivers that define them – Koyukuk, Innoko and Nowitna. Ecologically speaking, these rivers are the heart and lifeblood of the three National Wildlife Refuges. They are also the primary access to the refuges for the people of the central Yukon and beyond. Refuge Manager David Zabriskie who is the manager for all three refuges, will share with us his work to protect the Nowitna River, a National Wild and Scenic River, and more broadly the role all three of these rivers play in the lives of the wildlife and the people of the Central Yukon River Watershed. For a preview of this beautiful river David will be sharing with you, check out this two minute video.

The Nowitna River with the Kokrine Hills in the background. pc: USFWS

David Zabriskie’s Bio: After working as a U.S. Navy Aviation Electronics Technician for four years, David pursued his passion for conservation, completing a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in wildlife/forestry and began his Fish and Wildlife Service career through the Student Career Experience Program at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama. From there, he gained valuable experience working in the diverse landscapes of Mississippi, remote Pacific Islands, Tennessee, Alaska, and Arizona before returning to Alaska to work in Galena as the Deputy Manager and now Refuge Manager.

David Zabriskie on the Selawik Refuge

David’s travels have provided him with the opportunity to work with diverse partners and communities across the country on amazing rivers like the Tennessee River and Colorado River. He has also led the Alaska Region’s first Comprehensive River Management Plan for the Nowitna Wild and Scenic River. In his spare time, David’s interests in photography and herpetology often lead him to remote locations around the planet for new discoveries.

March Advocacy Report

by Caroline Brower, Vice President for Advocacy

Fish and Wildlife Service Funding Passed

Fish and Wildlife Service Funding Passed and Proposed Rule: National Wildlife Refuge System; Biological Integrity, Diversity, and Environmental Health. Two big things regarding refuges have hit this week- news regarding federal funding for all refuges across the country, and our advocacy for a proposed rule change strengthening protections for biological integrity and diversity in the refuge system.

Five months into the fiscal year, Congress finally passed a budget for the Department of the Interior last Friday night, and it was signed into law by the President on Saturday. This bill was not, however, great news for refuges. Friends has lobbied for a significant budget increase for the Refuge System, for a near tripling of the current, ridiculously low budget that barely allows refuges to keep staff on the ground, never mind do the ground-breaking biological and scientific wildlife work the Refuge System is known for.

While funding for Alaska’s 16 refuges is still to be determined, we know that the National Wildlife Refuge System as a whole took a 14.5 million dollar cut, down about 2% from the previous year budget. This cut, combined with a 5.5% employee pay increase, stresses an already underfunded system of public lands. This dramatically underfunded system is at risk of being unable to accomplish its critical conservation mission.

Sitting at just above $500 million in annual funding, Congress expects these monies to cover 570 units of the Refuge System across 95 million acres of land and 750 million acres of ocean. 80 million of the land acres are in Alaska, yet staffing and project shortages mean there are so few biologists and pilots that on-refuge research and wildlife surveys frequently do not happen.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently directed its staff to do a study of all refuge acres and come up with a realistic number for how much is actually needed to operate the Refuge System in a way that would maintain healthy lands and waters, robust wildlife populations, and recreational access for people. That number was $1.5 billion, triple the current funding.

Senator Lisa Murkowski is the Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Interior lands. She has the ability to assert her desire to see Alaska’s refuge lands funded. Her Anchorage office is (907) 271-3735. Friends are sure that if enough people call her office and ask for increased funding for Alaska’s refuges, she will follow through.

Proposed Rule: National Wildlife Refuge System; Biological Integrity, Diversity, and Environmental Health

Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges submitted comments in collaboration with other Alaska-based conservation groups in support of this proposed rule. We expressed our support for (1) policy updates to better protect wildlife species threatened by climate change, (2) a prohibition on predator control on refuges in Alaska and nationwide, and (3) a requirement for refuges to cooperate with and coordinate with tribal entities and local communities. You can read the entirety of our comments in the attached letter.

Do You Want to Visit a Refuge?! Let’s go to the Aleutians

Do You Want to See the Aleutians? by Poppy Benson, Vice President for Outreach

February 2024’s presentation on the Aleut prehistory of the Aleutian Islands, might get you thinking, I want to go there. So how? Yes, the Aleutians are remote and stormy with minimal transportation but it is possible to visit at least a part of this fabulous volcanic island chain of seabirds and seals, wild flowers and wind, ancient ways and WWII history. Nearly all of the Aleutians are in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

Although there were hundreds of villages precontact there are only five now: Akutan, Unalaska, Nikolski, Atka and Adak, there are only 5 now. Each has some form of commercial air transportation, but it may not be often and can be unreliable due to weather. Dutch Harbor/Unalaska and Adak are the easiest to access.

Unalaska has it all: birds, whales, fish, culture, history, hiking, kayaking, volcanoes and fine accommodations. The ferry Tustumena makes a monthly 3 day trip from Homer stopping for a full day in Kodiak with a chance to visit the Kodiak Refuge and an afternoon in Cold Bay where Izembek Refuge staff may take you on a tour of refuge lands. Other village stops in Chignik Bay, Sand Point, King Cove and False Pass are brief but memorable.

Unalaska is famous with birders as the easiest place to see the whiskered auklet, a bird found only in the Aleutians and adjacent Russian islands.

Give yourself time to experience Unalaska by staying a few days and flying back. A fine hotel, the Grand Aleutian, other lodging options and numerous restaurants make visiting comfortable. Local guides can take you birding or to WWII sites. Culture and history abound here with a historic Russian Orthodox Church, the Museum of the Aleutians, and the World War II Historic Site and Museum. Most of the island is in the refuge.

Adak, 450 miles farther out the chain, is a very different experience. Once a military base that was home to over 5000, only about 170 live there now. The abandoned, crumbling base would make a good set for a zombie movie. But the island boasts beaches, a lagoon packed with otters and Emperor geese, hiking trails, rare birds blown in from Asia, fishing and caribou and ptarmigan hunting. Constructed almost overnight during WWII, Adak was an important base right up to the 1990s. Alaska Air flies twice a week and mileage tickets can be cheap. Former military housing, now privately owned, can be rented but bring your food as shopping is minimal. The Alaska Maritime Refuge has a satellite office with a few exhibits. Bird companies lead tours to Adak for the fall and spring migration.

Dutch Harbor, Unalaska’s port, is the number one fishing port in the US and the burly fishing fleet, popularized in the reality show Deadliest Catch, adds a unique element.

The small villages of Akutan, Nikolski and Atka are much harder to visit. Grant Aviation flies but weather can shut them down for days on end. Nikolski has a small lodge but in the other villages you need to speak to the village corporation to find out about housing. This would be quite an experience for the self-sufficient and culturally aware person.

To visit any of the other 70 plus islands in the chain you will have to find a boat. In some years, a cruise ship will pass through the chain visiting uninhabited islands. Search online because no company does it regularly. Attu, the holy grail of birding and WWII history, is nearly impossible to get to since the Coast Guard left in 2010 leaving the island uninhabited with no maintenance on the runway. Attu, the last island in the chain, was occupied by the Japanese and the site of a major WWII battle. A fascinating place but I just don’t think you can get there now. But visit what you can of this wildlife refuge so unique in wildlife, land forms and history.

February Advocacy Report

by Caroline Brower, Vice President for Advocacy

For the last few months, we’ve outlined the funding challenges facing wildlife refuges in Alaska. Congress is now four full months into the new fiscal year (FY2024 runs October 1, 2023-September 30, 2024) and has yet to pass a full-year funding bill. The chaos caused by a failure to ensure adequate and timely funding to government agencies means that refuges and regional offices don’t know if they will be able to afford to fill vacant positions or complete refuge projects.

Some deputy positions at refuges across the state have been filled recently, including deputy managers at Koyukuk, Alaska Peninsula, Arctic, and Selawik National Wildlife Refuges, but many biology, visitor services, and other positions remain vacant. Congress needs to act soon to avoid a government shutdown in March.

On a local refuge front, news is quiet. Refuge staff are working through a supplemental environmental impact statement at Izembek Refuge, and we don’t expect to see anything from that plan until the end of the year. We are watching a lawsuit filed by the Alaska Industrial and Development Export Authority (AIDEA) to challenge the dismissal of their leases in the Arctic Refuge. We will be in touch with Friends members in the next month or two when that suit starts moving through the courts.

And finally, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has hired Karlin Itchoak, formerly with The Wilderness Society, as the new Chief of Refuges in Alaska. This position supervises all the refuge managers in Alaska. We look forward to working with Karlin as he gets settled into his new role this week!

Thank you for your advocacy and your support for all of Alaska’s wildlife refuges!

What We Think We Know: The Deep Past of the Ancient Unangan Aleut

Tuesday, February 20, 2024 5-6 pm AKT
With Archeologist and Author Debra Corbett

Friends Membership Meeting, ALL welcome.
The Zoom Recording of this event can be viewed below.

We ALL thank you so much Debbie for sharing your experience and knowledge with ALL of us. It was great!

Since then, exploring and trying to understand the ancient human history of these islands has been an all-consuming passion. Along the way I worked with amazing people and experienced transcendently beautiful land and seascapes. The past and old ways lie close to the surface if you listen. Ever so gradually we learned about the people, the culture and the rich history tied to this place. I will talk about my experiences working in the islands for 30 years and hit some of the highlights of our research.

Debbie Corbett photographing a site on Hawadax in 2001. pc WAAPP

For 9000 years people flourished in the Aleutian Archipelago, a 1000-mile chain of islands stretching from mainland America nearly to Asia. The rich marine environment supported 40,000 people before the coming of the Russians compared to a scant 8000 today. In spite of this long human history and complex and interesting social organizations of the ancient Unangax, very little archeological work was done in the Aleutians perhaps because of the remoteness or the weather. Debbie’s work was pioneering, and she is considered the foremost Aleutian archaeologist today. Most all of the Aleutians are in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

Debbie’s hot-off-the-presses book that she coauthored with Diane Hanson, Culture and Archaeology of the Ancestral Unangax/Aleut of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, will be available for purchase and signing at the talk in Homer. The book is available online from multiple sources.

Biography by Debra Corbett

At age seven I decided I would be an archaeologist; no other option ever entered my mind. I got my BA at the University of Arizona, and worked for a few years in Idaho and Arizona before heading north in 1983, to work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The job was investigating historic sites claimed by the newly created Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Native Corporations.

That summer BIA sent two crews to Adak Island. Since I had actually been in a small boat, I was picked for one of the crews. Of the 12 of us, ONE, not me, knew anything about the Aleutians and none of us had been there before. My crew spent three months in a rat-infested cabin with an inflatable boat, in the Bay of Islands one of the most beautiful spots on earth. I was completely enmeshed in the magic of the islands.

I worked for the BIA until 1989 then went on to get an MA in Fairbanks, studying–you guessed it–the Aleutian Islands. One day my advisor approached me with a phone number on a scrap of paper and said “This crazy bird biologist in Kansas wants to find an Aleutian archaeologist. Call him!” and my future was set. After completing my degree, I went to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), largely because the agency manages the islands as part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Unusual for any agency, FWS allowed me to participate in a multi-year research project with the crazy biologist, Dr. Douglas Causey, and some of his colleagues. From 1997-2003 we were the Western Aleutians Archaeological and Paleobiological Project (WAAPP). Along the way we experienced the best and the worst the Aleutians have to offer, shipwreck, injury, laughter, frustration, fear, transcendent joy, and unbelievable archaeology.

In December 2012 I discovered I was eligible for retirement and left the best job in the world so I could spend more time doing research and writing on the prehistory of the Aleutian Islands. Long time friend and colleague Diane Hanson here at University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) talked me into writing a book on the prehistory of the Aleutians Islands. We finished that book and here I am, to tell you all about 30 years in the Best Place in Alaska.

A Night at the Museum

by Poppy Benson, Vice President for Outreach

“Whoever thought of this was a genius,” said Meg Parsons about the pairing of artists and conservation groups at the Art and Conservation Night at the Anchorage Museum on December 13. The public event, which also featured speakers and refreshments, was part of the annual Alaska Bird Conference.
Meg said it was a great success for Friends in terms of numbers of people talked to, enthusiasm, new members recruited (about 6), and publicity for the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. Meg said there was “LOTS of interest in the Festival,” which Friends cosponsors with the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Marie said, “I get more out of being there than I put into it. Love volunteering for Friends.” Marie said people wanted to support us and it was fun talking to the other conservation groups and the artists. The Fish and Wildlife Service also had a booth educating on the dangers of lead shot for loons

Exploring the role of art in bird conservation was a goal for the evening. The art was tempting, and this beautiful raven went home with Marie. pc: Marie McConnell

Can You Help Move Friends Forward?

By Poppy Benson
Vice President for Outreach

We just finished out a great year of volunteering, educating, and advocating for refuges. But it takes a lot of us volunteering to run Friends so that we can create opportunities for you and offer real help for the refuges. We need YOU to help make it all happen for 2024.

Our biggest immediate need is a Treasurer as Jason Sodergren is stepping down from the Board after 16 dedicated years. Fiduciary responsibility is a key Board function, and this position is part of the executive committee. Anybody out there with a love of refuges and a comfort level with budgets? And no, you don’t have to stay 16 years! A two-year commitment is all we ask.

We also need three new Board members of which the Treasurer would be one to bring us to 11. With 16 refuges and 76 million acres we have a lot to keep track of. We need a Board big enough to balance this work load. Our only employee, Melanie Dufour, has most of her time allocated to running the Shorebird Festival which means we are a working Board. The advantage of being on our Board? We know what’s going on with monthly briefings from Refuge Managers and other staff. We get to know Refuge staff, the issues and the land. We know our refuges are worthy of our time. We know we are doing a good thing in lending our talents to help carry out our mission of educate, support and advocate for Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges.

Meet our newest refuge liaison: Karyn Murphy for the Alaska Maritime Refuge. Karyn writes, “Living on Kachemak Bay, I have been a naturalist guide, local scientist-in-residence and an artist incorporating the natural elements of the coast into my creations. Because of this, the Maritime Refuge has always been close to my heart and I am thrilled to become more involved in representing this amazing area and the people doing research.”

We also need refuge liaisons for Izembek and Selawik refuges. Izembek is so important and so isolated. A friendly voice checking in with them and carrying their needs to the Board will be much appreciated by the refuge. The same with Selawik. They have a fun staff but Friends has not been very responsive to them because we just don’t have “A Person” watching out for them. A liaison checks in with “their” refuge once a month and prepares a brief report on what is going on with them and any needs they have. A liaison is the bridge between a refuge and the Board.

Want to serve on a committee? Have communication skills? We need a communications committee to work on the newsletter and other communication methods. This would be a brand-new committee. The outreach committee could use somebody in Kodiak or Bethel or an additional member to help Pam Seiser in Fairbanks or Meg Parsons in Anchorage. Both our finance and advocacy committees could use another member or two, and we don’t even have a fundraising/grant committee and need one. Last year the refuges asked us for $50,000, and we don’t have that kind of money. Yet we want to start a scholarship for Native youth and pay for interns on understaffed refuges and . . . . .and. . .

We are a fun and very dedicated bunch dealing with the best of Alaska. Join us! Contact us .

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Fish and Wildlife Service Funding Passed

By Poppy BensonVice President for Outreach

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By Poppy Benson
Vice President for Outreach