"On a day like this, I can’t imagine anything better that might happen in a person’s life than for them to start paying attention to birds - to become aware of this magical world that exists all around us, unnoticed by many but totally captivating for those who know its secrets."

- Ken Kaufman, author and renowned bird expert

Immerse yourself in that magical world at the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, May 6 - 10 in Homer, Alaska.  American Golden Plover on Arctic coastal plain nesting grounds.  PC Lisa Hupp.USFWS

• Homer – Aaron Lang in person at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, 95 Sterling Hwy.  Reception Follows Talk
• Soldotna – Watch Party at Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, Ski Hill Road.
• Anchorage – Watch Party at REI’s Community Room, 500 E. Northern Lights
• Kodiak – Watch Party at Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, 402 Center St.
• Zoom – Link to be posted HERE

From wilderness rivers rushing through the tundra of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to seabird rich islands of the Alaska Maritime Refuge, Aaron Lang has birded about half of Alaska’s 16 national wildlife refuges over his 25 years of guiding birders in the state.  Join us as he shares stories of his favorite birding adventures, highlights rare species, and recounts memorable experiences in some of Alaska’s most iconic birding destinations.   Come find out about birding experiences you could have at the Pribilof Islands, Adak, and Nome in the Alaska Maritime Refuge; Kodiak, known for its abundance of winter birds; Tetlin Refuge along a major migratory flyway; the accessible forests, lakes, and mountains of Kenai Refuge; the extreme northern landscapes of the Arctic Refuge; and the Yukon Delta Refuge—the largest waterfowl and waterbird refuge in the nation.  Read more about this program and Aaron’s biography HERE.

Mark Your Calendars!

Our monthly meetings and newsletters (except for a mid summer issue) will take a summer pause so we can all go out and enjoy our refuges.  But we want to be sure you have these events on your calendar.  

• May 6 – 10 Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival
• July 4 – 4th of July parade with the Kenai Refuge, Soldotna
• July 10 – 12 Members Campout on the Kenai Refuge (more info via email)
• August 7 – Friends booth at Tanana Valley Fair, Fairbanks

Share your love for refuges at a Friends Outreach Table at events in Homer, Seward, Fairbanks or Soldotna. Find spring in Homer at the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival which is cosponsored by Friends. We need a lot of help with that 5 day event. Sign up here. PC Becky Hutchinson/Friends

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

By Poppy Benson, Outreach Chair

Want a deeper experience with refuges? Get to a remote refuge and work with staff? Then volunteer! Our refuge staffs have been decimated. They are being very creative in trying to keep things together but there is only so much you can do with half the staff. We can offer something positive in our help and support while having a great experience in some exotic locations.   Here’s a sampler of volunteer opportunities. Find out the details and see all the projects (some are new since the last newsletter) on our volunteer web page here.

• Study Seabirds on the iconic Pribilof Islands for the Alaska Maritime Refuge.
• Share your knowledge of Alaska and refuges at the Alaska Peninsula/Becharof Interagency Visitor Center in King Salmon or the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center in Coldfoot. 
• Get your hands dirty fencing riverbanks or building small projects at Kenai and Alaska Maritime Refuges.
• Celebrate spring migration at the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival in Homer, May 6 - 10, co-sponsored by Friends and the Alaska Maritime Refuge. Sign up to help with Friends outreach here. We still need 16 more people.
• Spring clean a refuge in Kenai (May 16) or Alaska Maritime in Homer (April 18).
• Spread the good word about refuges at outreach booths in Seward, Soldotna, Fairbanks 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.

April 2026 Advocacy Report

By Nancy Lord, Advocacy Committee Chair

Bar-tailed Godwits returning to nest on the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.  PC Mark Lindberg/USFWS 

The many threats to Alaska’s national wildlife refuges continue—roads, regulation changes, oil and gas leasing, loss of staff, etc. Here in Alaska the massive Alaska Peninsula and Becharof combined refuges, with their headquarters and visitor services in Dillingham, now have only 6 employees, down from 15 and including no maintenance workers. At the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, the lead biologist is also the acting manager; there once were two assistant managers in addition to the refuge manager, and now there are none.  There are only 6 managers for the 16 refuges, and the hiring freeze is well into its second year.

This month the Fish and Wildlife Service will be finishing a report recommending “efficiencies” for the refuge system. Our Friends group has commented through two rounds of input and will be meeting this Thursday with the DC based Fish & Wildlife staffer tasked with preparing the “efficiencies” report.  We are hoping for the best.

Now, through the appropriations process, we face a renewed, amplified threat. 

On April 2 the President introduced his budget request for next year. For the national wildlife refuge system he proposes a 21% decrease from the current year, or a cut of another $105 million along with staff reductions and program eliminations. His proposed budget is for $417 million for all 573 refuges in the country totaling 95 million acres of land and 760 million acres of marine waters and lands.  If the refuge system was funded at the 2010 level and adjusted for inflation, its budget would be, in contrast, $761 million.

Last year Congress rejected the Administration’s extreme cuts and funded the refuge system at an amount similar to the year before. Much credit goes to Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for the Department of Interior.

Here we go again!

House and Senate members need to hear from you, whether you’re from Alaska or anywhere else! Please call, email, or write your members of Congress (your House member and your two Senators.)  Let them know that you’re a constituent and ask that the president’s budget for refuges be rejected and that funding be increased over the current year to allow refuges to conduct surveys, maintain infrastructure and public services, and protect the lands and wildlife they’re responsible for and that benefit all Americans.

Friends is doing what we can to help fill gaps. We raised and provided a record amount ($100,000) to fund Alaska refuge projects this year.  We’re lining up volunteers to staff visitors’ centers and to help with bird surveys and small maintenance projects. Friends members are eligible to apply. See our volunteer webpage. But our efforts can’t make up for the declines in budget and staffing.  We need to demand our refuges be adequately funded.  

Alaska’s Congressional delegation’s contact information is HERE.  If you live in another state you can call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be connected to your representatives or get their email addresses from congress.gov.

Celebrating 25 years of Schantz Scholars at the Shorebird Festival

By Mike Schantz, Schantz Brothers Foundation

Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges supports Alaska’s refuges in many ways but one of the most visible is co-sponsoring the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival with the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.  This year will be the 25th year the Schantz Brothers Foundation has been a part of the festival which will take place in Homer, May 6-10.

Founded in memory of twin brothers Tim and Tom Schantz - Alaskans who loved sharing their passion for birds - the Foundation supports young birders in pursuing that same enthusiasm. Each year, a college-aged birder is awarded a trip to the festival, to assist as a viewing station guide and present on a topic of their choice as well as experiencing the birds and all the festival has to offer.  They gain professional and birding experience while contributing to the fun and learning of the festival.

Meet This Year’s Scholar: Seth Breeding

This year’s recipient, Seth Breeding, developed his love for birds growing up in rural Iowa watching his backyard feeder and exploring local wetlands. His passion has since taken him across the country from the Everglades to Arizona’s mountains to experience other wild places and the birds that inhabit them.  

His birding experiences brought him to the realization that it is important to protect and restore critical habitat.  Seth has restored nesting and migrating habitat through prairie burns and timber management, supporting species like Bobolinks, Dickcissels, and migrating warblers. A graduate of Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Conservation and Ecology, he plans to pursue a career in bird research, utilizing his knowledge of radio telemetry, banding, and tracking migration patterns.

Seth’s presentation for the festival, Iowa Land Management for Birds, will be on Saturday, May 9, at 1 p.m. at the Alaska Maritime Refuge Visitor Center.  He will focus on his experience with habitat restoration.  We hope to see you there!

To learn more about Seth or the Schantz Brothers Foundation, visit our website.

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta’s mosaic of water and land habitats support one of the largest aggregations of waterbirds in the world.

Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge in the Spotlight

By John Morton, Biologist and Friends Member

Did you know….

that 7 million shorebirds, 1 million ducks, half a million geese, 40,000 loons, 40,000 grebes, 100,000 swans and 30,000 cranes breed on the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge? Or that the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta formed by Alaska’s two largest rivers – the Yukon and the Kuskokwim - is the largest single intertidal wetland in North America, encompassing 70–80% of all coastal wetlands in Alaska? Or that as the second largest National Wildlife Refuge, it is also home to over 25,000 people, mostly Yup'ik but also Cup’ik and Deg Xit'an, who live in 43 communities within its boundaries? Mind-blowing numbers!

Within the refuge, a narrow strip along the Bering Sea between Nelson Island and the Askinuk Mountains hosts the primary nesting grounds for four goose species. Here breed the entire Alaskan populations of Emperor and Taverner's Cackling Geese, and 60% of Pacific Brant and 80% of the Greater White‐fronted Goose populations. In some summers, a third of the continent's Northern Pintails are on the refuge. Up to 1 million seabirds nest on Nunivak Island’s southern coastal cliffs, also part of the refuge, composed mostly of Common Murres, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Pelagic Cormorants, Horned Puffins, and Glaucous-winged Gulls, but also Parakeet and Crested Auklets.

Twenty-one shorebird species breed on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta including most of North America’s Pacific Golden-Plovers, Black Turnstones, Western Sandpipers, and subspecies of Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, and Dunlin. Three federally-listed Threatened and Endangered bird species also nest here: Eskimo Curlew (likely extinct), Spectacled Eider, and Steller’s Eider.

Is it any wonder that almost 6 million acres of the 19.2-million-acre Yukon Delta Refuge is designated within the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network? The refuge is also part of two globally Important Birds Areas (IBA) recognized by BirdLife International — the Central Yukon-Kuskokwim IBA and Yukon River Delta IBA.

But the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is imperiled by rapid climate change, a driver that simply doesn’t respect the jurisdictional boundaries of a National Wildlife Refuge. Much of the delta is so flat and close to sea level that extreme storm surges already push saltwater 20 miles inland! As much as 70% of the delta is highly likely to experience transformative ecosystem shifts by the end of this century caused by salinization, thermokarst development, nearshore inundation, and tundra shrubification (expansion of shrubs). In a 2018 journal article, Torre Jorgenson and his coauthors wrote “we believe the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is the most vulnerable region in the Arctic to climate warming.” Indeed, 10 of 18 Yup'ik villages on the outer delta already experience severe flooding, erosion, and permafrost thaw and are facing relocation to higher ground.

But what of the birds?

Snacks, rain gear, and pink binoculars.  What more would a fledgling birder want?  pc. Carla Stanley 

Got Kids? Love Birds?

The Shorebird Festival Has You Covered

Although the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, May 6 – 10 in Homer, is noted for nationally known birders like this year’s keynoter Alvaro Jaramillo, talks and a few events in bars, all great birders start young. The Shorebird Festival has been providing for families for at least 20 years with the Junior Birder program where separate kid friendly activities and an activity book will lead your fledgling to the coveted Junior Birder Badge with a charming award ceremony on Sunday of the festival. But teens are another story and for several years now the festival has offered a Teen Birder program where teens have their own special events and a chance to meet and hang out with like-minded peers. Both the Junior Birder and Teen Birder programs have their own section in the Festival Program making it easy to plan your family’s festival experience. So, bring the whole family. Never birded? No problem. There will be many volunteers, speakers, and refuge staff to help you get started. Binoculars are available for loan, and all birding events will have spotting scopes. Festival registration opened March 20 so make your plans now and register as soon as possible before more events sell out. Hope to see you and your fledglings at the festival!

Be Like Laura. Be Like Carol.

Visitor Centers Need our Help

Laura Stupi and Carol Harding both had a great time working separate stints at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center this spring. Our volunteers are getting the Kodiak Refuge through that awkward shoulder season before seasonal employees can be hired but visitors and events still happen taxing diminished refuge staffs.  

Photo above: Laura Stupi checking out one of her favorite Kodiak Refuge Visitor Center exhibits.

Carol from Homer came next and wrote, “ I really enjoy volunteering for refuges, as it takes me to places that I otherwise might not get to, gets me out of my routine, exposes me to new experiences, teaches me new skills, and gives me the opportunity to meet and chat with the locals, families, visitors, and other volunteers.  I also appreciated learning about the Kodiak Refuge, including its natural and cultural history and having the opportunity to explore the Island. There is so much to experience in Kodiak: the restaurants and cafes, visiting the beautiful Alutiiq and Kodiak History Museums, walking the harbor and looking at all the working fishing boats, driving the road system and getting spectacular views of the rocky shoreline, trail hiking, and walking the many remote and undeveloped beaches. I would highly recommend volunteering at the Kodiak Refuge, as it is a great way to experience an Alaskan community firsthand and work with professional refuge staff. I can’t wait to return.”

Carol Harding (left) said the highlight of her time in Kodiak was a day birding with local Friends member and birding expert Stacy Studebaker (right), identifying 39 species of birds, including hundreds of Emperor Geese, along with rare Eurasian Widgeons and Steller’s Eiders.

According to visitor center manager Isabel Justinianoirarte they were both wonderful help and a great presence in the visitor center.  She said, "I was just grateful they could dedicate that much time.  It really made a difference." Dave and Mindy of Anchorage are headed to Kodiak today to be followed by Barbara of Florida.  It is possible Kodiak may need volunteers for the fall shoulder season so stay tuned.

You could have a rewarding experience like this. Visitor Center help is needed everywhere.  How about Coldfoot Interagency Visitor Center for the Arctic Refuge at the base of the Brooks Range?  They are particularly looking for long term help but could probably take a few more applicants for shorter (two weeks) stints.  Or Alaska Peninsula in King Salmon that needs help with their visitor center and an enticing schedule of summer events particularly in later summer.  Barbara Ryan of Palm Beach had so much fun at King Salmon with Alaska Peninsula last year that her brother decided to apply this year.  Read about her experience here. All remote assignments offer housing and Alaska Peninsula offers airfare from Anchorage. Check the details and apply online on our current opportunities’ webpage. If you live near a refuge visitor center in Soldotna, Kodiak, Bethel or Homer, they undoubtedly could use your help. Go in and talk to them and see what you can do.

Don't forget your online exclusive Shorebird Festival Merch!

Order now to receive in time to wear it to the festival!

What's Happening On Our Refuges

Alaska Maritime Refuge, Homer

Check the Activity Calendar HERE

• April 18, 9:30 AM-12PM, Beluga Slough Cleanup
• April 20, 5PM Birding Alaska's Wildlife Refuges presented by Aaron Lang, in person, with a reception to follow.
• April 29, 6 - 7 PM, Birding 101
• April 30, 10-11AM or 12-1PM Pre-K Puffins 
• May 1, 5 - 7PM, Shorebird Activity
• May 6 - 10, Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival

Visitor Center Hours:

Tuesday - Saturday 12PM - 4PM (Hours will change during Festival)

(907) 235-6546

Kenai Refuge, Soldotna

• April 16, 9AM or 10:30 AM PEEPS preschool program on swans amd geese
• April 20, 5 PM watch party for Birding Alaska's Wildlife Refuges presented by Aaron Lang, Friends monthly meeting.
• May 2 & 3  Refuge booth at Soldotna Sports & Recreaton Show; volunteer!
• May 16 Friends Refuge Cleanup,  Volunteer!

The refuge is hiring teens for Youth Conservation Corps. 8 weeks from June 8 to July 31. Applications accepted now until April 24. Pick up flyers and applications at the refuge.

Contact the refuge about summer camps for kids.

Visitor Center Hours:

Wed- Sat 10AM - 4PM; Summer hours start May 12;  7 days a week 9 - 5

(907) 262-7021

Kodiak Refuge, Kodiak

• April 20, 5 PM, a watch party for Birding Alaska's Wildlife Refuges presented by Aaron Lang, Friends monthly meeting
• May 1, 5-7 PM First Friday Art Walk celebrating World Migratory Bird Day featuring  Kodiak artist, author and Friends member, Stacy Studebaker

Visitor Center Hours:

Tuesday - Saturday 12PM - 4PM

(907) 308-3966

April 14, 2026