Bogoslof Island is an intriguing place, and I feel fortunate to be on a team of biologists surveying its wildlife. Located 30 miles north of Umnak Island in the eastern Aleutians, Bogoslof is the tip of an undersea volcano that has risen, disappeared beneath the waves, and emerged again within recorded history, seldom appearing the same way twice.

A fiery explosion in 1796 on St. John's Day drew the startled attention of Russian merchants nearby, so they called it "Ostrov Ioanna Bogoslova" "Island of John the Theologian." Eruptions are more sporadic of late, and Bogoslof has shrunk by more than 65 percent in recent decades as the sea batters the cliffs, crushing boulders into pebbles and pebbles into sand with each great storm.

Despite its dynamic nature, Bogoslof has hosted a multitude of creatures from its earliest descriptions. Native Aleuts told of a rock in this vicinity that was one of the "great resorts" of the sea otters and sea lions. The 1899 Harriman Expedition noted great swarms of murres that "formed a dense cloud which cut off the light and made a roaring noise so loud that it drowned even the bellowing of the sea lions." While the numbers and variety of species have changed over time, the island still teems with life during an Aleutian summer.

Why these creatures choose to crowd onto this tiny volatile island in a vast sea is no mystery. It provides an irreplaceable haven to bear and raise young and rest after spending months at sea. For me, Bogoslof provides the best example of why I am passionate about working for the National Wildlife Refuge System. Bogoslof is but a small part of the 4.9 million-acre Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, just one of its thousands of islands and remote headlands that provides critical habitat for marine birds and mammals. The refuge lands are scattered from Forrester Island in Southeast Alaska to the Barren Islands near Homer, along the Alaska Peninsula to the end of the Aleutians, across the Bering Sea to the Pribilofs and St. Matthew and north to Cape Lisburne in the Chukchi Sea.

March 14 marks the 100th birthday of the National Wildlife Refuge System. President Theodore Roosevelt began the legacy of setting aside lands and waters dedicated to wildlife in 1903 with the creation of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida. Bogoslof itself was one of the early refuges designated in 1909 and later combined with other insular refuges and new lands to form the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Today, a national system of more than 540 refuges spans every state, including 16 in Alaska. America's best-kept secret, these special places provide the public with opportunities for fishing and hunting, wildlife observation, photography and environmental education.

So join us in celebrating 100 years of conservation on March 14 by taking a moment to recall a special place where you may have watched thousands of caribou tumbling through a river, a lone wolf trotting across a ridge, a flock of puffins winging over a bow wave, or a weary salmon forging upstream.

Here in Homer, this historical year will culminate with the opening of our new Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. The center will be a window that opens onto remote islands and headlands of your national wildlife refuge, protected for future generations to discover their own passion for, to set sail to, or to drop anchor on.

Anne Morkill has been enjoying the wildlife and wildlands of Alaska for 11 years. She is the deputy refuge manager of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, headquartered in Homer.