“We’ve had a 216 percent increase in our membership since our original group of 12 and it’s growing,” Carla Stanley of Homer said of the statewide membership. “We now have about 70 people, and more members from Homer than probably any other community in the state.”
The organization is part of a nationwide network, but was specifically formed to support Alaska’s 16 national wildlife refuges. David Raskin of Homer is the president. Stanley is the former vice president, but recently gave up those responsibilities to become the group’s education director.
“Part of the idea for forming was that budget constraints have been chipping away at the refuge management’s ability to complete the mission of protecting wildlife and habitat,” Stanley said.
One way the group supports refuges is by correcting misunderstandings.
“Many people believe that refuges are places where people are not allowed to go and do things, when, in fact, refuges preserve habitat and manage wildlife with the idea that this is a multi-use area. It’s good for fishing, duck hunting and general hunting, and there are areas protected that are delicate habitat,” Stanley said, citing the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge as a good example.
“They (Kenai’s refuge management) are trying to decide how to manage the Skilak Loop area,” she said. “It’s a gorgeous area that used to be open to all sorts of things, but they have made a decision to limit hunting so people with cameras and hikers could go anytime of year and not get shot. … By educating, we can let the public know that refuges are not something to fight, but to support, so that having wildlife for our children and safe habitat for wildlife that we want our children to enjoy whether for fishing or hunting will be there.”
Identifying and removing invasive plants kept Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges busy during the summer.
“We went to Izembek (National Wildlife Refuge) and Unalaska to fight Canada thistle, went to Tetlin (National Wildlife Refuge) and pulled white sweet clover, went to Kodiak and pulled orange hawkweed and on 80 miles of the Dalton Highway we completely removed white sweet clover,” Stanley said, recalling that more than once, curious individuals stopped to ask what they were doing.
White sweet clover is an invasive and rapidly moving plant that, unless removed, creates a thick wall along riverbanks.
“One of the parks people said you can walk along riverbeds and feel safe because you can see around the corner since native vegetation is fairly low, but if white sweet clover enters and forms a wall five feet tall, you can’t see,” Stanley said.
The state’s infestation of orange hawkweed began in Homer, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Also called “devil weed,” the roots of the plant secrete a chemical that prohibits the growth of other plants, Stanley said. In addition to choking out other vegetation, it has absolutely no nutritional value for wildlife.
Locally, Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges is researching four small and privately owned lots located on the wetlands behind the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center.
“The owners are asking above the appraised value for the lots. They want the (Alaska Maritime National Wildlife) refuge to buy them, and have threatened to build three-story condominiums on them,” Stanley said. “We’re doing our homework right now to find out what we can do.”
Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges has supported efforts by Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge and the community of Bettles to build a 200-yard nature trail. The group also is concerned about:
n The growing number of wild horses on Unalaska, estimated to be between 800-1,000;
n Renovating the Henry Swanson House in Unalaska to provide a headquarters for Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges;
n Developing an outdoor education program for young people.
Membership fees to join Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges cost $16 for seniors and students, $25 regular, $40 per couple, $100 for best friend or $1,000 for a lifetime membership. A Web site — www.alaskarefugefriends.org — should be available in the near future. The next meeting, a teleconference, will be held in October.
“We want this to be an Alaska organization,” Stanley said. “We will not let any outside interests affect our decisions. We have a small group that lives outside that are members, but they’re not pushing an agenda. They’re willing to work to get the funding to do the things within the state that we feel are important.”
McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.
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