Crossing
Audubon
Society
 | Bringing Home Alaska Pat Sziber |
| Washington Crossing Audubon Society |
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For many people who love nature, a trip to Alaska represents a highlight, if not the crowning glory, of their travel experiences. Often seen as America's last outpost of wild, pristine beauty Alaska inspires visitors to return again and again to experience her awesome beauty. It is a land of almost unimaginable scale, of soaring peaks, sweeping landscapes, mighty rivers and magnificent assemblages of wildlife. It is so vast, so untrammeled that it seems eternal.
In fact, Alaska's national wildlife refuges represent the most remarkable vestiges of America's wilderness and wildlife heritage. Under federal law, more than 76 million acres of Alaska are protected as national wildlife refuges, accounting for more than 83% of the nation's wildlife refuge lands. The vastness and ecological diversity of these refuges is difficult to imagine and impossible to replace. They provide essential habitat to millions of animals and protect valuable wetlands. Each of the 16 Alaskan refuges is home to a unique assortment of plant and animal life.
But change is in the Arctic wind and now the integrity of Alaska's national wildlife refuges is threatened, compromising the only habitats of dozens of animal species. These threats come in the form of enhanced recreational use, incompatible development on adjacent lands, expanded logging and road building in the Kenai Refuge, habitat of the small and isolated Kenai brown bear population. There is also a proposed road which would go right up to the Izembek Refuge's wetlands, critical habitat for hundreds of thousands of migratory waterfowl, including the Pacific black brant population. Increased marine transport threatens ecological disaster for nesting seabird colonies in the thousand-mile long Alaska Maritime Refuge. And in recent years there have been several attempts by the Alaska Congressional delegation to open up the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge to drilling by the oil industry. This area includes the most important calving area for the Porcupine River caribou herd, valuable denning sites for polar bears, and staging habitat for hundreds of thousands of snow geese. More dangerous legislation is expected in the current 106th Congress.
These and other threats require constant and energetic conservation efforts to ensure a viable future for Alaska's remarkable wildlife refuges. The natural resources and issues at stake in Alaska are of national and international significance and are central to Audubon's mission to conserve birds, other wildlife and their habitats.
Because protection of Alaska's wildlife refuges is so important to America's great natural legacy, National Audubon's Wildlife Refuge Campaign office has embarked on a new and ambitious program, "Bringing Home Alaska." On December 9th, sixteen WCAS officers and other activists attended the very first pilot program of this project, presented by Jen Schmidt of the Refuge Campaign office. Because arrangements for this event were made on very short notice, we were unable to get word out to our general membership, other than an announcement at our November program. New Jersey has been identified as one of the key states for rallying congressional support for protection of Alaska's refuges. In fact, the districts within our chapter area are particularly important. We were treated to a slide tour of the Alaskan refuges, images of their incredible scenery and splendid wildlife shot by famed photographer Art Wolfe. The purpose of the presentation was to inspire our activists to put a special effort into working on this campaign. Based on feedback from our chapter and one or two others, the program is being refined and sent to 50 key chapters nationwide. For our assignment, we agreed to meet with our U. S. Representatives, collect signatures on a petition, write to our newspapers, and spread the word among our members. The Representatives in our chapter area are Chris Smith (4th District), Rush Holt (12th District), and Bob Franks (7th District).
What you can do: Become a part of the "Bringing Home Alaska" team. An easy way is to collect a few petition signatures from family members and friends in your voting district. Or write a letter to the editor of your newspaper. Maybe you would like to meet with your U.S. Representative when he is in his home district. For something a bit different, you could host a "house party" to rally support among your friends and neighbors. We have the tools and fact sheets to assist you in doing any of the above. If you would like to help in any way, or would like a "Bringing Home Alaska" information packet, write to Pat Sziber at 19 Wildwood Way, Titusville, NJ 08560 or e-mail psziber@molbio.princeton.edu. Let's act now to save Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges.
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