Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge - History

History

The refuge was established on December 2, 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act (ANILCA) following designation as a national wildlife monument in 1978 by the then President Jimmy Carter. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 1983, the Fish and Wildlife Service undertook the responsibility to manage the Becharof Refuge, along with the Ugashik and Chignik units of the Becharof National Wildlife Refuge.

In 1989 the park area was affected by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill which devastated the Alaska Peninsula.

In an effort to determine species presence, distribution, habitat use, and migratory patterns, extensive studies have been conducted in the refuge. Biologists have studied extensively in the biologically rich Naknek River basin which provides an important habitat for thousands of ducks, geese and swans. From mid March through mid May, refuge biologists monitor waterfowl from established points from Naknek Lake to Kvichak Bay in Naknek. Biologists have been working in the area since 1992 to count waterfowl by species approximately four times a week.

Species common to the refuge include common merganser, common goldeneye, tundra swan, greater white-fronted goose, mallard, northern pintail, American and Eurasian wigeon, American green-winged teal, Canada goose, greater scaup, northern shoveler, red-breasted merganser, black scoter, and long-tailed duck. Working with Boreal Partners in Flight, the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP), and Earthwatch, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service undertook comprehensive landbird studies at Mother Goose Lake from 1994 through to 2001.

Between 1994 and 1999 over 110 Earthwatch volunteers used the scheme to educate themselves in bird biology. In conjunction with the National Audubon Society, the park has also hosted an annual Christmas Bird Count between December 14 and January 5 annually since 1986 to register birds in the corridor from the Kvichak Bay beach at Naknek to Lake Camp at the mouth of Naknek Lake. The refuge has sponsored a North American Migration Count on the second Saturday in May since 1998.