The center, scheduled for completion in 2004, will bring to Homer a major new attraction that will include: a visitor center with an auditorium, 5,000 square feet of exhibits, environmental education classrooms, and a trail system. "This visitor center will be the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services largest in Alaska, and the only one dedicated to marine ecosystems," said David B. Allen, the Services Alaska Regional Director. "It will bring this remote refuge and its unique wildlife to the people.
The center will also provide research and education laboratory facilities for the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR). Headquarters for both the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge will also be located there. Both agencies currently rent several buildings in Homer to house their visitor, education, research and administrative programs. Kachemak Bay NERR Director Glenn Seaman said, "This facility represents an unprecedented collaboration among federal, state and community interests to focus scientific research and education on coastal ecosystems in the northern oceans and estuaries.
The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 4.4 million acres of remote offshore islands and rocks around most of Alaskas coastline. More than 40 million nesting seabirds, marine mammals including the endangered Steller sea lion, volcanoes, and World War II sites are some of the special values of this refuge.
Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, dedicated in 1998 and managed by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, is Alaskas only unit in the Reserve System which is a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) program. The reserves goals are to develop and implement educational and research programs to enhance understanding of the Kachemak Bay estuary and provide a basis for more informed coastal resource decisions. Founded as part of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, the NERR System was established to provide opportunities for long-term estuarine research, monitoring, education and interpretation. It creates a nationwide system of estuary reserves representing each coastal biogeographic region in the United States. The NERRs are managed via a joint federal-state cooperative relationship. The NOAA coordinates the overall system of reserves and assists with funding. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will administer and implement NERR research and educational initiatives in Kachemak Bay.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 520 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
For more information contact Poppy Benson (FWS) at the refuge at (907) 235-6546 or Coowe Moss (NERR) at the reserve at (907) 235-4799.
Media Advisory: An artists rendering of the center. Press kits will be available at the groundbreaking ceremony. Please RSVP to Karen Boylan or Poppy Benson if you plan to attend. You can subscribe to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska region listserver, to have our press releases sent to your e-mail address automatically by sending an e-mail message to: listserver@www.fws.gov">. Please indicate that you would like to subscribe to FWS-Alaska news and give your name in the body of the message.
