In the largest conservation gift ever in Alaska, on August 30, 1999, The Conservation Fund donated 8,496 acres of land to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for addition to the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. This donation was made possible by a gift from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund. The donated lands, located at Morzhovoi Bay, round out the western boundary of the Izembek Refuge.
"This land donation from the Goldman Fund will be an important addition to the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director, Dave Allen. "Wetlands are an important habitat in Alaska, and this Refuge is a large marine lagoon complex, which is extremely valuable to certain wildlife species."
The lagoons, bays and marshes of Izembek, recognized as wetlands of international importance, play a critical role in maintaining healthy populations of several species of waterfowl. The entire population of Pacific flyway brant, as well as emperor geese and a significant portion of the worlds population of Stellers eider, rely on the abundance of nutrient-rich foods at Izembek. Resident tundra swans, numerous species of ducks, and more than 20 species of shorebirds forage on the Refuge.
The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund was assisted in the transaction by The Conservation Fund, a national non-profit conservation organization. The Nature Conservancy of Alaska and the Alaska Office of the National Audubon Society were partners in the project.
"The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge gained national attention in 1998 because of controversial plans to build a road through a designated wilderness area wilderness area
Wilderness areas are places untamed by humans. The Wilderness Act of 1964 allows Congress to designate wilderness areas for protection to ensure that America's pristine wild lands will not disappear. Wilderness areas can be part of national wildlife refuges, national parks, national forests or public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Learn more about wilderness area ," said John Turner, President of the Conservation Fund. "Because of the international significance of these wetlands to migratory birds, we wanted to do something positive at Izembek."
The only collection of federal lands devoted specifically to wildlife conservation, the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System is a network of diverse and strategically located habitats. More than 500 national wildlife refuges and thousands of waterfowl production areas across the United States and U.S. territories teem with millions of migratory birds, serve as havens for endangered species, support premier fisheries, and host a tremendous array of other plants and animals. The Refuge System also comprises more than 20 million acres of Wilderness Areas. Nearly 35 million people visit Refuge System sites each year to enjoy hundreds of recreational and educational programs. Alaskas refuges comprise 85 percent of the total acreage of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the National Wildlife Refuge System and operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fish and wildlife management 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.
