Area History
1945 to Present
1947
Caught
in the Middle Again
When the Ice Curtain of the Cold War drops between
Alaska and the Soviet Union, the refuge islands were again caught in the middle
of warring nations. The U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard all maintain
bases on refuge islands, some still active today. Nuclear bomb tests would soon
rock Amchitka Island and threaten Cape Thompson’s First People.
1949
Back
to Business
The end of World War II means getting back to the business
of managing the refuge. Bob Jones first arrived in the Aleutians as a serviceman
and becomes the refuge’s first resident manager, based in Cold Bay. Later
known as "Sea Otter" Jones for his efforts to recover the depleted sea
otter population, he also spearheads a program of removing foxes from the refuge
to restore native bird populations.
1950
Sea
Otters and Military Secrets
Amchitka Island’s sea otters are increasing
and offer the best hope for the future of a species nearly extinct 40 years ago.
Refuge Manager Bob Jones patrols Amchitka for poachers and finds secret military
activities instead, eventually leading to underground atomic testing in the next
decade. The refuge receives money to move some sea otters and Jones and associates
spend the winter learning how to do that.
1956
Support for
Refuges
The Fish and Wildlife Act establishes a comprehensive national
fish and wildlife policy and broadens the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s
ability to acquire and manage national wildlife refuges.
1958
Teller
and His Bomb
"We will change the earth’s surface to suit us,"
states the father of the hydrogen bomb, Edward Teller, upon announcing that his
proposal to use nuclear blasts for civilian benefit is given the "green light"
by the Atomic Energy Commission. The proposal – called Project Chariot –
is to detonate three nuclear bombs to blast a harbor out of the tundra at Cape
Thompson on lands that are now part of the refuge. This project is scrapped in
1962, but others are underway.
1959
Number 49 in ‘59
Alaska
achieves statehood. Some refuge lands and waters are eventually transferred to
state ownership under the Alaska Statehood Act.
1962
It’s
an Aleutian Goose!
Refuge Manager Jones discovers a remnant group
of about 300 Aleutian cackling geese on Buldir Island – after many thought
them extinct due to predation by foxes introduced for fur farming. Buldir was
too rugged and exposed for such enterprises to succeed, so this small species
of cackling goose survived there. Jones returned the next summer to capture goslings
for a captive breeding flock in the first step toward returning the geese to their
former abundance.
1964
Preserving the Wilderness
The
Wilderness Act creates a special designation for preserving the wild and untrammeled
character of lands where people can experience solitude and natural beauty without
the scars of development. Wilderness designation was later applied to many refuge
islands in 1970 and 1980, adding more than 2.5 million acres to the National Wilderness
Preservation System.
1965
Amchitka’s First Nuclear Blast
"Long
Shot" is the first of three underground nuclear tests exploded beneath Amchitka
Island by the Atomic Energy Commission. The eight kiloton blast is "like
a firecracker" compared to the later tests, but it still causes local damage
to nearby streams and tundra.
1969
Milrow - Nuclear Blast #2
Officials
detonate the second underground test "Milrow" under Amchitka Island.
At 1.2 megatons, it is 150 times more powerful than the first test.
1971
Cannikin
Bomb Rocks Amchitka Island
"Cannikin" is the third and final
nuclear test conducted under Amchitka Island. At five megatons—more than
four times larger than Milrow—it is the largest underground nuclear blast
in U.S. history.
1971
Native Land Claims Settled
The
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act resolves more than a century of land disputes
between Native tribes and the government. Several million acres of federal public
land are subsequently transferred to tribal ownership. This law also paves the
way for construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, slicing 800 miles down
the center of Alaska to transport North Slope oil to the Port of Valdez.
1972
Protecting
Marine Mammals
The Marine Mammal Protection Act authorizes regulations
to protect marine mammal species, several of which inhabit the refuge, including
Steller sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters, walruses, and polar bears. Only Alaska
Natives are permitted to carry on traditional subsistence hunting to gather meat
for food and hides and ivory for handicrafts.
1973
Geese Declared
Endangered
The Endangered Species Act authorizes an unprecedented course
of action to save species that are threatened or in danger of becoming extinct.
The Aleutian cackling goose (then known as the Aleutian Canada goose) is one of
the first species formally listed as Endangered.
1974
Marking
Geese to Discover Winter Home
Although endangered Aleutian cackling geese
are known to nest on Buldir Island, no one is certain where they fly when they
leave the island. Some think Japan. Biologists put bands on some of the nesting
geese in hopes of discovering where they spend the winter.
1975
Marked
Geese Reveal Their Secret
The first banded Aleutian cackling geese are
spotted – in northern California, offshore on a rocky island much like Buldir.
Counts of the geese in the area in spring reveal 790 birds. From this baseline,
the endangered species recovery team designs a long-term plan to rebuild the population
and eventually remove the goose from the Endangered Species List.
1976
We’re
in the Biosphere
The Aleutian Islands are named an International Biosphere
Reserve. These nature preserves form a world-wide network to promote the protection
of biological and cultural diversity balanced with sustainable economic development.
1980
The
Refuge as We Know It
Signed into law by President Carter, the Alaska National
Interest Lands Conservation Act represents the greatest designation of public
lands for conservation uses in U.S. history, adding some 54 million acres to the
National Wildlife Refuge System and several million more named as National Parks
and Forests.
The law forms the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
by combining 11 existing refuges and adding other lands, making it the world’s
largest seabird refuge. Totaling 4.9 million acres, the refuge spans a distance
equal to that from California to the Carolinas. The law directs the refuge to
conserve fish and wildlife, provide opportunities for traditional subsistence
activities, fulfill international treaties, ensure water quality and quantity,
and manage a national and international marine science research program.
1982-85
Buying
Bird Cliffs
The spectacular seabird cliffs on the Pribilof Islands of St.
Paul and St. George are purchased by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from the
local village corporations and added to the refuge. The red-legged kittiwake nests
here and three other places in the world – Buldir and Bogoslof islands in
this refuge and the Commander Islands of Russia.
1987
Sailing
for Science
The M/V Tiglax, a 121-foot (37 m) vessel commissioned
by the Alaska Maritime Refuge, begins its first season of work in the North Pacific
and Bering Sea. Today its captain and crew navigate some 20,000 miles (32,000
km) every year to visit hundreds of islands in support of refuge biologists and
other scientists working throughout the refuge.
1989
Oil Spill
Disaster
The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs aground in Prince William
Sound and pours 10.8 million gallons - or 125 Olympic-sized swimming pools
- of oil into the ocean.
This spill is the largest crude spill to date
in American waters and is widely considered the world’s worst in terms of
environmental damage. The spill’s destruction is far reaching, affecting
islands more than 150 miles (240 km) away. Oil is found on refuge beaches in the
Pyle and Chiswell islands near Seward, as well as on the Barren Islands near Homer.
Sea otters and murres are particularly hard hit.
Oil remains buried under
some beaches today, even after four summers of cleanup work and more than 15 years
of natural weathering. A more hopeful legacy of the spill is the formation of
the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, which distributes settlement
funds for research and monitoring on the refuge and other lands within the oil
spill region.
1990s
Species in Trouble
The Steller sea
lion is officially listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act and later
elevated to Endangered status as the population continues to plummet. Most of
the world’s Steller sea lions breed on refuge islands. No one is certain
why they have declined to only 20% of 1960 levels.
Other species in the
North Pacific and Bering Sea regions are showing widespread changes as well, with
increases in some and decreases in others. Steller’s eider and spectacled
eider are added to the list of threatened and endangered species. Sea otter populations
in the central Aleutian Islands fall to only 10% from what was counted in the
1960s. Northern fur seal numbers are only half of what they were earlier in the
century. Scientists are attempting to understand the causes for these changes
and develop strategies to halt the demise of troubled species.
1997
Wildlife
First and Foremost
The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act
strengthens earlier refuge laws and establishes that the conservation of fish,
wildlife and plants is the mission of the system. It also gives priority to certain
wildlife-dependent recreational uses on refuges – hunting and fishing, wildlife
observation and photography, and environmental education and interpretation. Other
uses may be allowed when they are compatible with the refuge’s purposes and
the system’s mission.
2001
Bringing Back the Goose
The
Aleutian cackling goose becomes one of the few endangered species success stories!
It is removed from the Endangered Species List after almost 40 years of effort
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other agency partners, and the public.
Recovery strategies included moving goslings to former nesting islands after alien
foxes are removed, raising flocks in captivity to provide more geese for other
islands, and adding the winter homes of the geese to the National Wildlife Refuge
System.
2003
Bringing the Refuge to the People
Alaska Islands
& Ocean Visitor Center opens at refuge headquarters in Homer, Alaska. More
than 75,000 visitors have a chance to learn about the refuge in the center's first
year of operation.
2003
Celebrating a Century of Conservation
Officially
designated as the "Year of the Wildlife Refuge," this year marks the
centennial of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Happy 100th Birthday!
Last updated:September 8, 2008
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