Izembek National Wildlife Refuge
The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1960 to protect the habitat of the
Pacific black brant, but the refuge has much more to offer. It is a
place of great beauty with hundreds of freshwater lakes, meandering
streams, U shaped valleys, ancient glaciers, thermal springs, and smoking
volcanoes. At the heart of the Refuge lies Izembek Lagoon, 150 square
miles of brackish water containing some of the largest eelgrass beds
in the world. The State of Alaska has designated the state-owned tidal
and submerged lands of the lagoon as the Izembek State Game Refuge.
Critically important to migrating birds, the lagoon was the first U.S.
site designated as a Wetland of International Importance.
Comprehensive Conservation Plan
The original Comprehensive Plan was finalized on August 1, 1985. The
refuge is just beginning work on the revision of that plan. In the coming
months, we will have planning updates, public meetings, and other materials
concerning the planning effort.
Izembek State Game Refuge
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) manages the Izembek
State Game Refuge. The Service and ADF&G work closely to ensure
that the area is managed in a coordinated and cooperative manner. ADF&G
is in the process of developing a management plan for the Izembek State
Game Refuge, and the Service is an involved partner in that effort.
In fact, late in 2004, we held joint scoping meetings in local communities
and are sharing information as much as possible.
Issues
The refuge and planning staff are beginning to identify the issues that
will be addressed in the revision of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge
Comprehensive Conservation Plan. This process is called “scoping,”
identifying the scope of the plan. Scoping is done in a number of ways:
- By holding public meetings in the communities most affected by
the refuge and its management
- By mailing planning updates to everyone on the Service’s
refuge mailing list and posting the same materials on this website.
- By holding meetings with officials from the State of Alaska, other
federal agencies, and local governments who have interest in and concerns
about the refuge
We gather information from all of these sources, organize the information
and do some analysis to decide what issues are appropriate for the refuge
to address in the plan. Then we send that information back out to everyone
who has expressed an interest in being involved.
Public Involvement
The Service has held public scoping meetings in Cold Bay, King Cove,
and Sand Point in conjunction with ADF&G. We will be sending out
a planning update in the near future to ask for your ideas. Or you can
e-mail your comments to us right now at fw7_izembek_planning@fws.gov!
Tell us what your concerns are about Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
What do you value most? What opportunities should we consider and what
resources should we be most concerned about?
Land Conservation Plan
At the time the land-conservation plan was developed for Izembek National
Wildlife Refuge, such documents were called “land-protection plans.”
To view the plan for this refuge, click
here.
Visitor Services Plan
No visitor services plan for the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge has
been developed.
