This October, celebrate America’s wildlife heritage by visiting a national wildlife refuge. Alaska is home to 16 of the 556 national wildlife refuges, but conserves nearly three-fourth of the 150 million acres in the system. Below are few things you can do to experience these amazing places across the Great Land.

10 Things to do on Refuges

• Learn about the legendary Kodiak bear at the Kodiak Refuge Visitor Center before spending a day photographing them fishing at the Refuge’s Frazer Falls.
• Paddle the Swan Lake Canoe System on Kenai Refuge.
• Land record-size pike on the Innoko River at Innoko Refuge.
• Camp and catch a naturalist program at Deadman Lake Campground on Tetlin Refuge.
• Chase countless silver salmon and rainbow trout on the wilderness rivers of Togiak Refuge.
• Mingle with half a million caribou on the rolling tundra of Selawik Refuge.
• Migrate to Homer in early May to attend the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival at the Alaska Maritime Refuge’s Islands and Ocean Visitor Center.
• Do the Hulahula . . . River, by raft, in the heart of Arctic Refuge.
• Hunt clouds of migrating waterfowl in September on Izembek Refuge.
• Go surf and turf, experiencing five national wildlife refuges while sailing on the Alaska ferry from Homer to Dutch Harbor (April through September).

GeoTour Links
Blue Goose Geocache Coordinates

Geocaching 101

Geocaching Tools and Downloads

App for your Smart Phone

Blue Goose GeoTour Passport (Print on 8.5" X 14" Paper)

Blue Goose Geo Tour Trivia Postcard

Attention Anchorage Adventurers of all ages, get outside this fall to tour city parks on the Blue Goose GeoTour. A geotour is a series of geocaches* connected by a common theme. The Blue Goose Geotour is a series of 16 wildlife refuge themed caches hidden at Anchorage city parks. Each geocache features one of Alaska’s 16 National Wildlife Refuges and contains educational information related to special features of that Refuge as well as "First to Find" prizes for up to 10 treasure hunters.

*A geocache (pronounced “geo-cash”) is a hidden treasure that one locates by using a GPS device or smart phone. Geocaching is a family friendly outdoor activity that blends technology, gaming and environmental discovery. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, and then share your experiences online.

Prizes
Each cache contains a special “First to Find” prize as well as up to 10 additional prizes. Caches also contain a trivia question that is answered by following a virtual clue printed on passport cards in the cache. For each triva answer submited, you will entered into a drawing for more prizes including: water bottles, reusable bags, binoculars and gift certificates to sporting goods stores.

The first 50 people to visit all 16 caches and submit your completed trivia postcard will receive a Alaska National Wildlife Refuges path tag.

Take the GeoTour

1. Start by getting your equipment together. You will need a smart phone and app or a GPS device. Click here to learn more about getting started with geocaching.
2. Link to the GPS Coordinates on Geocaching.com search Blue Goose or BGGT (Released on October 1, 2012).
3. With the help of a GPS enabled device or smart phone find up to 16 refuge geocaches.
4. Within each cache is a passport card with a trivia question. 
5. Take a passport card and follow its virtual path to answer the question.
6. To track which caches you visited and trivia questions you have answered download a passport book and postcard answer sheet.
7. Submit your trivia answers via postcard to:

Blue Goose Geo Tour, 
Alaska NWRS MS 235,
1011 East Tudor, Anchorage, AK 99503

or via email to wild4ak@gmail.com

Deadline for submitting entries is November 14, 2012.

For questions or advice on how to get started call 907-786-3340

Wildlife Wednesday, a popular fall and winter speaker series featuring Alaska’s wildest residents, kicks off October 10 at 7 pm at the Alaska Zoo. Take an arm chair journey aboard the Tiglax, a scientific research vessel travelling throughout the Aleutians islands. Billy Pepper, the ship’s Captain, will share stories about transporting scientists to the state’s remote coastlines to study the state’s wild winged inhabitants. 

Through April 2013, mark your calendars for the 2nd Wednesday each month to learn more about polar bears, dall sheep, owls, wolves, bears, and more. Visit http://www.alaskazoo.org/lectures-and-talks-0 for more information.

Homer, Alaska –“ Refuges on the Air” 2012 Refuge Week Celebration

Ham radio operators from throughout south-central Alaska will be camped out in the Islands & Ocean Visitor Center parking lot from Friday to Sunday October 12th – 13th fielding amateur radio contacts from around the world as part of Refuges on the Air. This is the third year Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge has participated in the program. Visitors are welcome to come by, listen in on the radio chatter, and ask questions of the volunteer radio operators from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Successful contacts to KL7NWR at Islands & Ocean will hear a message about the refuge and have an opportunity to get collectable QSL cards and certificates featuring refuge photos and information. Through this nation-wide program, amateur radio operators use their communication capabilities to spread the word about the National Wildlife Refuge System.

The Blue Goose is the symbol of the National Wildlife Refuge System, and it can be seen at every entrance to refuge lands.  The goose was created from a drawing done by "Ding" Darling, a two time Pulitzer Prize winning Cartoonist who also developed the Duck Stamp Program. Learn more about the goose through this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHyvqlYSxgo.

This year we have a flock of colorful lawn geese, led by the Blue Goose, who are migrating around Anchorage to raise awareness about the 16 National Wildlife Refuges found in Alaska.

How to Play
Throughout October, if you can spot the colorful flock around town you can win prizes by posting your sightings on the Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuge Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/alaskarefugefriends),  or you emailing a photo or a description of your sighting to wild4ak@gmail.com.

To get clues about the flock’s whereabouts regularly check this website or “Like” Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges on Facebook.

All those who spot the flock AND post a photo of the flock, OR describe one of the geese in the flock will be eligible for prizes. A single sighting and post will receive a sticker or water bottle, and the person who spots the flock the most will receive the grand prize, a pair of binoculars.  Runners up will receive gift certificates.

Get Creative with your Post

• Describing your favorite goose by its field marks. For example, “ I spotted the rare leopard printed goose today in a busy midtown habitat.”
• Describe the goose that represents your favorite refuge, and why its your favorite. For example, “Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, represented by the lime green goose, is my favorite because it’s just a two hour drive from my house.”

Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuge

and

Geocache Alaska!