Celebrating careers dedicated to protecting wild places

Supporters of Alaska’s wild spaces gathered Jan. 21 at the Islands and Oceans visitor center in Homer and the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge visitor center in Soldotna to celebrate more than 80 years of combined public service from former refuge managers Steve Delehanty and Andy Loranger.

As manager of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Delehanty oversaw the largest seabird refuge in the country, featuring 40 million seabirds across 4.9 million acres, according to a Jan. 17 press release from the Friends of the Alaska Wildlife Refuges. He was also responsible for the Tiglax, the largest ship in the Fish and Wildlife Service fleet; the Islands and Oceans, the largest wildlife refuge visitor center in the state; and the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, the biggest wildlife festival in the state.

Loranger was nationally recognized in 2018 by The National Wildlife Refuge Association when he was named Refuge Manager of the Year. He oversaw the expansion and operations of the most-visited refuge in the state — the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge — and provided leadership during several challenges, including the 2019 Swan Lake Fire, which burned approximately 170,000 acres on the Kenai Peninsula.

The two managers’ retirement came just before President Donald Trump moved to withdraw and rescind Biden-era protections in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which would reopen the area to oil development, land leases and oil and gas sales. Delehanty, in his remarks at the celebration, addressed it directly.

“It is the land and waters that endure, beyond the accumulation of our steps on this earth. Budgets go up, they go down. But our national wildlife refuges and the species which call them home have a lifespan vastly longer than our own,” Delehanty said.

Both men made points about the ability of wildlife refuges not only to increase public access to land but also as a means of protecting the traditional lands of Indigenous people.

“In the end, what really matters is that the work of conservation is public service in its truest form,” Loranger said. “Alaska’s national wildlife refuges offer so much in this rapidly changing world because they are places where our relationship with others and with each other can be nurtured and sustained in ways which enhance our collective wellness.”

Delehanty ended his speech on a positive note, reminding the full room and 54 participants on Zoom that protecting our natural habitats, at the end of the day, is what matters most going forward.

“I have certainty on one thing alone: the value of public lands to the public. So amidst the uncertainty, amidst your joy or anger at the politics, remember that the birds and the bears, the flower and the fish, they don’t care about the people stuff. They care about the habitat, and that’s what national wildlife refuges provide. That’s what will endure if only we allow it to happen.”

Chloe Pleznac is a general assignment reporter for the Homer News. You can reach her at chloe.pleznac@homernews.com or by calling 907-615-3193.