Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, AK

Internationally recognized for the importance of its wetlands, Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, at the tip of the Alaskan peninsula contains one of the largest eelgrass beds in the world. Threatened Steller's eider and more than 90 percent of the world's Pacific brant population feed on eelgrass here in fall and winter. Emperor geese, caribou, sea otter, brown bear and harbor seal are also found here.

In 1999 The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, in partnership with The Conservation Fund, donated a nearly 8,500-acre addition to the refuge, the largest ever made for conservation in Alaska. This began a decade-long effort that by 2008 had transferred 71,511 acres to the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

In 2008, The Conservation Fund and its partners protected more than 12,500 acres of wetlands on the Alaska Peninsula. The newly-protected lands encompass dozens of lakes, ponds and marshes that provide prime habitat for black brant, emperor geese, the threatened Steller’s eider and other migratory birds. The area also covers more than 100 miles of Pacific Ocean coastline and over 200 miles of fish streams and rivers that teem with five species of Pacific salmon.

Public funding for the project came for the North American Wetlands Conservation Council, with major private contributions from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

“This project set out to protect important habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds. In the process, we’ve given a boost to all the critters of the Izembek region—salmon, bears, caribou and birds.”

- Brad Meiklejohn, Alaska representative, The Conservation Fund