To celebrate St. Lazaria Island’s centennial as a bird refuge, local agencies hosted the first public tour of the island, where 500,000 seabirds make their nests.
100 years ago, Teddy Roosevelt set aside St. Lazaria Island as a wildlife refuge. Today the island is the nesting site for more than half-a-million sea birds. To celebrate its centennial, local agencies teamed up to lead the first-ever public walking tour of the island. A small group of birdwatchers and nature buffs recently embarked on a rare adventure, one that may signal an opening of the island to public visitation.
To hear the story as it aired on Alaska News Nightly on the Alaska Public Radio Network, click here.
Mt. Edgecumbe as seen from St. Lazaria Island
St. Lazaria Island, home to half-a-million nesting sea birds.
Richard Nelson
Just a note of appreciation for the excellent story about St. Lazaria Island. The narrative offered lots of interesting information, the interviews were engaging, and the background sounds worked beautifully. In terms of organization, I thought it was very effective to have the longtime locals perspective from Chuck & Alice Johnstone as “bookends” for the story. Thanks to Shaleece for a a fine & fascinating piece. — Nels
Jul 22, 2009 @ 4:32 pm
Janet Berlin
Your story and the slideshow is just great! You do good work!
Jul 23, 2009 @ 4:46 pm