Togiak NWR River Ranger Pete Abraham prepares to depart with a Junior Ranger for a trip up the Togiak River. Date: August 2006; Photographer: Leroy Nanalook; Location: Togiak Bay, Togiak, Alaska

Maybe you’ve heard President Bush or Secretary Kempthorne talk about the No Child Left Inside program, initiated to give kids in urban areas a chance to experience natural areas and become good stewards of public lands.  You may think rural Alaska would be the one place such a program wasn’t needed; however, one visit to a village in remote southwest Alaska may change your mind.  Ask village elders what their biggest challenge is to get kids to experience the world-class fish and wildlife in their backyards, and you will likely hear words like video games, cable TV, and internet. 

To help area youth develop closer bonds with nature, and possibly spark a desire for a career in natural resources, Togiak National Wildlife Refuge started its “Ranger for a Day” program in July, 2006. Eager middle school students from Togiak, Alaska travel by boat 50 miles up the Togiak River with Refuge Ranger Pete Abraham.  In the heart of the Refuge System’s second largest wilderness area, Junior Rangers learn by assisting Ranger Abraham as he tells Refuge visitors about the natural and cultural history of the area, inspects campsites, and records wildlife sightings.  Junior Rangers listen intently as Ranger Abraham shows them how to identify edible plants along the river or as he imitates the songs of local birds.  They have known Mr. Abraham by many titles: Ranger, Mayor, teacher, and to some, Grandfather.  But on this occasion they listen to him as a Village Elder, a respected position, whose duties include passing on Yup’ik Eskimo cultural traditions to village youth.  Ranger Abraham told one budding ranger “If you fight nature, it will fight you back.  If you learn about wilderness and nature, you will start to understand yourself as well as the plants and animals.”

Most of the 14 youth selected in 2006 and their families have relied on lands within Togiak National Wildlife Refuge for fish, wildlife, and plant resources for many generations.  Junior Rangers learn why sportsmen from around the world come to the Togiak River, and how the River Ranger Program helps protect the resources that draws them all.  Benefits of the program are already being seen.  Several Junior Rangers have expressed interest in working as River Rangers or Biologists when they grow up, and some parents that were a little reluctant for their daughter or son to participate are now very supportive of the program.