The Sixth Annual Yakutat Tern Festival is June 2–5. The festival is a celebration of the natural and cultural resources of Yakutat.
Yakutat hosts one of the largest and southernmost known nesting colonies of Aleutian terns, as well as Arctic terns and up to 200 other bird species that nest in or migrate through the area. The festival is family friendly and offers activities for birders as well as non-birders, including field trips, seminars, kid’s activities, evening banquets, bird banding demonstration, live music and other programs.
This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. David Duffy. Duffy is a professor of botany and director of the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit at the University of Hawaii. His work has included research on terns in Yakutat, the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and climate shifts on seabirds in Prince William Sound, the effect of El Nino on seabirds in Peru and fishery interactions with seabirds in Peru and South Africa.
The featured artist is Alaskan author Debbie Miller. Debbie has been a resident of northern Alaska for 37 years and has developed a passion for writing nature books about the extraordinary wilderness and wildlife that surround her family’s home near Fairbanks.
For more information go to www.yakutatternfestival.org.
