Both Becharof NWR and Togiak NWR have announced the selection of new Refuge Managers.
Susanna Henry, currently at the Kofa NWR near Yuma, Arizona, will take over at Togiak NWR. Susan Alexander, who has worked in the USFWS Regional Office in Anchorage and is currently at Felsenthal NWR in Arkansas, is headed to Becharof NWR. Both are expected on the job this May.
Former Managers Bill Schaff (Becharof NWR) and Paul Liedberg (Togiak NWR) were among some 50 USFWS employees in Alaska who retired at the end of 2012, having waited until an improved federal retirement pay was fully in place. Prior to 2009, some federal employees in Alaska did not receive a locality compensation in their retirement pensions in the same way those in the lower-48 did. Congress voted to change that in 2009, and the increase was phased in over the last three years.
KDLG's Dave Bendinger spoke with Susanna Henry, who's coming to the Togiak NWR from the dry and dusty deserts of the Kofa NWR near Yuma, Arizona.