Every job has its fair share of drudgery and red tape. This is, as the jokes go, doubly true for government workers. So that’s one reason, perhaps, why this collection of vintage photographs by federal employees feels so remarkable.
These images all depict or were taken by U.S. Fish and Wildlife employees from the 1950s through the early 1980s. All of them are from Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, which spans nearly 2 million acres and four different islands in Southwest Alaska, including nearly two-thirds of Kodiak Island. The refuge was established in 1941 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt for “the purpose of protecting the natural feeding and breeding range of the Kodiak bear.” That’s one reason bear biologists, bear hunters, and bears themselves feature so heavily in the photos below.
But mostly, as I sifted through more than a hundred old photographs to select the ones you see below, I noticed that the federal employees who lived and worked at the refuge seemed to be, well, having fun.
It could be that getting your photo taken was a rarer phenomenon 50-plus years before smart phones, when folks were more likely to flash a big grin for the camera. But I don’t think that’s it. Miraculously, these are all excerpts from annual reports. They should, in theory, be rather dull. Instead, the free-spirited yet hard-working attitudes of these USFWS employees are evident throughout the photo albums, from typed and handwritten captions to the subject matter themselves.
What’s more, the details about the story behind each image are sparse. And that’s part of the appeal: These snapshots offer a peek into the life and times of the dedicated men and women — biologists, refuge managers, pilots, and more — who make our public lands such incredible places to visit, fish, and hunt. Here’s a look at just a few of them.
This photo, dated 1952, shows the work of beavers in Saltery Cove. Whoever took the photo set what appears to be a Winchester Model 12 beside the big cottonwood for scale. Photo by USFWSThis yearling black-tailed deer was found in “critical condition” and later succumbed to starvation due to a deformed jaw, according to the original caption. While it’s not clear who took the deer in, the monogrammed towel and handwritten note in the margin offer a couple clues. Photo by USFWSThis snapshot from 1968 shows wildlife aide Terry Grub banding eaglets in a massive nest. At the time, 179 eaglets had been banded on Kodiak NWR. Photo by Blott / USFWSThis photo was from the refuge’s 1966 report. The original caption reads: “A 32-pound king salmon and a 7-pound red salmon is displayed by Assistant Refuge Manager Berns who found time to indulge in some sportfishing near one of the Karluk River public recreation cabins. This cabin has been equipped with basic camp items without any items lost through vandalism or pilferage.” Photo by Fleming / USFWSKodiak’s refuge supervisor (right) and a USFWS employee prepare to release a male mountain goat in the Hidden Basin area of Kodiak Island in 1953. Photo by USFWSThis photo was included in the refuge’s 1965 annual report. The original caption, which identifies neither the hunter (right) nor the guide, reads, “Figure 12. Guide and hunter posing alongside of a 8’3″ bear shot with a bow and arrow.” Another bear photographed a few years later, in 1969. It’s not clear if this is a darted or hunter-harvested bear, though it’s likely given the original caption (pictured) is written in past tense. Photo by USFWSA photograph of two pictures taped to a page included in the Kodiak NWR’s annual report from 1957. The captions read “Width of front paw – 81/2 inches” (top) and “Carrying out the hide with head still attached.” Photos by USFWSA 1974 photo taken from the inside of a brown bear den shows USFWS employees peering down the entrance. The photographer used a wide angle lens. Photo by Atwell / USFWSAn unidentified man sticks his head out of a mature brown bear den during another den visit — this one in 1969. The den itself extended 8 feet into the hillside and was 5 feet 6 inches wide and 3 feet 6 inches tall inside. //
Photo by USFWS
Two snapshots from 1953 show a pair of blacktailed deer strapped to a car (top) and heads in velvet, before pack-out.
Photos by USFWSA USFWS employee in classic buffalo check snaps a photo of a ptarmigan. Photo by USFWSThe caption on this 1963 photo reads, “Guide and huntress happily pose by their trophy brown bear,” though neither appear to be exactly smiling. Photo by USFWS
