attending alaskas birds author kings 60 year memoir covers a dramatic period in alaskas history a time when the people increased fivefold to over 600 thousand king arrived in alaska in 1949 at the age of 21 he describes life as a pilotgame warden a refuge manager a flyway biologist and an expert at enumerating birds while whizzing over them in a small plane the story covers a series of accomplishments learning to fly in northern alaska game law enforcement for the prestatehood alaska game commission banding 15 thousand ducks to assess a possible cost of the proposed rampart canyon dam on the yukon river establishing the first headquarters for the enormous yukon delta national wildlife refuge at the eskimo village of bethel flying the annual survey to provide a forecast for the number of ducks expected to be available for pacific coast hunters each fall providing the first description of the one million seabirds that nest at cape newenham resulting in designation of a new national wildlife refuge the first valid estimate of the number of bald eagles threatened by logging on southeast alaskas convoluted coast drafting the plan that resulted in 7 new waterfowl refuges covering 22 million acres planning and managing the first complete census of alaskas trumpeter swans and experiences rearing rare waterfowl species on the edge of juneaus tide flats this is a compelling narrative about alaskan life conservation issues wild bird habits history geography and personal adventure