The Audubon Bench Needs Your Help!

Sandhill Cranes by Heather Spade Sterling

     The Audubon Wayside (historically known as the Audubon Bench) is located on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail between the Westchester Lagoon south railroad tunnel and the mouth of Fish Creek.  The mudflats and wetland areas surrounding the Audubon Bench near Westchester Lagoon are the single most productive birding area in Anchorage.  Ebird lists this area as having the Number One Highest bird species count of all of Anchorage’s Hotspots—a whopping 180 species have been recorded in the area from the South Westchester Tunnel to the mouth of Fish Creek.

     THIS PRECIOUS AREA IS IN DANGER OF SEVERE DEGRADATION under the current AMATS/D.O.T./Parks & Rec plan to build the Fish Creek Trail Extension.  The current Preferred Alternative is for the existing Coastal Trail to be re-located farther out into the grassy wetlands on a mini-causeway.  In addition to that, there will be a rip-rap type buffer that will extend an additional 20 feet into the wetlands.  This trail re-routing was not well publicized in the early stages of the planning project.

     We do not oppose the Fish Creek Trail itself, but the connection portion from the new trail through the wetlands to the proposed Coastal Trail re-route is a major threat to one of Anchorage’s natural gems.     

     It is still possible that the design could change, but this new Coastal Trail “preferred route” will eliminate a significant portion of the best wildlife habitat in Anchorage.

     According to environmental law, the re-route of the trail should require wetlands mitigation.  The project manager reported that the mitigation issue had not been addressed, but that they would find a suitable location for the purchase of wetland credits.  Because the Bench area is the single most productive birding area in Anchorage according to eBird, there is no mitigation proposal that can come close to the value of the habitat being destroyed by this project.  Once this habitat is lost, it’s lost forever.

     What started as a project to build a trail extension from Northern Lights Boulevard to the Coastal Trail through the Fish Creek Estuary has now mushroomed into a project that will seriously degrade the very habitat that was the destination of the original proposal.

     People will get to walk or ride on a new trail to a viewpoint that has only a fraction of the value that it had before the new trail was built.  This simply makes no sense.  

     The importance of the Audubon Bench area cannot be overstated.  It has been designated as “An Important Bird Area” by the National Audubon Society.

     Each year, many hundreds and probably thousands of Outside birders specifically target this area as a “must see” spot to visit while in Anchorage.

     The Audubon Bench area is a specific target for Outside birders to see the Hudsonian Godwit.  It is probably fair to say that most birders in the United States that have ever seen a Hudsonian Godwit have seen it from the Audubon Bench.  The Hudsonian Godwit is listed in the 2025 State of the Birds report as a “Red Alert Tipping Point species.”  Although it is not yet endangered, it is getting close, and the Audubon Bench is the most accessible and reliable spot to see this bird in the entire USA.  There is a significant financial contribution to Anchorage from these visitors.

     The specific area in question is home to cranes, shorebirds, waterfowl, gulls, terns, and many many other avian families.  The mudflats are an astounding source of tiny polychaete worms and mollusks that provide an extremely rich and critical food source for hundreds of thousands of migrating birds.  These travelers migrate from as far as South America to Alaska’s north slope, and cannot do so without refueling.  If their fuel source disappears, they die.  The importance of this area cannot be overstated.

     Among the regular visitors to this wetland habitat are Sandhill Cranes, Canada Geese, and many shorebird species.  The Cranes are an especially uplifting attraction for visitors and Anchorage residents alike.  At the Audubon Bench, we regularly witness parents and grandparents pointing out these magnificent creatures to the delight of young children. These cranes are regularly present in the grassy wetlands in the immediate area around the Audubon Bench.  This is exactly the area that will be filled, paved, and covered with riprap by the new routing of the Coastal Trail.

     The grasses surrounding the Audubon Bench are extremely important.  They grow only in a specific micro-habitat that is not overly inundated by tidal action.  There are no grasses on the lower elevations of the mudflats.  Re-vegetation mitigation is not possible, because if the grasses could survive in other areas, they would already be there.  

     The environmental document produced by the Project Leaders claims that birds will simply relocate to other nearby areas.  If these specific grasslands are diminished, no other suitable grasslands will magically appear.  

     We cannot stress the importance of this one small area enough.  It cannot be replaced and it cannot be mitigated.  

Dowitchers and Hudsonian Godwits at The Audubon Bench

     Those of us who spend time at the Audubon Bench in the summer regularly hear astounded Outside visitors say, “I can’t believe that areas like this still exist in this country!”  They are awestruck by what we have in our own back yard, and the current AMATS proposal plans to permanently and irreplaceably destroy a major part of this treasure.  We cannot allow this to happen.

Pectoral Sandpipers at the Audubon Bench

Hudsonian Godwit at The Audubon Bench

Eurasian Wigeon at The Audubon Bench

     The Environmental Document for the Project is extremely flawed because it doesn't address the filling of the wetlands at all.  The document does adequately address the portion of the Fish Creek Trail along the Alaska Railroad right of way, but the re-routing of the Coastal Trail is not dealt with in any meaningful manner. The document does not meet the regulatory standards for a project of this magnitude.