The manager of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge has been recognized with a national award. Andy Loranger was recently named the 2018 Paul Kroegel National Wildlife Refuge System Refuge Manager of the Year.

Loranger’s career has spanned three decades, with stops in Texas as a project leader and Washington DC where he served as Division Chief for Natural Resources. His first full time job in the system was at the Anchorage regional office, where he worked as a clerk in the Division of Migratory Birds.

Loranger’s work on invasive species management has been used as a model across the Refuge System. Other notable achievements include three different youth hiring programs intended to get more young people involved with conservation work. Habitat management and research has also been a highlight, including a program on the Kenai to develop new land cover classification in the Refuge.

The Paul Kroegel Award is named after the first manager of the first refuge. The award recognizes outstanding accomplishments by a refuge manager in the protection and management of our 562 national wildlife refuges.