Pre-Midway

Hello everyone, as you may or may not know I have been hunting for a volunteer position for the past five months. I was having a great deal of difficulty finding something that would not only allow me to help out a worth while cause but also something that didn’t cost a fortune. Last March I applied for a position on Midway Island as a ecological volunteer. I had not heard back until about a week ago when I received an emial inquiring about times I was availble. As it turns out I was accepted for a position on the island starting January 25th and going through April 21st. I am elated, it allows me time to get my law school applications done and gives me a great excuse to go somewhere warm and sunny during the cold strech following Christmas here in Minnesota.

Accoring to the website I will be assisting with habitat restoration, growing native plants in a greenhouse, outplanting plants, and hand-pulling verbesina and other nonnative plants. I will also help with seabird monitoring and marine debris removal. I did not really know a whole lot about Midway so I thought as I learned about the island I would post the information here.



Midway Atoll is a 6.2 square kilometer atoll located in the North Pacific Ocean, and is about one-third of the way between Honolulu and Tokyo. It consists of a ring-shaped barrier reef and several sand islets.

The atoll is an unincorporated territory of the United States, part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands, designated an insular area under the authority of the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is a National Wildlife Refuge administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
It is probably best known as the location of the Battle of Midway, fought in World War II on June 4, 1942. Nearby, United States Navy defeated a Japanese attack against the "Midway Islands," marking a turning point in the war in the Pacific theater.

Midway was designated an overlay National Wildlife Refuge on April 22, 1988 while still under the primary jurisdiction of the Navy. As part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, the Navy facility on Midway has been operationally closed since September 10, 1993, although the Navy assumed responsibility for cleaning up environmental contamination at Naval Air Facility Midway Island.

On October 31, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13022, which transferred the jurisdiction and control of the atoll to the US Department of the Interior. The US Fish and Wildlife Service assumed management of the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. The last contingent of Navy personnel left Midway on 30 June 1997, after an ambitious environmental cleanup program was completed. The atoll fell under the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument that was established in 2006.

The islands of Midway Atoll have been extensively altered as a result of human habitation. Ironwood trees from Australia were planted to act as windbreaks, removal of these trees will be one of my primary jobs while on the island.

The island was made to support as many as 5,000 people. A lot of the infrastructure including buildings were removed when the Navy transferred the property to USFWS, but approximately 120 buildings remain as well as roadways, piers, an airfield, fuel farm, and harbor. Suprisingly, and luckily for me there are a variety of other buildings still open on the island including a movie theatre, racketball court, pub and library.

When I arrive there will be approximately 65 people living and working at Midway Atoll including 4 USFWS staff, 2-4 USFWS volunteers, 1-6 cooperating researchers, and about 50 people working directly for or as subcontractors to Chugach Industries Incorporated.

When I was looking for a volunteer position I tried to limit my search to places where there would be a certain amount of adventure associated. I did not want to work in an office or as part of a “tourist” volunteer group where the idea is to give of yourself yet you are bused in to thte poor areas in the morning and bused out at night to live in nice hotels. With Midway I think I will avoid that type of experience. However there are some downsides as I will be cohabitating with a variety of dangerous creatures. Centipedes, jellyfish, ticks, spiders, and sharks will all be sharing the island or sea with me. According to an email I received several people have been bitten by centipedes while in bed, while others have been bitten by black widows and bird ticks. Swimming at night is highly discouraged due to the sharks.

Thats about all I have for today, I will keep you posted as the departure date gets closer. I will have access to email on the island so I hope to keep this site updated and I plan to put up pictures as I take them.