Foreword
Elizabeth Losey has produced a small volume of information about the Seney National Wildlife Refuge that is a treasure. It is not just a guide to this remarkable refuge and the marvelous places and creatures it harbors; it is an insight to the creation and management of such a place. It reports what it took to establish this refuge many years ago, and offers an idea of the challenges the men and women who are responsible for such places actually face, as it describes what is to be seen and enjoyed as a result.
Mrs. Losey is a rare creature in her own right: she was hired as a young biologist - by the revered visionary responsible for creating the early National Wildlife Refuge system, J. Clark Salyer - in the early days of his long tenure. Her experience gives unusual credibility to her observations about this refuge. Moreover, her interest over the years has included going back to the original documents that describe happenings on the refuge, so her reporting is based on records made by the people who experienced the evolution of this place, day after day.
Elizabeth Losey makes us aware of small things that have affected Seney, as well as the sometimes startling events that make any refuge employee's life one that is rarely free of excitement and challenge.
I remember vividly the excitement that arose from the famed "Seney Fire" in the early 1970's; I cannot possibly imagine the range of feeling that must have run through the first refuge manager's mind when he was made custodian of the Conscientious Objectors' Camp in World War II - and of the less-than-cooperative residents of this facility. I do know that what Elizabeth Losey has to tell us about Seney National Wildlife Refuge is factual, fascinating, and told by a person who has spent a lifetime in love with this bit of America's natural heritage.
I commend this book to you. It is, as the vernacular has it, the "real stuff" about people who have had the "right stuff", and about the splendid national treasure they look after for you.
Lynn A. Greenwalt
Former Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
