Where corridors converge
Chapter 1, The Making of Inspiration Ridge Preserve
Inspiration Ridge Preserve encompasses two wildlife corridors connecting developed areas in Homer, Alaska to critical wildlife habitat. Ed Bailey and Nina Faust conserved this land in an effort to alleviate development pressure that would have cut wildlife off from critical habitat. This is the story of Inspiration Ridge Preserve.
Just outside Homer, Alaska, there is a wildlife haven. It is home to a dizzying array of wildlife who rely on it for their breeding, nesting, or feeding grounds, including sandhill cranes, moose, bear, coyotes, and lynx, just to name a few.
But this very place that provides sanctuary to a myriad of species shifts to treacherous territory in the winter. The wildlife who call it home year-round have incredible adaptations and behavioral strategies to survive the harsh winter months, but many animals cannot tolerate the brutal cold. And so they fly, crawl, canter, lope, and swim their way to more hospitable winter environments, making treks twice a year.
But two of these pathways connecting this critical habitat were threatened in the late 1990s and early 2000s when rapidly expanding development throughout the Homer area was pushing onto critical wildlife habitat and threatening watershed health in the region.
Migrating sandhill cranes, one of the many species reliant on critical wildlife habitat on the fringes of developed areas in Homer, Alaska. Photograph by Nina Faust.
Homer residents Edgar Bailey and Nina Faust learned about these development plans and feared that watershed health and wildlife habitat were not being taken into consideration by the planning committee. Powerless to influence the development plans, Nina and Edgar rapidly and quietly embarked upon a multi-year effort to preserve wildlife habitat and watershed health through the only pathway available to them–by purchasing land and taking it off of the market.
Their tireless work pieced together more than 20 parcels, protecting the headwaters of Fritz Creek as well as two wildlife corridors. Along the way, they united community members behind conservation efforts in the area, and ultimately protected a 693-acre wildlife refuge known today as Inspiration Ridge Preserve.
Nina Faust points out the location of Inspiration Ridge Preserve. She stands inside the main residence that she and Ed lived in since 1998, situated in the heart of the Preserve. Photograph by Nina Faust.
This is the story of people coming together to ensure that life-saving pathways for creatures, both big and small, are here to stay. It is a story of tenacity, grit, and determination. It is a story of love–love of wildlife, of clean air and water, and for building community around wild places.
And it all starts with a high school teacher and a wildlife biologist in Homer, Alaska…
A cow and her calf stand on Inspiration Ridge Preserve, just outside the window of Nina and Ed’s residence. Photograph by Nina Faust.