The American Bald Eagle Foundation announced Tuesday that it is canceling its November festival due to COVID-19 concerns and a limited budget.
“We’ve had an incredibly difficult couple of years,” said ABEF raptor program manager Sidney Campbell. “We’re stretched really thin as far as resources go because we’ve had such poor tourism. We could try to host a festival and have really low attendance and probably not do the best job or we could give it another year and do it the way it deserves.”
The American Bald Eagle Festival celebrates the fall migration when thousands of eagles flock to the Chilkat River to feed on salmon. The event attracts bird enthusiasts and photographers and culminates with the release of eagles into the wild near Klukwan.
Campbell said the nonprofit has had a tough time bolstering staff. “We had hoped to have another full-time staff person and we usually have a bigger crop of interns. Right now we have one intern,” she said. “We’re stretched thin as it is trying to continue programming at the high standards we have.”
Campbell said staff is exploring virtual options and will have a better idea of what’s possible by September.