Anaho Island Celebrates 100 years

The small desert island in Pyramid Lake, about 30 miles northeast of Reno, that serves as home to 10,000 American white pelicans is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a wildlife sanctuary. U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials joined leaders of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe for the centennial celebration at one of the country’s most important nesting spots for the birds just off the lake’s east shore.

President Woodrow Wilson designated Anaho Island a wildlife sanctuary in 1913 in recognition of its importance to pelicans and other birds, including California gulls, double-crested cormorants and great blue herons. Donna Withers, a refuge specialist with the wildlife service says it’s one of the largest nesting areas for the pelicans west of the Rocky Mountains.