Announcing The Winner of the 2022 O’Brien Prize For Refuge Friends

Washington D.C.— May 18th, 2022

Through the generosity of some of our great Board Members, each year we present a Refuge Friends group with the O’ Brien Prize. Refuge Friends groups are the lifeblood of the National Wildlife Refuge System serving as volunteers and stewards of their local national wildlife refuge. We are pleased to announce the Refuge Friends group that will be receiving the 2022 O’Brien Prize, Friends of Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge in Vermont. The prize is named after Donal O’Brien III, a past Board Chair and longtime enthusiast of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Don is a generous supporter of the great work we do for national wildlife refuges and is very impressed by the dedication and effectiveness of Refuge Friends groups. With the award Friends of Missisquoi plan on expanding their communications to encourage and educate more visitors at Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge through the Abenaki Connection Project.

The Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge is located on the ancestral lands of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi and the Missisquoi delta was an important area for hunting and fishing for the native people. Friends of Missisquoi NWR drafted a land acknowledgment and reached out to the Abenaki Nation for its acceptance. In making the connection, the Friends and the tribe have opened the door to avenues of partnering together to bring awareness to both the Friends group and the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi.

With the support of the O’Brien Prize, Friends of Missisquoi plan to post visible signs of the land acknowledgment at each trailhead on Missisquoi NWR and develop literature in conjunction with the tribe to bring awareness to both groups. In the future, the Friends hope to highlight the history of the national wildlife refuge land and the Abenaki people by bringing a variety of native cultural events to Missisquoi NWR.

By promoting events through a partnership of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi and the Friends of Missisquoi, attention will be brought to the refuge, the Friends group, and the tribe. This partnership will continue to support the Friends’ work of bringing awareness to the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge and all that it offers.

The National Wildlife Refuge Association is pleased to present the Friends of Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge with the 2022 O’Brien Prize for Refuge Friends for their important work on the Abenaki Connection Project in collaboration with the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi.