News
The National Wildlife Refuge Association is excited to announce the opening of the application period for our 2024 O’Brien Prize for Refuge Friends Groups. The O’Brien Prize is a prestigious award that recognizes outstanding achievement by Refuge Friends groups in support of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is embarking on an ambitious new effort to establish an Everglades to Gulf Conservation Area (formerly known as the Southwest Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Area). If successful, a new conservation area would allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to work with willing landowners to protect the lands most important to our water and wildlife, in one of the most biologically diverse regions in our country. The USFWS has released a draft Everglades to Gulf Land Protection Plan and is seeking input.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association recently joined forces with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to offer a National Friends Workshop, which took place from April 28th to May 1st, 2023. This workshop brought together Refuge and Hatchery Friends groups, nonprofits that support specific national wildlife refuges and national fish hatcheries. These groups play a crucial role in the success of the National Wildlife Refuge System by providing financial support for facility and habitat projects, contributing numerous volunteer hours, and actively supporting advocacy initiatives.
We've got some seriously exciting news for you. This Earth Day, the National Wildlife Refuge Association teamed up with the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, the City of Delray Beach’s Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Department of Sustainability to create a groundbreaking Pocket Refuge at the Family Recreation and Fitness Center Playground.
An Earth Month celebration was held on April 8, 2023, at Chauncey Park in Dobbs Ferry, NY, in collaboration with the National Wildlife Refuge Association, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Groundwork Hudson Valley, and Moms Organic Market. The event aimed to unite community members to stabilize the riparian habitat along the Sawmill River. Groundwork Hudson Valley led the planting of 68 potted dogwoods, elderberry, and birch trees along the banks of Sawmill River Island.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is embarking on an ambitious new effort to establish a Southwest Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Area. If successful, a new conservation area would allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to work with willing landowners to protect the lands most important to our water and wildlife in one of the most biologically diverse regions in our country.
“Partnerships are going to make it possible to accomplish our landscape-level conservation goals,” said Julie Morris, the Florida and Gulf Coast program manager for the National Wildlife Refuge Association. “By working hand-in-hand with our local, state, and federal partners, as well as nonprofits, we can maximize conservation on a lot more land.”
The Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act of 2022 (H.R. 6734) recently passed the House of Representatives and now heads to the Senate for consideration. In March, the National Wildlife Refuge Association’s former Vice President of Government Affairs, Caroline Brouwer, testified in support of the bill to the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.
President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, putting our nation on a new path to tackle the climate crisis and build a clean energy economy. This historic $370 billion package is a critical investment in our future and we applaud the diligent efforts in Congress to get this bill over the finish line. We were pleased to see the inclusion of over $121 million to address the threat of invasive species and increase the resiliency and capacity of habitats within the National Wildlife Refuge System and State wildlife management areas.
