The 2020 National Wildlife Refuge System Award Winners have been announced! The National Wildlife Refuge Association could not be more excited to present these deserving individuals and group with the prestigious Refuge System Awards.
National Wildlife Refuge Advocates Testify At Public Witness Day
On February 6th, 2020 National Wildlife Refuge System Advocates testified at Public Witness Day before the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee.
National Wildlife Refuge Association's Geoff Haskett Talks Conservation at Catawba College
Conservationists Challenge Weak Government Response To Urgent Wildlife Disease Threat At National Elk Refuge
A conservation coalition today filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to challenge the agency’s weak new plan to phase down elk feeding on the Jackson Hole National Elk Refuge, citing the plan’s inadequate response to the urgent threat of a chronic wasting disease outbreak among the Refuge elk population.
Trump Administration Sends Devastating Blow to Protection of Streams and Isolated Wetlands on Private Lands, Will Impact Refuge Lands
Today, the Trump Administration announced that they are finalizing a rule that will eliminate protections of certain streams and wetlands. The Waters of the United States regulation has been instrumental in protecting streams and isolated wetlands, particularly in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana. With the repeal of this rule, farmers and developers will be able to drain wetlands that are critical habitat and nesting grounds for millions of waterfowl, and turn it into row crops. Wildlife Refuges will be greatly affected by any draining of wetlands, given the connectivity of these wetlands units and streams.
Work, Play, Learn: Field Trips Offer Young People New Ways to Experience Wildlife Refuges
In 2019, archery was added to the quiver of activities available to students participating in field trips from schools in Ventura and Fillmore to Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, home of the California Condor Recovery Program. It was also a featured activity in San Diego, where an archery station was set up for a National Urban Wildlife Refuge Day event.
The Refuge Association Stands With Wildlife In Opposition To The Border Wall
Recently, NPR’s All Things Considered featured a story about the refuge lands that are threatened in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Our own Vice President of Government Affairs Caroline Brouwer was interviewed for the report. I couldn’t be prouder of the work she is doing on behalf of wildlife, refuges, and you. But she can’t do it alone. I am asking you to take 7 minutes to listen to the story and ask, what more could you be doing to protect these important refuges?
The Nature of Healing
Desert National Wildlife Refuge bill rejects Air Force attempts to withdraw acres from the Refuge System. More work needs to be done to protect wildlife habitat.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association applauds Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jackie Rosen, and the Nevada House delegation, Representatives Steven Horsford, Dina Titus, Mark Amodei, and Susie Lee, for their ongoing appreciation for and efforts to protect the unique wildlife habitat in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge in southern Nevada. Overall, we appreciate the delegation’s efforts to bridge the divide between the desires of the Air Force to expand the NTTR and the wildlife needs of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, but we do have significant concerns about several aspects of the bill.
Success For National Wildlife Refuges At The Border, But The Fight Is Not Over
On Tuesday, December 10th, a federal judge in El Paso, Texas blocked the Trump Administration from using more than $3.5 billion in military construction appropriations to build new border walls in national wildlife refuges and elsewhere at the U.S.-Mexico border. The nationwide injunction will halt projects, including the construction of more than 31 miles of unnecessary and destructive border wall across refuges like the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona.