News
The National Wildlife Refuge Association has an opportunity for you!! Through the generosity of some of our great Board Members, we have established the O’ Brien Prize, an annual award for our Friends groups. 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 Refuges and is very impressed by the dedication and effectiveness of Refuge Friends groups.
On Wednesday, May 13, from 2- 5 pm, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will be holding an online Public Hearing about the proposed titanium mine on the doorstep of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
We are again being reminded of the important role nature and the outdoors play during times of crisis and stress. Connecting with nature improves our physical and emotional health, which is why it is important for us to continue to promote, protect, and enhance the National Wildlife Refuge System. Today is Earth Day and the launch of our 2020 Spring Campaign. We have a $50,000 goal so that we can continue to promote, protect, and enhance the National Wildlife Refuge System. To add to the excitement, a few donors have pledged to match any donations up to $50,000. That means when you donate you are doubling the gift for wildlife refuges!
Puerto Rico has taken some of the most forceful steps of any U.S. jurisdiction to try to stop the spread of COVID-19. These mandates put a hold on our new project to restore nesting beaches for leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in Puerto Rico. In spite of the constraints, I am working on the project where possible. I have even enlisted my family in helping to collect and plant seeds that will eventually grow to plants that we will re-plant on nesting beaches to reduce erosion and as natural fences to avoid road kills.
A term that has risen to the forefront as of late is the “gig economy”. It is a new way that some companies work in that they hire independent contractors instead of full-time employees. The National Wildlife Refuge Association has been using this concept for several years to complement our full-time staff in order to wisely use the funding we receive and build a more responsive conservation non-profit organization.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has submitted a draft rule to open up new refuge acres for hunting and fishing, new methods of take, or new species. We have received many, many questions about this draft rule, so I want to take a few minutes to explain the history of how we got to this point.
