News
The National Wildlife Refuge Association has named its Wildlife Refuge Award winners for 2022. The awards, given annually by the Refuge Association, recognize U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees, Friends, and volunteers for their outstanding contributions to conserving public lands and waters in the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Some of the most outstanding advocates of the National Wildlife Refuge System’s protected public lands will be honored for their contributions on September 14 in Washington, DC. The 2022 Wildlife Refuge Awards dinner will take place at 7 p.m. at the Mayflower Hotel. Media is welcome to attend and cover the program and the ceremony will be livestreamed for all to attend across the country.
We are excited to announce that our 2022 Wildlife Refuge Awards ceremony is going virtual! The in-person event held on Wednesday, September 14th, 2022 at 7 pm ET will be live-streamed free.
Since 1994, the National Wildlife Refuge Association has presented the Wildlife Refuge Awards to honor the outstanding contributions of Refuge employees, friends, and volunteers. This year, we will celebrate the exceptional accomplishments of awardees in five categories: the Paul Kroegel Refuge Manager of the Year, the Refuge Employee of the Year, the Refuge Volunteer of the Year, the Molly Krival Refuge Friends Group of the Year, and the Refuge Advocate.
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.
In Alaska, there may be no bigger voice than David Raskin when it comes to ensuring thriving wildlife populations and protection for the places they call home. For David’s passion and years of service in his role as co-founder, Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges, a group that supports all 16 of Alaska’s national wildlife refuges, he has recently been named the National Wildlife Refuge Association’s 2022 Refuge Advocate Awardee.
The evidence of the effects of lead toxicity on wildlife populations and human health has been growing quickly over the past few decades. The National Wildlife Refuge System should be the pinnacle of wildlife protection and conservation on public lands. We must acknowledge the adverse health effects lead has on wildlife, especially on national wildlife refuges throughout the country.
In November 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established just the second National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) fully located in Kentucky. Despite historic opposition to a greater federal presence in the state, the Green River NWR became the Nation’s 568th unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System as a direct result of the exceptional vision and communication of Michael Johnson.
