News
The Department of the Interior issued a Notice of Intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a potential land exchange in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge that would allow the construction of a road.
World Migratory Bird Day is a global celebration of the incredible journeys birds make each year as they travel thousands of miles between their breeding and wintering grounds. This year's theme is water, which is fitting since migratory birds rely heavily on aquatic ecosystems throughout their life cycles.
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 National Wildlife Refuge Association wholeheartedly supports Martha Williams in her role as the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). In a recent letter to the Administration, a group of concerned scientists called for the resignation or dismissal of Director Williams. They claim she lacks the required scientific and educational background to serve in this position, despite her impressive experience in fisheries and wildlife management and environmental law and policy.
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.
On spring mornings, a chorus erupts from the mouth of the Missisquoi River.
Scores of birds, from Canadian geese to bobolinks, are migrating north, feeding, breeding, and raising their young in the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge. Deer feed on the shores, while muskrats patrol the shallow waters alongside a myriad of fish, with the river itself one of the few spawning sites of Lake sturgeon in Lake Champlain.
However, budget constraints across the National Wildlife Refuge System have put a chokehold on what the skeleton crew managing the local 7,000-acre refuge can do.
“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 Department of the Interior recently announced that Secretary Deb Haaland rescinded a 2019 proposed land exchange in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge that authorized a road to be constructed through the heart of this pristine Alaskan landscape. The National Wildlife Refuge Association has worked for decades to protect the Izembek NWR from this threat and celebrates this important step towards safeguarding America's most ecologically significant national wildlife refuge.
