Virtual Hill Days Offer Advocacy Opportunities for
Refuge & Hatchery Friends
By Libby Marking, Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy, National Wildlife Refuge Association
View of Mount Washington at sunset with geese in flight. Captured from Pondicherry National Wildlife Refuge, New Hampshire | Cate Bligh
The National Wildlife Refuge Association hosted Virtual Hill Days from July 11th to July 14th, facilitating meetings between Friends groups and their congressional representatives. Overall, approximately 35 Friends members representing about 30 Friends groups participated, meeting with 14 key congressional offices. We primarily targeted Members of Congress who sit on the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Committees to shore up their support for increased National Wildlife Refuge System funding in their respective appropriations bills. During those meetings, Friends expressed the importance of their refuges to wildlife and the community and shared stories of the impacts of insufficient staffing on national wildlife refuges while advocating for increased funding. Congressional staff were also provided fact sheets from the Refuge Association detailing the Refuge System and its funding challenges from the national perspective.
The week began with an advocacy training webinar to help Friends acquire additional background about the funding challenges of the Refuge System, as well as best practices for conducting effective meetings with congressional offices so they can continue advocating for the Refuge System in the future. Friends took the opportunity in these meetings to invite the Members and their staff to visit their refuge during August recess when Members of Congress and their staff spend time back in their state or district. All offices were highly interested in visiting their local refuge sometime in the near future!
I want to send my sincere thanks to the Friends who participated for their genuine interest in being advocates for the Refuge System and for taking the time out of their busy schedules to participate in this important effort. These meetings went a long way toward raising awareness about the Refuge System with key congressional offices. Building support and driving meaningful improvements for the Refuge System cannot happen without the local voice from Friends. I hope all Friends participate in future Virtual Hill Days and continue to advocate independently with their representatives in Congress.