Every year, thousands of species depend on national wildlife refuges—America’s hidden wild places and nature next door— for survival. From the Arctic tundra to the Florida Everglades, these protected landscapes offer sanctuary where nature can thrive.

The National Wildlife Refuge Association works every day to defend these irreplaceable public lands, inspire future conservation leaders, and ensure wildlife—from arctic foxes to monarch butterflies—has a future.

Your gift supports on-the-ground conservation, community engagement, and the protection of wildlife and the wild places they depend on.

Fifty years ago, the National Wildlife Refuge Association was founded by a group of passionate, retired refuge managers who believed that someone needed to stand up for the National Wildlife Refuge System. Since then, we’ve been that unwavering voice — protecting, promoting, and enhancing the most unique public lands system in the world set aside for wildlife. 

In 1975, the Refuge System included just 378 refuges spanning 34 million acres. A lot has changed since then. Gas was 57 cents per gallon, a postage stamp cost 10 cents, and many of today’s most iconic refuges didn’t even exist yet. Today, the Refuge System encompasses over 850 million acres of lands and waters, stretching from the Mariana Trench National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific to the Arctic, to tundra, deserts, and tropical rainforests — the largest network of lands and waters dedicated to wildlife conservation on Earth. 

The National Wildlife Refuge Association addresses National Wildlife Refuge System funding, management, and strategic growth while also promoting programs that maximize the Refuge System’s conservation impact.

If you would like to donate via check or through your donor advised fund, our address is:

1701 K Street NW, Suite 550

Washington, DC 20006

Tax ID: 23-7447365

Questions? Please contact Courtney Phelan at cphelan@refugeassociation.org or (202) 577-3200