News
Bayou Sauvage, at nearly 30,000 acres, is the nation’s second largest urban refuge and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It lies protected mostly within the levees of eastern New Orleans and has long been a favorite of birders, fishers, hunters, crabbers, hikers, bikers, and kayakers. An abundance of wildlife – more than 340 species of birds, including bald eagles, as well as Gulf sturgeon, American alligators, and the occasional west Indian manatee – call the refuge home.
Join us as National Wildlife Refuge Association Young Ambassador Alexander Sriharsha as he takes us on tour at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, in the Hawaiian archipelago!
The National Wildlife Refuge System encompasses more than 850 million acres of land and waters across America’s 568 National Wildlife Refuges, including 5 Marine National Monuments. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is responsible for managing these lands and is expected to fulfill its obligation to the Refuge System’s 64 million annual visitors and diverse wildlife on a budget of a mere 61¢ per acre per year, a fraction of what other land agencies receive. For comparison, the National Park Service receives $31 per acre for land management.
On March 29th, 2022 the National Wildlife Refuge Association’s, Vice President, Government Affairs, Caroline Brouwer testified in support of Bill H.R. 6734 Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act of 2022 to the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association is excited to announce the third installment of 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 national wildlife refuges and is very impressed by the dedication and effectiveness of Refuge Friends groups.
Today we wish a very happy 119th birthday to the National Wildlife Refuge System!
The National Wildlife Refuge System began in 1903 when President Theodore Roosevelt created a “Federal Bird Reservation” at Pelican Island in Florida to save brown pelicans. The protection of this three-acre mangrove island was a pivotal moment for the American conservation movement, laying the groundwork for what would become our system of national wildlife refuges.
For February the winning photo taken by Dale Bales, is of a bison and a fiery red sunset at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Prairie City, Iowa. Linda Frazier has other photos of the Refuge.
Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, Iowa was established in 1990 with the purpose to protect, restore and reconstruct and manage native ecosystems of tallgrass prairie, oak savanna, and sedge meadow.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association joined other environmental and scientific organizations in successfully supporting the proposed mouse eradication project at the December 16, 2021 hearing of the California Coastal Commission. After the seven-hour emotion-laden hearing, the Commission narrowly voted to approve the refuge’s Coastal Consistency Determination for the project.
