REFUGE FRIENDS

What Is A Refuge Friend?

Refuge Friends are independent, nonprofit organizations run by individuals that support the purposes and objectives of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Many groups are well established and provide extensive assistance to their refuges; others have just gotten started.

The first Refuge Friends organizations started in the 1980s.  Today, roughly 200 organizations build links between communities and refuges. Refuge Friends support local refuges and the National Wildlife Refuge system by:

  • Advocating for funding, protection and improved programming of all refuges

  • Conducting public events that teach visitors and connect the community with conservation

  • Restoring habitat, maintaining trails, coordinating volunteers

  • Operating nature stores and raising funds

Refuge Friends form a network of organizations that are the core of the National Wildlife Refuge Association’s grassroots advocacy efforts. Whenever possible, we coordinate with local Refuge Friends and rely on their support to give the National Wildlife Refuge System a local voice in support our national advocacy efforts on behalf of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Refuge Friends News

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Announcing Our 2024 Wildlife Refuge Awards: Honoring Awardees For Outstanding Conservation Achievements
Announcing Our 2024 Wildlife Refuge Awards: Honoring Awardees For Outstanding Conservation Achievements

Within the heart of America’s national wildlife refuges lies a commitment to nature and conservation that is essential for the well-being of our communities. The National Wildlife Refuge Association is proud to announce the recipients of the 2024 Wildlife Refuge Awards, recognizing the exceptional contributions made to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service managed National Wildlife Refuge System.

Few staff, many problems: Inside the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge’s funding crisis
Few staff, many problems: Inside the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge’s funding crisis

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. 

November 2022 Legislative Update
November 2022 Legislative Update

In November, the National Wildlife Refuge Association continued to advocate for increased appropriations for the National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System) in fiscal year (FY) 2023. We led a letter signed by 62 organizations, including 17 Refuge Friends organizations, to appropriators requesting at least the funding levels of $574 million included in the House-passed version of the Department of the Interior Appropriations bill, and we signed a group letter requesting increased funding for environmental agencies that goes well above simply keeping pace with inflation.

Let's Celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week!
Let's Celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week!

Each year, during the second full week of October, National Wildlife Refuge Week celebrates the greatest network of lands and waters set aside for wildlife and people alike, the National Wildlife Refuge System. In 2022, National Wildlife Refuge Week occurs October 9-15.

House Passes the Bipartisan “Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act of 2022”
House Passes the Bipartisan “Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act of 2022”

The Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act of 2022 (H.R. 6734) recently passed the House of Representatives and now heads to the Senate for consideration. In March, the National Wildlife Refuge Association’s former Vice President of Government Affairs, Caroline Brouwer, testified in support of the bill to the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.

Request For Testimony On FY2023 Appropriations For The National Wildlife Refuge System To The Senate
Request For Testimony On FY2023 Appropriations For The National Wildlife Refuge System To The Senate

The National Wildlife Refuge Association is requesting Refuge Friends’ testimony on behalf of National Wildlife Refuge System funding levels for the Fiscal Year 2023— this time for the Senate! Many of you already submitted testimony for the House back in March, but even if you didn’t you can still submit testimony to the Senate!

Testifying On Behalf Of Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act of 2022
Testifying On Behalf Of Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act of 2022

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.

Public Witness Day Testimony for FY23 Appropriations For The National Wildlife Refuge System
Public Witness Day Testimony for FY23 Appropriations For The National Wildlife Refuge System

Written testimony by Caroline Brouwer, Vice President, Government Affairs, National Wildlife Refuge Association, for the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies

Request For Testimony On FY2023 Appropriations For The National Wildlife Refuge System To The House
Request For Testimony On FY2023 Appropriations For The National Wildlife Refuge System To The House

I truly appreciate all the Friends and Friends Groups who submitted testimony to the House and Senate last spring. We are *still* waiting to see the results of that push for increased funding since Congress has still not passed an FY2022 appropriations bill. The House of Representatives, however, is beginning their Fiscal Year 2023 push without any final FY2022 numbers and without the release of the President’s Budget Request (which we are expecting any day).

Refuge & Hatchery Friends Photo Contest January 2022 Winner— Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge
Refuge & Hatchery Friends Photo Contest January 2022 Winner— Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge

Last month, Mark Lindvall shared an amazing video when he was at Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge during their bison roundup. Mark shared the photo with the Refuge Friends community on the Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates Facebook group.

National Wildlife Refuge Association 2021 Annual Report
National Wildlife Refuge Association 2021 Annual Report

The National Wildlife Refuge Association’s 2021 Annual Report is here, download the full report.

For 46 years, the National Wildlife Refuge Association has worked to support the National Wildlife Refuge System (, our country’s extraordinary network of over 850 million acres of lands and waters set aside for wildlife and their habitats. After nearly 2 years, the pandemic continues to disrupt normal operations everywhere and national wildlife refuges across the country are no exception. Even so, with the help of our incredible supporters and dynamic board and staff, the National Wildlife Refuge Association has adapted to meet these challenges, and we are stronger and more resilient than ever. None of our successes would be possible without our donors and supporters.

In the Spotlight: Striking the Right Chord at the Right Time
In the Spotlight: Striking the Right Chord at the Right Time

For the Friends of the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge located on the Gulf Coast in north Florida, the challenge became, “How do we bridge these obstacles? How can we get out of the ‘idle’ mode and move forward?” The task, coincidentally, meshed well with some musical research I was doing at the time. In a short video, guitarist Mark Knopfler was patiently describing playing a basic guitar chord.

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Of Dollars And Cents: A Webinar For Your Refuge Friends Organization

A recipe for basic financial management and reporting for small Refuge Friends organizations.

Our Response To The Audit On The National Wildlife Refuge Friends Program
Our Response To The Audit On The National Wildlife Refuge Friends Program

The Interior Department’s Office of the Inspector General has completed its audit of the Refuge Friends program and released its final report. The Refuge Association and the Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates have responded to this report with a letter to Interior Secretary Bernhardt expresses our dismay at the report.

Become A National Wildlife Refuge Advocacy Champion!
Become A National Wildlife Refuge Advocacy Champion!

The National Wildlife Refuge Association and Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates are forming a core of well-trained enthusiastic advocates for the National Wildlife Refuge System. We will provide webinars to inform you about:

Announcement For Refuge Friends: Our Partnership With Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates
Announcement For Refuge Friends: Our Partnership With Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates

The National Wildlife Refuge Association and Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates (CORFA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), to formalize our long-standing partnership. The MOU outlines plans to work together to provide Friends organizations with information and materials they seek to strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of their organizations.

Helping Our Friends— Refuge Friends Fundraising Webinar
Helping Our Friends— Refuge Friends Fundraising Webinar

On Tuesday, May 12th and Thursday, May 14th, Courtney Lewis, the Director of Development at the Refuge Association, hosted a Friends Fundraising webinar. This webinar covered five different topics.