At the Conserving the Future website, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been soliciting ideas and comments from citizens regarding the future vision for the National Wildlife Refuge System.
If you visit the site, you’ll see volunteers, staff, refuge Friends, conservation leaders, and many other types of individuals participating in the conversation. The site has [...]

The “Take Pride in America” National Awards recognizes individuals, groups, or organizations for outstanding volunteer service on public lands. Volunteers nominated must have volunteered during May 1, 2010-April 30, 2011. Categories include: individual, school program, youth/youth group, corporation or business, non-profit organization, faith-based group, Federal volunteer event/program, local government event/program, state event/program [...]

The National Wildlife Refuge Association has just announced the winners of the 2011 National Wildlife Refuge System Awards.
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NWRS 2011 Friends Group of the Year Award
This award recognizes a Friends group that has shown outstanding leadership as a voice of the community and as an advocate for the protection, conservation, and enhancement of local refuges and [...]

The National Wildlife Refuge Association has just announced the winners of the 2011 National Wildlife Refuge System Awards.
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NWRS 2011 Volunteer of the Year Award
Denis Mudderman, Tamarac NWR, MN
Denis Mudderman combines his technological expertise with his enthusiasm for environmental education and public outreach to continually find new and creative ways to promote the conservation mission of [...]

The Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge have developed an interactive game that helps adults and kids learn more about marine debris in the Pacific, which threatens wildlife species (such as the endangered Laysan albatross) found at places like Midway Atoll NWR.
On the site, the Friends offer factsheets that can be downloaded and contain [...]

TCPalm.com is reporting that Joanna Webb — long-time refuge ranger at Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida — is being promoted to National Friends and Partnership Coordinator, which is a position that will allow her to help support 230 existing Friends groups and work to bring in new volunteers at refuges around the country.
Among [...]

On the website “Conserving the Future: Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation” (which was just redesigned), there’s an important discussion going on about the future of America’s National Wildlife Refuge System.
If you’re a refuge advocate, a refuge employee, a refuge volunteer, a hunter, angler, bird watcher, or wildlife conservation supporter, you should visit the site, [...]

The Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offers an entertaining newsletter titled “Focus on Friends” for the Friends volunteers in their area. The quarterly newsletter keeps the Region’s more than 50 refuge Friends groups current on regional developments and accomplishments.
The January 2011 issue of the newsletter features articles from the Regional [...]

The Friends of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge have been broadcasting images from a live Eagle Cam at a natural nest at the refuge since late 2004. Blackwater NWR is the largest refuge in Maryland and hosts the biggest breeding population of bald eagles on the East Coast north of Florida.
The Blackwater Eagle Cam nest has [...]

The White House website has announced that on January 4, President Obama signed the National Wildlife Refuge Volunteer Improvement Act of 2010, which was approved by Congress right before the holiday break.
According to the THOMAS website, the bill does the following:

Amends the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (the Act) to authorize appropriations for FY2011-FY2014 [...]

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has put out a special edition of their “Friends Forward” newsletter, which features a look at the many ways in which refuge Friends groups are using social media to get the word out about national wildlife refuges.
Using Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube, as well as blogs and email newsletters, [...]

The Friends of Hackmatack are urging supporters to attend U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Open Houses on the proposed Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge. This blog has reported on the proposed creation of the refuge (Feb 13 and April 10), which would be located in northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin.
In October 2010, as part of their [...]