On Wednesday, September 28th, Libby Marking, Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for the National Wildlife Refuge Association, and Caroline Brouwer, Government Affairs Consultant, provided a legislative and regulatory update on recent issues impacting the National Wildlife Refuge System, including the appropriations process and the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act.
We thank Libby and Caroline for the update and the following materials:
For National Wildlife Refuge Week, October 9th-15th, NWRA is providing a toolkit to uplift what makes refuges special for wildlife and your community. NWRA will also be sending a toolkit to help you reach out to your Members of Congress and report back to the National Wildlife Refuge Association about your engagement with them. If you are not on NWRA’s mailing list, sign up now!
Thanks everyone for you support of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
A huge thank you to our very knowledgeable presenters, Cynthia Martinez, Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System and Eric Alvarez Chief of Real Estate.
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.
This year, we are offering a prize of up to $3,000. In order to apply, please use this application form. Please email the completed form back to us by April 18th, 2022. We plan to announce the winner/s at the end of April.
Thank you for everything you do for your local refuge and for the National Wildlife Refuge System. We are very proud to call you our partners and recognize the very important work you all do. We look forward to receiving your application.
We want to thank Aimee Arent and Tom Romito from the Friends of Ottawa NWR in Ohio for presenting the webinar on Donor-Centered Fundraising: Challenging your mindset about the F word as promised.
Here is the recording and slides from the webinar.
The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) provides funds to address the maintenance backlog of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other public lands agencies. The funding for GAOA comes from energy development on Federal land and water. Up to $1.9 billion will be available in each fiscal year from 2021 to 2025 to address these maintenance needs. USFWS receives 5 percent of this annual allocation. The following links provide information on FWS projects:
The GAOA also provides full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Congress created LWCF in 1964 to protect Federal lands and waters and provide recreational opportunities. GAOA provides LWCF with $900 million annually to support this program. Annually, FWS receives a portion of these funds to support projects, access and land acquisition.
