USFWS guidelines that impact the actions of Friends organizations
Cancelled and will be rescheduled.
Friends, please join us to learn more about the forthcoming reporting system for Friends groups. This reporting system will be easy to use, not overly burdensome, and accessible to both Friends members and Service staff. In this webinar, we will demo the form and answer any and all questions you may have.
Presenter: Linda Schnee, National Friends Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Webinar on Wednesday, November 16th at 2:00pm ET
Did you know that it takes more than 18 months for the annual NWRS budget to become a reality? This ranges from the development of the President’s budget request to the ultimate passing of a bill by Congress and Friends groups can play a role. Eric discussed:
The federal budget process signals our nation’s priorities. The discussion was an opportunity to learn how the priorities are established for the National Wildlife Refuge System and how we can provide our input.
Presenter, Eric Alvarez the National Wildlife Refuge System’s Chief, Division of Realty, Budget, Performance, and Workforce
Here are links to the recording and slides:
A huge thank you to Eric Alvarez the National Wildlife Refuge System’s Chief, Division of Realty, Budget, Performance, and Workforce for this discussion.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s updated Friends Policy was finalized on July 12, 2021. This summer the Service has presented two webinars that provided overviews of the Policy. The Service provided the same content for each webinar however since the audience was different and therefore some of the questions differ. In addition to the recordings of the webinars held on July 28th and August 18th other materials from and mentioned during the webinar are available below.
We thank our amazing and knowledgeable presenters:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been on a journey to rebrand American’s Best Kept Secret, the National Wildlife Refuge System. Kristen Gilbert, USFWS Branch Lead for Communications and digital Services, shared this rebranding journey with Friends. The presentation included:
Link to the webinar recording.
We want to thank our amazing and knowledgeable presenter, Kristen Gilbert, USFWS Branch Lead for Communications and digital Services.
Dear Friends Community-
We are pleased to announce that the updated Friends Policy (633 FW 1- 4) has just been finalized and uploaded to the Service’s policy website and is effective immediately. The policy is a tool to help the Service and Friends work together for the shared goals of protecting the resource and engaging communities. The policy is the last deliverable from the Department of the Interior Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audit and the culmination of a multi-year process.
Policy revisions began several years ago and included discussions among the Service, NWRA and the Solicitor’s Office. Since receiving the audit report in September 2020, we have involved as many stakeholders as possible, both internal and external, to create a well-rounded, straightforward policy that addresses both longstanding concerns and issues raised by the OIG. We received more than 550 comments from within the Service, as well as an additional 550+ comments from the Friends community. We appreciate the concerns we have heard from the Friends Community about both the content of the policy and the process by which it was updated. Each and every comment received was carefully evaluated and changes were made wherever possible, taking into consideration the real-world implications both for Friends and Service staff.
We know there will be a lot of questions and we are committed to providing both Service employees and the Friends community with the necessary tools and information. We’ve created a communications and training plan to highlight changes and address questions, including FAQs, handouts on Ethics Guidelines for Service staff when working with Friends, and webinars, among other tools. We look forward to working with the Friends community to ensure we provide the necessary resources to help implement the policy.
We will be rolling this information out to you starting next week including a timeline for sharing these materials and training opportunities. Please contact Linda Schnee with any questions.
Thank you for your input and patience during this process. Friends partnerships are invaluable to the Service, and we hope this new policy reflects the appreciation and respect we have for our Friends groups. We look forward to working with you as partners to implement this new policy; ultimately strengthening our shared commitment to supporting conservation.
Thank you,
Cynthia
Chief
National Wildlife Refuge System
Photo credit: Friends of Brazoria Wildlife Refuges