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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251215
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UID:10000042-1765756800-1765843199@coalitionofrefugefriends.com
SUMMARY:USFWS Partnership Mentoring Program
DESCRIPTION:Deadline for Accepting Applications Extended Until 12/15/25\nFriends groups along with their FWS Partners have an opportunity to apply for the FWS Friends Mentor Program. The Fall Application is now available. Applications will be accepted until December 15\, 2025. \nWhat is the Mentor Program? In many ways\, it is just what you want/need it to be. Each mentoring relationship is different but\, in a nutshell\, Friends and their Refuge Management decide on the topics they would like to learn more about or have help with. That is part of the application. It could be training the board\, planning a joint project\, or\, after this long Covid winter\, a reboot to get your board and FWS staff excited about working together again\, for example. \nOnce you have submitted the completed application it will be reviewed by the FWS Friends Coordinator\, Linda Schnee\, and the Regional Friends Coordinators. If your application is selected\, you will be assigned a team of experienced and trained mentors\, usually one FWS staff and one Friends Board/Staff person who will work with you on fleshing out an agenda\, and then will come to your refuge to conduct a 2-day training. \nAt the end of that training\, your group will identify a set of 3 or 4 objectives that you want to accomplish in the next year. Mentors then check in with you on a regular schedule to offer help\, guidance\, encouragement\, and lots of cheers for the good work you are doing. \nSound like something that your group would benefit from? I’ve been on both sides of mentoring\, as a Friends mentor and as a board member of a group being mentored and I can tell you from personal experience that this program provides a couple of skilled “consultants\,” for a year\, free-of-charge to your Friends group and your Refuge. So\, what are you waiting for? Get that application going! \nShould you want to find out more about the benefits of this program check out the 2023 recording about the USFWS Mentoring Program.
URL:https://coalitionofrefugefriends.com/event/usfws-partnership-mentoring-program/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251217T140000
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CREATED:20251203T162531Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251203T165328Z
UID:10000045-1765980000-1765983600@coalitionofrefugefriends.com
SUMMARY:Let's Celebrate!
DESCRIPTION:NWRA has declared December 17\, 2025\, Refuge Staff Appreciation Day. In recognition of this day\, let’s celebrate the National Wildlife Refuge and Hatcheries systems\, their dedicated staff and loyal Friends groups with Jim Kurth\, Retired Deputy Director of the USFWS as he reminds us all why we do what we do. \nJim will reminisce a little about his time with the Service and why we can be so proud of the work we help to support.  Then\, he has agreed to field your questions about the Service. If you have a question for Jim\, please send it to coalitionrefugefriends@gmail.com  There should also be time for “live” questions during the webinar. \nJim Kurth began his career as a biological technician with the U.S Forest Service on the Wayne National Forest in Ohio. He transferred to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service in 1979 as assistant refuge manager at Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. He served as an assistant refuge manager at Loxahatchee NWR in Florida\, Bogue Chitto NWR in Louisiana\, and Seney NWR in Michigan. He then served as refuge manager of the seven refuges in Rhode Island and Connecticut. After a tour in the Alaska Regional Office in Anchorage\, he served as the manager of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from 1994 to 1999. \nJim then moved to the Washington Office and served as Deputy Chief (1999-2011) and Chief (2011-2015) of the National Wildlife Refuge System\, then Deputy Director of the Service from 2015 until his retirement in June 2019. \nSign Up! \n 
URL:https://coalitionofrefugefriends.com/event/lets-celebrate/
CATEGORIES:Webinar
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ORGANIZER;CN="Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates (CORFA)":MAILTO:coalitionrefugefriends@gmail.com
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251218T070000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251218T200000
DTSTAMP:20260422T050203
CREATED:20251207T043256Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251207T044559Z
UID:10000046-1766041200-1766088000@coalitionofrefugefriends.com
SUMMARY:State of the System Report: Gratitude\, Grit & the Road Ahead
DESCRIPTION:As we approach the longest night of the year\, we pause to reflect—with gratitude for the wild places that ground us and resolve to protect them through whatever comes next. \nJoin Desirée Sorenson-Groves\, President & CEO of the National Wildlife Refuge Association\, for a timely briefing on the state of the National Wildlife Refuge System. With the fallout from the recent government shutdown still unfolding—and the threat of another on the horizon—America’s wildlife refuges are facing some of their toughest challenges yet. \nFrom deepening staff shortages to chronic underfunding and shifting policy winds\, the path forward is not without obstacles. But in these darker times\, new light begins to shine: innovative partnerships\, community-led conservation\, and a growing movement of people ready to defend our nation’s wild heritage. This webinar offers a chance to take stock\, find hope\, and recommit to protecting the lands and wildlife that sustain us all. \nPresenter \n\nDesirée Sorenson-Groves came back to the Refuge Association in October 2024 as the President and CEO. Her career has been focused on protecting and enhancing the National Wildlife Refuge System\, first as a grassroots organizer for the National Audubon Society\, then as the Vice President of Government Affairs for the Refuge Association. After 14 years at NWRA\, Sorenson-Groves became the Director of the Arctic Refuge Defense Campaign where she managed an Indigenous-led\, multi-pronged effort to stop any development in the Arctic Refuge. She comes back to NWRA after leading Defenders of Wildlife’s public and private lands programs as their Vice President of Land & Habitat Conservation. She has a B.A. in Geography from George Washington University and resides in Fort Valley\, VA with her husband and two Chesapeake Bay Retrievers.\n\nSign Up! \n 
URL:https://coalitionofrefugefriends.com/event/state-of-the-system-report-gratitude-grit-the-road-ahead/
CATEGORIES:Event
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