Alaska

The Link is a quarterly newsletter produced in coordination between Friends, the National Wildlife Refuge Association and Coalition of Refuge Friends & Advocates.

Here in Central Minnesota, when goldenrod is abuzz with pollinators and school supplies fill the shelves of big-box stores, we know that back-to-school time is nigh. Unfortunately, at the same time in some years—like this one—names like Katrina, Maria, and Ian monopolize the news, and photos of their devastation give us pause. Our hearts go out to our Friends/friends in Florida and the Southeast as their lives, homes, and refuges deal with what the hurricane has left behind. Our thoughts are with you.

Since environmental education is one of the Big Six public uses of national wildlife refuges, we have decided to focus our fall issue on education and how some of our Friends are supporting it at their refuges. Here at Sherburne NWR, over the past 12 years, we have been fortunate to work with staff at the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center (PWLC), part of the Fergus Falls Wetland Management District, to develop a nature education program to meet our needs. The PWLC was the logical go-to resource, not just because of its proximity, but because of the exceptional hands-on learning options they offer, supported by the Friends of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center.

The PWLC offers a standards-based curriculum geared to the season through a variety of programs for preschool and K-12 students as well as multi-day and overnight visits for 5th graders and older. This is impressive by itself. However, what makes the PWLC special is their Prairie Science Class, “an award-winning, internationally recognized partnership with Fergus Falls Public Schools.” This partnership uses “the local prairie wetlands ecosystem as an integrating and motivating context to engage 4th and 5th-grade students in science, language arts, critical thinking, problem-solving, and writing through real world, field-based learning experiences.” In short, the same 200 4th and 5th-grade students spend half of each school day for a full school year at the PWLC, where four district teachers have their own classrooms plus the 330-acre outdoor classroom for providing hands-on learning for their students.

At Sherburne, we have incorporated the principles of the PWLC Compass to Nature method into our approach and have developed our own standards-based curriculum for our work with our partner schools. Further, our education volunteers and some of our partner-school teachers have participated in the excellent Teaching in the Outdoor Classroom Workshop at the PWLC. We are grateful to the staff of the PWLC (past and present) as well as to the PWLC Friends for providing and supporting this valuable program. The Friends’ support has been essential—whether handling registrations for the outdoor classroom workshop, providing essential funding for the naturalist who manages the PWLC greenhouse, or rewarding Prairie Science Class students with ice cream on the last day of school. Hats off to the staff and Friends at the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center!

Our Fall Features Include:

• Different Places, Different Spaces, and Different Approaches to Nature Education
  • Friends of Tualatin River NWRC (OR) – Partnership with Title 1 school by Bonnie Anderson, Executive Director
  • Friends of Brazoria Wildlife Refuges (TX) – Getting DEEP into Environmental Education by Lisa Ladd Myers, President
  • Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR (HI) – The Teaching Change Partnership: Providing local youth with outdoor, immersive, and culturally aligned environmental education opportunities at Hakalau Forest NWR by Dr. Creighton Litton
• Congratulations Are in Order: Friends Group of the Year and Advocate of the Year!
• Advocacy Update with Libby Marking, Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy
• A Little Homework for Friends
• August Photo Contest Winner
• Previews of Upcoming Webinars

Read All Of The Stories!

Sincerely,
Sue Hix, Editor
Friends of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. MN

Credits

The Fall 2022 version of The Link has been a coordinated effort between the National Wildlife Refuge Association and Coalition of Refuge Friends & Advocates. 

To receive the next issue of The Link, complete the form at the bottom of this page https://www.refugeassociation.org/friends. And please add refugeassociation.org to the safe list for your email account.

You’re invited to join the CORFA Facebook group, a place to connect with other amazing members of the Friends community to share information, insights, and experiences concerning nonprofit governance, management, and advocacy. Go to  https://www.facebook.com/groups/coalitionofrefugefriends/ and request to join this private group.

• Sue Hix (Editor) – Friends of Sherburne NWR
• Joan Patterson (Co-editor)—Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates 
• Libby Marking—NWRA Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy
• Eden Taylor (designer)— NWRA Communications Associate 
• Friends Editorial Staff:
  • Cheryl Hart—NWRA Board, Board member of Friends of Tualatin River NWR 
  • Kathy Woodward—Former NWRA Board Member, Board member of Friends of Great Swamp NWR 
  • Jim Stone– NWRA Board, Board member of Friends of the Wichitas

The Link is a quarterly newsletter produced in coordination between Friends, the National Wildlife Refuge Association and Coalition of Refuge Friends & Advocates.

Summertime and more folks are on the road again visiting family and friends, state and national parks—and our national wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries. This issue features stunning photos by Friends of refuges from Hawaii to the east coast. Friends mentors have been on the road again as well; enjoy photos from their visits to Maine and California. 

Vacation time means that we also have the opportunity to meet with our elected officials as the House and Senate take recess. We have included tips for inviting your Congress members to visit your site and an example of a compelling story that can help you compose your own story to tell once those representatives arrive at your refuge or hatchery. On the subject of advocacy, “meet” Libby Marking, the new Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy for the National Wildlife Refuge Association. 

Finally, read about CORFA and fellow Friends meeting with USFWS Director Martha Williams, participate in a CORFA online questionnaire, and see what webinars are on the calendar for the next few months. It’s another jam-packed issue for you to enjoy! 

Our Summer Features Include:

• Happy Trails to You – At a Nearby National Wildlife Refuge
• Is Mentoring in Your Future?
• Summertime Is Advocacy Time – and YOU Can Be an Advocate
• One Friend’s Story – By Ian Bergemann, President, Friends of Outer Island NWR (CT)
• Meet Libby Marking, Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy – NWRA
• Friends and CORFA Meet with USFWS Director Williams
• Help Set the Direction for CORFA
• Previews of Coming Webinars

Read All Of The Stories!

Sincerely,
Sue Hix, Editor
Friends of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. MN

Credits

The Summer 2022 version of The Link has been a coordinated effort between the National Wildlife Refuge Association and Coalition of Refuge Friends & Advocates. 

To receive the next issue of The Link, complete the form at the bottom of this page https://www.refugeassociation.org/friends. And please add refugeassociation.org to the safe list for your email account.

You’re invited to join the CORFA Facebook group, a place to connect with other amazing members of the Friends community to share information, insights, and experiences concerning nonprofit governance, management, and advocacy. Go to  https://www.facebook.com/groups/coalitionofrefugefriends/ and request to join this private group.

• Sue Hix (Editor) – Friends of Sherburne NWR
• Joan Patterson (Co-editor)—Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates 
• Libby Marking—NWRA Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy
• Eden Taylor (designer)— NWRA Communications Associate 
• Friends Editorial Staff:
  • Cheryl Hart—NWRA Board, Board member of Friends of Tualatin River NWR 
  • Kathy Woodward—Former NWRA Board Member, Board member of Friends of Great Swamp NWR 
  • Jim Stone– NWRA Board, Board member of Friends of the Wichitas

The Link is a quarterly newsletter produced in coordination between Friends, the National Wildlife Refuge Association and Coalition of Refuge Friends & Advocates.

Spring is taking its time getting to Central Minnesota this year. For several days in mid-March, warm, sunny days got our hopes up, but those hopes were soon dashed by bone-chilling winds, persistent gray clouds, below-normal temperatures, and s-n-o-w—that we’re still experiencing in mid-April. Despite the weather, though, the distinctive sounds of sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans, and red-winged blackbirds in the wetlands have assured us that Mother Nature is still on schedule; and once the ice goes out and we see loons on the lakes, we’ll know for sure that it’s time to start checking ourselves and our pets for ticks. Ah, spring!

The definition of “spring” varies with location, so we’ve asked some Friends from across the country to send us photos of springtime on their refuges and tell us what special activities are in store for people visiting those refuges in the next couple of months. For example, here at Sherburne, there will be the opening of the Wildlife Drive, a couple of bird hikes, a Spring Celebration, and visits from Partner School students as we cautiously proceed to greet visitors in person after the long COVID-19 hiatus. 

We at The Link hope that you’ll enjoy this issue with photos of spring and other features geared to the interests of Friends everywhere.

Our Spring Features Include:

• Spring Arrives with Memories of an Unsolved Mystery – Friends of Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys NWRs (FL)
• Marvel at the Beauty of the Nevada Wilderness – Friends of Nevada Wilderness (NV)
• Springs Brings a New Point of View to These Friends and Refuge Visitors – Friends of Blackwater NWR (MD)
• Spring on the Prairie at Neal Smith NWR (IA)
• Spring Wears Many Faces on Alaska National Wildlife Refuges (AK)
• Meet Our Partners Interview: Cynthia Martinez, Chief, National Wildlife Refuge System
• Previews of Coming Webinars!
• CORFA Update: What’s Happening in the Friends Community?

Read All Of The Stories!

Sincerely,
Sue Hix, Editor
Friends of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge

Credits

The Spring 2022 version of The Link has been a coordinated effort between the National Wildlife Refuge Association and Coalition of Refuge Friends & Advocates. 

To receive the next issue of The Link, complete the form at the bottom of this page https://www.refugeassociation.org/friends. And please add refugeassociation.org to the safe list for your email account.

You’re invited to join the CORFA Facebook group, a place to connect with other amazing members of the Friends community to share information, insights, and experiences concerning nonprofit governance, management, and advocacy. Go to  https://www.facebook.com/groups/coalitionofrefugefriends/ and request to join this private group.

• Sue Hix (Editor) – Friends of Sherburne NWR
• Joan Patterson (Co-editor)—Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates 
• Caroline Brouwer—NWRA VP of Government Affairs 
• Eden Taylor (designer)— NWRA Communications Associate 
• Friends Editorial Staff:
  • Cheryl Hart—NWRA Board, Board member of Friends of Tualatin River NWR 
  • Kathy Woodward—Former NWRA Board Member, Board member of Friends of Great Swamp NWR 
  • Jim Stone– NWRA Board, Board member of Friends of the Wichitas