community

Engaging the Community:Important First Step in Advocacy

  • Post category:Advocacy
  • Reading time:3 mins read

Author: Katherine A. Kramer, Contract Manager, Friends of the Front Range Wildlife Refuges, Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge (CO)

Black-Footed Ferret mascot with visitors
Black-Footed Ferret with visitors at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, Coloardo | Kate Kramer
Two girls hugging a Black-Footed Ferret mascot
Family hug with Black-Footed Ferret | Kate Kramer

Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge was designated an Urban Flagship Refuge in 2021. With the designation came an increased responsibility to reach out to community partners, remove historic barriers to access, and make all visitors feel welcome.

Focusing on our close-by neighbors, the refuge staff and volunteers looked for creative ways to engage the public. In the spring of 2022, a Generation Wild Youth Council was developed by Lillian Wangler, Coordinator, and two high school students from adjacent neighborhoods. The ten students will serve through the 2022-23 school year to provide a unique and vital link with the neighbors helping to make the refuge more welcoming. 

The Youth Council volunteered at the annual Refuge Day event in October, which brought in a more diverse audience to the refuge than ever before. Greeting guests dressed as a black-footed ferret and making the most of their dual language skills, the Youth Council were the perfect advocates for a more open and welcoming refuge.

With Niall Goard as the new Council Coordinator, the students are engaged in becoming young stewards of the environment, while fostering a new relationship with their communities.

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Engaging Local Communities

people looking into a butterfly net

Thank you to all the Friends and Service members who attended the webinar, Engaging Local Communities. Below is the link to the recording.

We would like to thank the amazing and knowledgeable presenters Angelina Yost, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Coordinator for the Urban Wildlife Conservation Program, and Angie Horn National Wildlife Refuge Association, SoCal Regional Refuge Partnership Specialist.

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Friends, Connecting with Your Community?

bird singing

Friends have stories to tell, and The Link staff would like to share them with our readers! Send us a short account about the creative ways you’ve found to network and promote your refuge, hatchery, or organization during these COVID times. Then we’ll publish them in our spring issue, due out in April.

Without the usual in-person meetings, fundraisers, special events, festivals, and county fairs, we’ve all had to find new ways to stay connected with our communities. What has worked for you? Please let us know! A few sentences are adequate, or if you’re ambitious, send a couple of paragraphs—it’s like writing a Facebook post! Then attach a photo if you have one and send to: CoalitionRefugeFriends@gmail.com by Friday, March 12.

(Photo: Bruce Ellingson)

Continue ReadingFriends, Connecting with Your Community?