National Wildlife Refuge Week features scores of festivals and special events around the United States that help connect people with nature at the country?s 545 National Wildlife Refuges. The 11th consecutive National Wildlife Refuge Week will be celebrated this year from October 8th to the 14th.
Established in 1903, when President Theodore Roosevelt designated the three-acre Pelican Island in Florida as the nation?s first wildlife refuge, the National Wildlife Refuge System, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, today encompasses 545 National Wildlife Refuges and more than 3,000 waterfowl production areas across more than 97 million acres.
More than 40 million people each year visit National Wildlife Refuges for close-to-home wildlife-dependent recreation that is second to none.
"National Wildlife Refuges are America's promise to its citizens that there will always be places where wildlife and wildlife habitats can thrive," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall. "Just as important, the Refuge System offers some of the finest outdoor recreation in the country, from fishing and hunting to nature photography and nature interpretation."
"One of our most pressing challenges in our society today is to teach our children--kids growing up in a digital age--that there is a world of nature beyond the computer and television screen," Hall continued. "National Wildlife Refuges are some of the greatest places for young Americans to learn the lessons of nature, and National Wildlife Refuge Week is the perfect time to start."
Here in Alaska, National Wildlife Refuges, along the road system and in the remotest corners of the Interior bush, provide Alaskans and visitors to our state with opportunities to hunt, fish, photograph and see wildlife throughout the year. But Refuge Week provides some special opportunities!
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Regional Director Tom Melius will kickoff Refuge Week in Anchorage by hosting "Arctic Images through a Photographer's Lens," a photo journey of Alaska's northern national wildlife refuges, to be held on October 11th, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Loussac Library's Wilda Marsten Theater. The show will feature the work of Fish and Wildlife Service photographer Steve Hillebrand, and will focus on Selawik, Kanuti, Yukon Flats, and Arctic National Wildlife Refuges. In addition to this showing of spectacular wildlife photos, the event will feature nationally-known photographer Fred Hirschmann, who will offer pointers on how to capture your own professional quality outdoor images. For more information contact Kevin Painter, (907) 786-3389.
On Saturday, October 14th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Becharof National Wildlife Refuge will host presentations at its King Salmon, Alaska Visitor Center on the history of, and opportunities provided by, local refuges. A live animal presentation, film festival, book sale, face painting, and drawings for prizes will take place. For more information contact Michelle Franulovich, (907) 246-1211.
Beginning at 7:00 p.m. on October 28, Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge and the Duct Tape Radio and Humanities Forum will co-host "Critter Contra" in the Tok, Alaska Musher's Hall. Celebrating both National Wildlife Refuge Week and Halloween, this event will include an animal costume contest, refuge displays, and a live band for contra dancing. The date is still tentative, so contact Mary Timm, (907) 883-9419 for additional information.
On November 10-11, the Far North Conservation Film Festival will celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week at the Pioneer Park Centennial Center for the Arts (Civic Center) in Fairbanks, Alaska. Guest speakers will be featured during the two-day admission-free event, and local groups with an interest in conservation or film-making will staff booths and displays in the exhibit hall on Saturday. For more information contact Kristin Fischer, (907) 456-0528 or Jennifer Reed, (907) 455-1835.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 fish and wildlife management offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
- FWS-
For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov
