National Wildlife Refuge Association
Description
The National Wildlife Refuge Association is a non-profit that works to conserve America’s wildlife heritage by protecting the National Wildlife Refuge System.
It is the only non-profit focused exclusively on the 850-million-acre Refuge System, the world’s largest network of lands and waters set aside for wildlife conservation. The association addresses funding, management and strategic growth of the system, and promotes programs that maximize its conservation impact. It builds a broad constituency of advocates, including birders, hunters, anglers, ranchers, students and other conservation groups, and works with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The association chairs the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement, a coalition of two dozen wildlife, sporting, science and conservation organizations. It also litigates and campaigns to protect refuge land, having led opposition to a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and a lawsuit over transmission lines through a Mississippi River refuge.
Founded in 1975 by former National Wildlife Refuge System managers and employees, the association is based in Washington, D.C. It remains the only national advocacy organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the Refuge System.
Latest news
Remembering Rich Guadagno 25 Years Later — The National Wildlife Refuge Association
Rich Guadagno was a refuge manager, conservationist, law enforcement officer, musician and friend whose life was rooted in caring for wildlife, wild places and people.
11 Sep 2026
A bipartisan group of seven former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries leaders is urging the administration to reverse a new rule that weakens how the Endangered Species Act protects wildlife from habitat destruction.
10 Sep 2026
The National Wildlife Refuge Association today announced that Matthew Emmer has joined t he organization as Refuge Friends & Advocacy Ma nager, bringing firsthand experience in Refuge Friends leadership, community engagement, advocacy and storytelling.
8 Sep 2026
The National Wildlife Refuge Association presented its inaugural Lifetime Refuge Friend Award to Florence LaRiviere, honoring more than six decades of extraordinary leadership to protect the wetlands, wildlife, and open spaces of San Francisco Bay.
1 Sep 2026
The National Wildlife Refuge Association mourns U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Wildlife Officer David Taylor , 38, of Scio, Oregon, who is believed to have died while helping evacuate residents threatened by the Railroad South Fire in Comanche County, Oklahoma.
31 Aug 2026
The National Wildlife Refuge Association has named Friends of Heinz Refuge the recipient of the 2 026 O'Brien Prize for Refuge Friends . The $7,500 award will support the Friends' new Field to Fork Community Conservation Series , creating welcoming, hands-on opportunities for Philadelph
7 Aug 2026
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