Environmental Education

The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act declares that six "wildlife-dependent" activities will be encouraged to build public support for refuges and for wildlife conservation in general. These six activities include: environmental education, wildlife observation, photography, interpretation, hunting and fishing.

Americans visit refuges nearly 40 million times each year. Millions of these visitors are children whose schools arrange field trips or long-term outdoor programs. Refuges provide wonderful outdoor classrooms for teaching children about art, science and other disciplines, using nature as a context for learning. And because there are so many refuges close to cities, even typically underserved children get the chance to see nature first-hand and learn about conservation.

Refuge Staff often work in concert with other partners to provide the best education programs. The Nature of Learning is the National Refuge System’s new community-based environmental education initiative. The program, previously known as Earth Stewards, assists schools or non-profit organizations in promoting awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the role the Refuge System plays in the conservation of wildlife through the formation of environmental education programs. The National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA), in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) National Wildlife Refuge System and the National Conservation Training Center, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and The Keystone Center, is pleased to solicit applications from organizations interested in initiating The Nature of Learning in their community.

To learn more about The Nature of Learning program, please visit http://refuges.fws.gov/generalinterest/education and http://www.nfwf.org/programs/tnol/htm

In addition, many refuges also work with local refuge support groups, or Friends groups, to develop curriculum or lead field trips.

For examples of volunteer programs and education programs relating to invasive species, click here.

Below are examples of refuges with outdoor education programs. For more information, contact the refuge or refuge Friends group directly. If your refuge or Friends group has education programs, please e-mail the webmaster with a summary of the programs and contact information so that we can include it on the list below.

Alameda NWR, California

San Diego NWR Complex, California

Loxahatchee NWR, Florida

Bayou Sauvage NWR, Louisiana

Oxbow NWR, Massachusetts

Blackwater NWR, Maryland

Patuxent NWR, Maryland

Sherburne NWR, Minnesota

John Heinz NWR, Pennsylvania

Rhode Island NWR Complex, Rhode Island