Blue Goose Passports are a fun way to record your visits to any of the 563 National Wildlife Refuges you visit. The inexpensive book includes listings for the different refuges, a little about them, and when they were established. Most listings have space for their own distinctive stamp, which you can get for free, usually
Continue reading Blue Goose Passports and the National Wildlife Refuge System
There is a new proposal currently underway to create a new National Wildlife Refuge close to Birdfreak Headquarters (aka, northern Illinois). This new refuge would be called Hackmatack NWR and located in Walworth County in southern Wisconsin and McHenry County in northern Illinois. The name Hackmatack (hack-ma-tack) is an Algonquin Indian word for the Tamarack
Every time a Duck Stamp is bought, precious bird habitat is conserved. For every Duck Stamp purchased, 98 cents of every dollar goes directly to purchase land. We found more proof showing how wonderful Duck Stamps are for conservation. The Mirgratory Bird Conservation Commission approved 18,118 acres of wetland and grassland habitat for Glacial Ridge
South Dakota National Wildlife Refuges are facing a $15.7 million deficit in funding. Nearly 200,000 people visit South Dakota refuges each year: places like Lacreek and Waubay NWRs. These wonderful places for wildlife as well as four others and six wetland management districts are losing out on restoration and management efforts. The Badlands of South
Wisconsin National Wildlife Refuges are facing a $16.7 million deficit in funding, greatly hurting the management of these wonderful bird havens. A typical scene at Horicon in July Horicon National Wildlife Refuge staffing will be reduced to a single maintenance worker, shared with three other refuges. This will severely impact maintenance of the miles of
Started on September 20th of this year, Refuge Watch is a wonderful blog showcasing the “News and Events From America’s National Wildlife Refuges”. Why exactly are National Wildlife Refuges important? How about because they are home to: over 700 species of birds around 220 species of mammals approximately 250 reptile and amphibian species more than
Illinois is the proud home of 11 National Wildlife Refuges, protecting land along the mighty Mississippi River down to cypress swamps in the southern part of the state. These refuges provide habitat for millions of migrating birds including the endangered Piping Plover. Unfortunately, Illinois’ NWRs are facing a $47 million budget deficit, reducing the ability
Well, it isn’t an official partnership, but the Birdfreak Team has made it a top priority to promote the National Wildlife Refuge System. We will be highlighting the problems the NWRs face and potential solutions to these problems. We have birded on numerous NWRs and they are some of the best places to bird. Common
