Current Active Members: 237
News:
Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Photo Con - ...Creative Nature Camp - Registration is open...
TUALATIN RIVER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY - Local Photographers organize to promote nature photography...
Happy Thanksgiving - ...
CCP Draft is Ready for Review and Comment - ...
November 8 Fund Raiser at Fat Milo's Family Kitchen - 20% of all Profits to be Donated to FOR...
NWRA Photo Contest Announced - ...
Friends of the Refuge to Hold Annual Membership Meeting - ...
Friends Board Changes Meeting Night - ...
Shop at Whole Foods Bridgeport and support the Fri - ...
Wildlife Center & Nature's Overlook Open July 4 - ...
WHOLE FOODS MARKET, BRIDGEPORT, BENEFIT BBQ - July 7, 4-7 p.m....
Friends Welcome New Refuge Manager - ...
Ponzi Wineyard Hosts Benefit for Friends. - 4 Washington County wineries join for Benefit...
REI Supports Friends of the Refuge. - REI has given Friends a grant for Connecting Commu...
Friends Appoint New Board Members & Elect Officers - ...
FRIENDS OF THE REFUGE ENDORSES MEASURE 76 - Set for November 2 General Election Ballot...
Meet & Greet New Executive Director, Board Officer - Ice Cream Social 6-7 PM 8/12/2010...
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION - Friends supporting new educational program...
FRIENDS FUNDS DONATED - Store Profits Used to Repair Critical Water Contro...
A New Way to Contribute to the Refuge - United Way Designation of Donations...
REFUGE FEATURED ON TRAVEL BLOG - Travel Oregon's Grant McOmie Video Blog...
ANNUAL MEETING REPORTS - Strategic Plan, By-laws, & Annual Report...
ANNUAL MEETING REPORTS - Strategic Plan, By-laws, & Annual Report...
2008 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING - Charles Jordan Guest Speaker...
ART SHOW TO BENEFIT FRIENDS OF THE REFUGE - Onda Gallery to Highlight Refuge Art...
CHILDREN ARE LOSING TOUCH WITH NATURE - Who will care for the environment?...
LAKESIDE RECLAMATION: NO WAY TO RUN A LANDFILL - Editorial from the Oregonian...
STATE SAYS LANDFILL IS DEGRADING TUALATIN RIVER - Landfill upstream from Refuge...
LAKESIDE LANDFILL REMAINS OPEN - Potential Appeal Leaves Door Open for Continued Op...
WILDLIFE CENTER NOW OPEN - Dedicated March 29, 2008...
WILDLIFE CENTER DEDICATION EVENTS - News Coverage of the Event...
OREGONIAN COLUMN ON LAKESIDE LANDFILL - Friends Take Active Role in Protecting The Refuge...
FRIENDS POSITION ON LAKESIDE LANDFILL - DEQ Permit Doesn't Adequately Protect River and Re...
STATE WANTS LAKESIDE TO CLOSE BY JULY 2009 - Efforts of Friends of Tualatin River NWR cited...
WILDLIFE REFUGES BENEFIT LOCAL ECONOMIES - 137 million to Pacific Northwest economy...
LANDFILL MAY IMPACT TUALATIN RIVER AND REFUGE - Willamette Week Article...
GOOD NEWS FROM SALEM - Friends receive grant from Govenor...
FRIENDS CONCERNED ABOUT MEASURE 37 CLAIM - Oregonian Article, May 15, 2007...
FRIENDS RECEIVE 2007 GREEN HERON AWARD - Tualatin Riverkeepers Recognize Efforts...
WAPATO LAKE ADDED TO TUALATIN RIVER NWR - New addition doubles size of Refuge...
REFUGE KEY TO COUNTY TOURISM - Sherwood and Refuge Linked to Guide...
NATIONAL MAGAZINE RECOGNIZES REFUGE - Refuge receives 2007 Environmental Award...
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE WEEK - Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge...
FRIENDS ATTEND NATIONAL CONFERENCE - Washington DC Conference...
FRIENDS RECEIVE GRANT - From National Fish and Wildlife Foundation...
News
FRIENDS ATTEND NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Washington DC Conference
Joan Patterson, Norman Penner and Rick Ross, attended the 2005 Refuge Friends Conference - Friends in Action February 4-7 representing Friends of Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge of Sherwood, OR. They went to gather skills and information to enable them to better support the Tualatin River refuge. While in Washington, they took time to visit the offices of Senators Smith and Wyden as well as Representatives Wu, Hooley, and Blumenauer to explain how important the National Wildlife Refuge System is to conservation, recreation, and the community. They also thanked them for their past support of the Tualatin River Refuge. They were very pleased with the encouragement and promise of continued support they received from the Oregon congressional delegation and their staffs.
According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, a national advocacy group working with Friends groups to support the Refuge System and conference sponsor, Friends groups have helped secure more than $70 million in federal funding for refuge projects over the past three years alone.
The Friends of the Tualatin Refuge was established in 1992 and was the result of local citizens who saw the need for a wildlife refuge on the edge of the growing Portland metropolitan area. They organized area volunteers in support of creating a wildlife refuge that would offer conservation, recreation, and education programs to the Portland area citizens and local schools.
“Due to its proximity to Portland, set among rapidly growing subdivisions, one of the Refuge's primary goals will be to provide environmental education programs for urban school children and a place for adults to enjoy a walk through Oregon as it once was. Visitors to the Refuge will be able to appreciate its wildlife, view the scenic habitat, and learn about native plants, animals and migratory birds. Activities will include interpretative programs, environmental education, fishing, wildlife observation, and photography.” Said Norman Penner, President, Friends of the Refuge.
There are 245 Friends groups supporting many of the 545 national wildlife refuges across the country. National wildlife refuges are keystones to conservation in the United States, conserving more than 100 million acres for wildlife, often within a one-hour drive of major cities. They are also pristine places for people to enjoy the outdoors. Most refuges welcome photographers, hunters, and anglers, offering myriad trails within internationally important conservation lands. Refuges offer quality environmental education programs, hosting tours and classes for area schoolchildren.
According to Ralph Webber Tualatin Refuge Director, “Our Friends group is integral to the successes of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. As an extension of the Refuge, they help connect our communities to the meanings and values of wildlife and their habitats. The Friends are a link for people to experience and appreciate nature, as well as a catalyst to bring volunteers and support for wildlife conservation. In turn, this helps fulfill and enrich each of our lives”.
Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge preserves a native ecosystem in the shadow of Oregon’s largest metropolitan area, Portland, OR. On the refuge’s Steinborn unit, located near Sherwood north of Highway 99W, wetlands, oak savannah, grasslands, forested wetlands and riparian habitats have been restored at the site of a former dairy. So far. More than 625 acres of native habitat have been restored. In ponds where cows once grazed, thousands of waterfowl now congregate on their annual migratory flights. Warblers and flycatchers once again nest along the meandering Tualatin River lined by native alder and Oregon ash.
Construction of the first phase of a planned visitor service center at the Steinborn unit will begin this spring. When completed it will provide safe access to the Refuge and connect the Refuge to mass transit, bicycle and pedestrian trails. It will also provide fully accessible visitor service facilities including parking, and restroom facilities; interpretive trails with educational environmental education study sites, river and wetland overlooks, and a photography blind. The Refuge is anticipated to be open to the public in late 2005
Friends of the Refuge (FOR) is a community-based non-profit volunteer organization supporting the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. FOR is dedicated to the restoration and conservation of the Refuge for the benefit of wildlife, and for public education and recreation. It currently has a membership of some 90 individuals/families and we are always looking for more. The Friends help in restoration projects, wildlife surveys, invasive vegetation control, outreach and much more. Specific information about the Friends and the Refuge and their programs can be found on the web at www.friendsoftherefuge.org.
Washington DC Conference
Feb, 7, 2005
Washington D.C. Members of the Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge in Sherwood, OR traveled to the Nation’s capital to join other community leaders from around the country to advance wildlife conservation. Joan Patterson, Norman Penner and Rick Ross, attended the 2005 Refuge Friends Conference - Friends in Action February 4-7 representing Friends of Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge of Sherwood, OR. They went to gather skills and information to enable them to better support the Tualatin River refuge. While in Washington, they took time to visit the offices of Senators Smith and Wyden as well as Representatives Wu, Hooley, and Blumenauer to explain how important the National Wildlife Refuge System is to conservation, recreation, and the community. They also thanked them for their past support of the Tualatin River Refuge. They were very pleased with the encouragement and promise of continued support they received from the Oregon congressional delegation and their staffs.
According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, a national advocacy group working with Friends groups to support the Refuge System and conference sponsor, Friends groups have helped secure more than $70 million in federal funding for refuge projects over the past three years alone.
The Friends of the Tualatin Refuge was established in 1992 and was the result of local citizens who saw the need for a wildlife refuge on the edge of the growing Portland metropolitan area. They organized area volunteers in support of creating a wildlife refuge that would offer conservation, recreation, and education programs to the Portland area citizens and local schools.
“Due to its proximity to Portland, set among rapidly growing subdivisions, one of the Refuge's primary goals will be to provide environmental education programs for urban school children and a place for adults to enjoy a walk through Oregon as it once was. Visitors to the Refuge will be able to appreciate its wildlife, view the scenic habitat, and learn about native plants, animals and migratory birds. Activities will include interpretative programs, environmental education, fishing, wildlife observation, and photography.” Said Norman Penner, President, Friends of the Refuge.
There are 245 Friends groups supporting many of the 545 national wildlife refuges across the country. National wildlife refuges are keystones to conservation in the United States, conserving more than 100 million acres for wildlife, often within a one-hour drive of major cities. They are also pristine places for people to enjoy the outdoors. Most refuges welcome photographers, hunters, and anglers, offering myriad trails within internationally important conservation lands. Refuges offer quality environmental education programs, hosting tours and classes for area schoolchildren.
According to Ralph Webber Tualatin Refuge Director, “Our Friends group is integral to the successes of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. As an extension of the Refuge, they help connect our communities to the meanings and values of wildlife and their habitats. The Friends are a link for people to experience and appreciate nature, as well as a catalyst to bring volunteers and support for wildlife conservation. In turn, this helps fulfill and enrich each of our lives”.
Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge preserves a native ecosystem in the shadow of Oregon’s largest metropolitan area, Portland, OR. On the refuge’s Steinborn unit, located near Sherwood north of Highway 99W, wetlands, oak savannah, grasslands, forested wetlands and riparian habitats have been restored at the site of a former dairy. So far. More than 625 acres of native habitat have been restored. In ponds where cows once grazed, thousands of waterfowl now congregate on their annual migratory flights. Warblers and flycatchers once again nest along the meandering Tualatin River lined by native alder and Oregon ash.
Construction of the first phase of a planned visitor service center at the Steinborn unit will begin this spring. When completed it will provide safe access to the Refuge and connect the Refuge to mass transit, bicycle and pedestrian trails. It will also provide fully accessible visitor service facilities including parking, and restroom facilities; interpretive trails with educational environmental education study sites, river and wetland overlooks, and a photography blind. The Refuge is anticipated to be open to the public in late 2005
Friends of the Refuge (FOR) is a community-based non-profit volunteer organization supporting the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. FOR is dedicated to the restoration and conservation of the Refuge for the benefit of wildlife, and for public education and recreation. It currently has a membership of some 90 individuals/families and we are always looking for more. The Friends help in restoration projects, wildlife surveys, invasive vegetation control, outreach and much more. Specific information about the Friends and the Refuge and their programs can be found on the web at www.friendsoftherefuge.org.
