Did You Know?
...that the historic Fiechter House on W.L. Finley NWR was built in 1855? It is considered one of the oldest homes in Benton County.
Did You Know?
...that the historic Fiechter House on W.L. Finley NWR was built in 1855? It is considered one of the oldest homes in Benton County.
The Friends of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex is a volunteer-run organization with members who care about the Willamette Valley Refuges as natural resources and work to protect them. We directly support the Refuge Complex to achieve its goals, which include habitat restoration, environmental education, community outreach, and more! We are a non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible.
Interested in volunteering for our Board of Directors? Visit Events / Volunteer
We are writing to draw your attention to the significant challenges our refuge management is currently facing due to the ongoing funding freeze and potential future funding reductions.
We have received reports from various refuge organizations that the continued spending freeze poses a substantial threat to essential support at our refuges. This includes everything from covering utility bills to purchasing basic necessities such as toilet paper for the restrooms. Furthermore, there is a real possibility of losing dedicated USFWS stewards as staff cuts are contemplated.
As a Friends organization, we kindly request that our members take the following actions:
1. Contact your state and federal representatives and senators to emphasize the importance of our wildlife refuges not only for our community but also for the wildlife they provide sanctuary to. Please encourage your friends and family to do the same. This matter transcends political affiliations and concerns the preservation of natural wild spaces for future generations to come.
2. Should the funding cuts persist, we urge you to consider donating to your local Friends organizations, including the Friends of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex. As a Friends group, we are uniquely positioned to provide support to the refuges through our time, advocacy, and the financial contributions from our members. We will collaborate closely with the USFWS to determine the most effective ways to assist them during these challenging times and will maintain transparency with our members regarding the nature of our support.
Sincerely,
Dear Friends,
We wanted to bring to your attention a situation that presents major challenges to our Willamette Valley Wildlife Refuges and Wildlife Refuges all across the country. The Wildlife Refuge system has been struggling with under funding for many years. However, recent cuts to the Refuge System’s Budgets have made this chronic problem even worse. The Fiscal Year 2024 Discretionary Budget, used for things like habitat restoration, fuel, supplies, equipment repair, herbicide, native seed, and many other expenses, was reduced by 15% at our Willamette Valley Refuges. The final FY2025 budget is still being decided, but further cuts are expected. Across USFWS Region 1, there are 40 vacant positions with seemingly no plan to fill these positions in the near future. One of those positions is the Lead Equipment Operator at William L Finley NWR.
More information about this issue can be found in the following articles:
National Wildlife Refuge Association
Connecticut Examiner
These cuts make the Friends’ mission to support the Refuge Complex more important than ever. We hope that you’ll continue your generous support that is crucial to our ability to help maintain and improve the refuges we love. Also, if you feel strongly about this issue, we urge you to contact your Congressional Representative and/or Senators and let them know about your concerns.
House of Representatives
Senate
Friends of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is:
The Willamette Valley is located between the Cascade and Coastal ranges in Oregon and stretches from the Oregon-Washington border south to the city of Eugene. Historically, it was a land of wet prairies, dry prairies, oak savannas, and mixed woodlands. Today, most of this land has been developed. The refuges of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex represent a significant portion of what historic habitat is left.
The store managers and volunteers are ready to greet you and help you shop for books, clothes, jewelry, games and more! We are so happy to see refuge visitors stop in to visit and shop. Your purchases at the store help fund the projects the Friends support for the Refuge Complex. If you become a member of the Friends WVNWRC, you’ll receive a 10% discount on your purchases. You can purchase or renew a membership at the store or click on the Membership tab at the top of this page.
The store hours are Friday-Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm. Hope to see you there soon.
The Friends are very excited to announce that we have a new YouTube channel! The channel features 14 videos in both English and Español (28 videos total). The videos showcase the trails at our Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuges. The video project was funded by an O’Brien Prize grant from the National Wildlife Refuge Association but was also made possible by hard work and generous donations of photographs from many Friends.
We hope that you’ll enjoy viewing the videos and that they’ll inspire you to visit our beautiful refuges. Also, please share these videos with friends and family so that more people can discover these wonderful resources right in our own backyards.
Our YouTube channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/@FWVNWRC/playlists The playlists are organized either by location or by language.
Below is an example of one of our videos.
¡Los videos también están disponibles en Español!
The Spring 2025 edition of Wild Goose Tales, the Friends’ Newsletter is out! Click Here to see the newsletter. Thanks to Jennifer Butler for creating the newsletter.
Our support of the National Wildlife Refuge System is very important, as funding is critical and with your help we can continue to support projects and programs that make the Willamette Valley Refuge Complex an amazing place! One of projects that the Friends WVNWRC supported in 2023 was the purchase of a no-till seed drill. The seed drill is an important tool for the restoration of native prairie habitats. By seeding native grasses without disturbing the soil too much, the drill allows the native grasses to get established before invasive grasses can get a toe hold.
Listen to a very informative and enthusiastic interview with Sam Bartling, Visitor Services Manager for the WVNWRC. It will inspire you to visit and explore the Refuge Complex with a great understanding of why the refuge complex is so vital and important for the wildlife species that winter here and the ones who reside here year-round.
The Nature Center is seeing a steady stream of visitors on weekdays and weekends. There are usually volunteers there to answer questions, engage visitors and more.
Thank you to the AHNC Volunteer Coordinators, Bobbie and Pat Allaire, the Refuge complex staff and the volunteers involved.
If you choose to visit AHNC area, it’s open to visits from dawn to dusk. Please note the gate automatically closes at dusk. Please respect the closing time and leave on time.
Visit the Events page to see what’s next!
“Snag Boat Bend is a unit of William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge located between Eugene and Corvallis on the floodplain of the Willamette River, in Oregon. This short documentary highlights the history, habitat importance, and restoration activities recently implemented in the area, as well as aquatic invasive weeds, and how individuals can help make a difference in protecting floodplain habitats for salmon and other wildlife species in the Willamette basin. Produced by Willamette Riverkeeper in partnership with Long Tom Watershed Council, USFWS and the Friends of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex, with special thanks to River Design Group and Freshwaters Illustrated.”
We invite YOU to join the Friends of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex! Membership is open to any individual, family, or organization interested in supporting the Refuge Complex through donations of time, money, or both. All dues and donations are tax-deductible and will be used to fund current and future projects on the refuges.
Join and Donate Here! ›
