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From the Contact Station
Counting the Birds in Fall
We all can’t wait for the bridge project to be done, or at least enough of it so we can get to our wonderful refuge and enjoy the wintering birds more frequently. Each November there is a team of volunteers who start the goose counts. We meet twice a month until April. We spread out over the Refuge counting all sections except the Carty Unit. We started counting on November 13th this year. It was a bit harrowing getting onto the refuge as the construction crews were working and trenching across the entry road at the west end of the bridge. My first hint of the trench, after driving through the thick mud lake on the east of the RR tracks and giving earthmoving equipment the right of way, was seeing a man with just shoulders and helmeted head above ground ...Keep Reading...
- Susan Setterberg, Contact Station Volunteer & Board Past President
- Photo: Roger van Gelder, Adult Honorable Mention 2016 Refuge Photo Contest Winner |
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Cathlapotle Plankhouse Updates & Events
Cathlapotle Plankhouse in the Winter
 Greetings All. Over the past few weeks I’ve been afforded the time to get out of the office and into the Plankhouse more often. This means I’ve been gifted with the music of the swans, geese, and other overwintering waterfowl almost daily while I work. They serve as a continual reminder that fall will be over soon with winter short on its heels. As the seasons change so do the projects I focus on for the Lifeways & Landscapes Program.
 Now is the time where I am buttoning up the interpretation displays, focusing on research, and preparing the House for Tribal use over the winter. Winter, in many ways, is the most important season- when the renewal of Indigenous ceremony becomes the work of the House- during the annual public closure. I truly hope that those of you who visit the interior of the Cathlapotle Plankhouse so often throughout the spring and summer will continue to visit the exterior in the fall and winter. Before we all know it, spring will be here and the Plankhouse will open its door for visitors again.
- Juliet McGraw, Community & Cultural Education Director, Friends of RWNR
- Photo: Raul Moreno, 2nd Place, 2017 Refuge Photo Contest
Cathlapotle Plankhouse, 28908 NW Main Ave, Ridgefield, WA 98642
Note: Main Ave will remain closed at Depot St. On the way to the Carty Unit, please follow detour signs to use Reiman or N Royle Rd. Detour Map found here.
- Photo Credit: Raul Moreno, 2nd Place 2017 Refuge Photo Contest
 Preserve America is a national initiative in cooperation with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; the U.S. Departments of Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Education; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities; and the President's Council on Environmental Quality. |
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Habitat Restoration Updates & Events
Winter Restoration is for the birds
 This November, restoration work included 30 Scouts and Webelos planting 200 camas bulbs in three and a half hours on the Carty Unit! These plantings are important not only for their cultural significance in our area, but camas patches provide grazing areas for deer, like the Columbian White-tailed Deer.
We are also making upward progress on our High Tunnel project, with the plan to cover and complete the building in February after the harsher winter months.
Wintertime is spent planting trees and plants for next year, to the sound of rain and the calls of geese and swans. It's chilly, but some of the best times to volunteer, and some of our favorite work.
Habitat Restoration Work Parties on the River 'S' & Carty Units:
9 am - 12:30 pm Wednesdays & Thursdays
This year, our #GivingTuesday efforts will mainly go to fund the remaining supplies needed to complete the restoration required within the Oak Release area of the Oaks-to-Wetlands Trail on the Carty Unit. You can help support this project on December 3rd! Find out more here. |
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Species Spotlight
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Regulus satrapa
Much like the Ruby-crowned Kinglets of last month’s Species Spotlight, Golden-crowned Kinglets are tiny (barely larger than a hummingbird) birds with an overall olive and grey coloring, and a surprise on their crest. They have a black-and-white striped face, a thin white wingbar, and yellow edges to their black flight feathers. As their name suggests, Golden-crowned Kinglets have a bright golden crown of yellow-orange feathers that stays concealed... Keep Reading...
Photo: Douglas Beall, 2nd Place Birds Category, 2019 Photo Contest Winner |
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Seeking Business Alliance Members 
As a member of the Friends of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Business Alliance, you invest in one of our urban metropolitan area’s most unique and diverse natural and cultural resources. Click here to find out more! |
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Board Seeking New Board Members
Or, Join a Committee
 The Friends of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge is a non-profit dedicated to promoting educational and cultural programs of the Ridgefield NWR, and protecting and enhancing its wildlife habitat. We are currently seeking candidates to serve on our board of directors. We are recruiting candidates with diverse backgrounds and skills for several open board positions, in addition to candidates interested in serving on a committee (board membership not required).
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Calling All Volunteers!
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Volunteer Opportunities:
Refuge and Trail Greeters
Over 120,000 visitors flock to the Refuge annually
to enjoy nature through participation in wildlife observation, photography, environmental education, cultural interpretation, hunting, and fishing. Volunteers help to make their experiences meaningful. Share your enthusiasm for nature and make the Refuge a welcoming place for people walking our trails, stopping at the Visitor Contact Station and driving the AutoTour.
Volunteers naturalists needed to walk trails and
teach people about what they can see and enjoy
at the Refuge this summer!
If you are interested email RidgefieldVolunteer@fws.gov to be put on the
update list.
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Cathlapotle Plankhouse
The Cathlapotle Plankhouse draws thousands of visitors to the Refuge each year. Help share the legacy of the Indigenous people who have tended to this place since time immemorial as a Plankhouse Docent or Cultural Educator. Field trips take place during the weekdays. Docents staff the house on weekends from April - September.
Support the Friends Help us inspire people to support the Refuge! Whether you help us out during BirdFest & Bluegrass in October by giving directions or helping set up, or by providing outreach for what the Friends do, or joining the board or a committee, every little bit helps. Now you can sign up to volunteer easily on our website! Check it out by clicking here!
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Birding Enthusiasts
Check out what species are being seen on the Refuge here. |
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Ridgefield First Saturday:
Hometown Celebration
December 7, 2019
Join your friends and neighbors for the 20th Anniversary of the Hometown Celebration! All day fun for the whole family and kids of all ages.
Find the Friends 2020 Calendars for sale at this event!
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from the Refuge for both fish and people. All that in addition to the regular annual cycle of tasks to create healthy habitat for wildlife, and those of us that thrive on being around it. 
in my 13 years of working here. We thank you for your patience, your understanding, and your vision for a greater future for wildlife and recreation in your community. We are in the home stretch!
