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From the Contact Stationย
Snipe Hunt !
As I write this, there are 10 more days to go and the Kiwa Trail will be open to walkers.ย Time for a Snipe Hunt.ย You might recall that a snipe hunt calls for an individual to be taken out into the woods at night with a big sack with instructions on how to call in and capture the animal, which might be described as a half jack rabbit/half squirrel or some kind of furry bird.ย ย Keep Reading...
-Susan Setterberg, Volunteer & Board President
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Calling all Volunteers- Help at Partner Events:ย ย
The Friends are looking for help with outreach and events! Check out the list below to get involved. Shifts can be as short or as long as you are available, you won't be alone, and you'll even have time to enjoy the event!
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Tualatin River Bird Festival: May 19th, 2018
The Friends of the Refuge, in conjunction with Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, welcome you to ourย 22nd Annual Tualatin River Bird Festival . This is aย FREE ย family-friendly event!ย Join the Friends of the Refuge for diverse family-friendly activities celebrating wildlife and wild places.
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Booths will be up from 10am- 4pm, with set up beforehand. This is a great free event that you can enjoy when you arenโt tabling with us.ย Contact us ย today to get started.
Check out the Friends of the Refuge's webpage here to stay up to date on this event, and what all is going on in Tualatin!
Big Paddle: June 2nd, 2018
Thereโs something for absolutely  everyone on this fun-filled dayย downtown and on Lake River.ย Breakfast, paddling, obstacle course, live music, beer & wine garden, BIG games andย a Totally Awesome Scavenger Challenge! Registration is already open!ย
Booths will be up from 8am to 4:30pm, and booths must be up before 8am. This event is also free and there is lots of time to walk around, enjoy the food, marketplace and more!ย Contact us ย today to get started.
Check out the schedule HERE, and sign up for walks, guided paddles and more, today!
Ridgefield Lions Club
 Our local Ridgefield Lions Club works hard to help out our community, as well as the Friends specifically- as a thank you to them, we try to get as many volunteers to help them with their events as we can! Itโs easy to sign up online, and you can shorten shifts if you need to. Helping them helps us, and make sure to let them know the Friends sent you! Check out theirย events and sign up page here ย (check back for updates monthly) and get started supporting two great causes at once!
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Ridgefield Refuge Complex
News & Events
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Ridgefield National Wildlife Refugeย ย
Kiwa Trail Opens May 1st!
 The Kiwa Trail, a shortย 1.2-mile loop trail open May 1 through September 30, is the only walking trail available on this unit. The path is compacted gravel and accessible to wheelchairs and strollers.
The trail passes through an understory of Oregon ash trees and between open wetland areas, with a few wooden boardwalks.
Did you know? Between May 1 and September 30, visitors may also walk the River 'S' Auto Tour Route! Please be courteous when driving, look out for people walking, and keep other cars in mind when pulling over for viewing!
 The Carty Lake Trail, accessible from the Carty Unit (and viewable fromย the bridge) opens on May 1st as well! This is an out-and-back trail that starts on the Carty Unit, takes you out to the Port of Ridgefield and back. There is still no access from the Port side, there is a locked gate barring entry- please obey all signs.ย
Environmental & Cultural Education Programย
Thank you for visiting the refuge and supporting conservation. If youย have any questions regarding activities and regulations on the refuge,ย call the office Monday through Friday 7:30am to 3:30 pm at 360-887-4106.
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Cathlapotle Plankhouseย
Update & Events ย
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Cathlapotle Plankhouse Season Opening
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 Saturday, May 5 th , the Cathlapotle Plankhouse opens to the public. Please join us as we open the door on another beautiful season of sharing the rich indigenous cultural heritage of the Lower Columbia River Peoples. Plankhouse Docents will be on hand to offer mini-tours through the House, Carty Unit Trail Stewards will be active on the Oaks to Wetlands and Carty Lake trails. We will also have a variety of self-led activities available for visitors over the weekend.
Cathlapotle Plankhouse is open from 12:00 to 4:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. The House remains open though BirdFest 2018 (October 6 th and 7 th ), after which it closes to the public until the following spring.
(IMPORTANT NOTE: The Carty Lake Trail is only accessible through the Refuge currently. The Port of Ridgefield kiosk and gate are not open and you should not enter the RNWR from the Port. Please make sure that you are entering the Carty Lake Trail from the Carty Unit only.)ย Keep Reading... ย
Cathlapotle Plankhouse Second Sunday Series
Come celebrate Motherโs Day at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge!
We are very pleased to announce Melissa Darby will be our first Second  Sunday speaker for 2018. Darby was one of the original archaeologists at the Cathlapotle Village site and conducted ethnobotanical analysis of wapato recovered from the site. In addition to local research, she has traveled to Japan, England, Germany, and Italy exploring cross-cultural uses of this very important root food. Please come join us as Melissa shares memories of the Cathlapotle Village excavations, preparing wapato in the current Plankhouse. She will also cover the importance of indigenous womenโs labor and womenโs status within the community.ย Keep Reading...
ย Questions? Contact Juliet at Juliet_McGraw@fws.gov ย
or call (360) 887-4106ย
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(click link to view the Plankhouse listing)
Preserve Americaย 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 & Eventsย
My Deer, May the Weather be Nice!
Early spring invasive work continued across the Refuge in April. Those  large brown spots on the flanks of Swartz Dike as seen from the Auto Tour Route were formally large patches of poison hemlock and tansy ragwort. You might also notice narrow-leaf plantain, shiny geranium, and thistles curled up along the โOaks to Wetlandโ Trail. Certified sprayers, both staff and volunteer, spot-spray patches and individual plants early in the season before blooms start to attract pollinators.
 The camas patch just north of the Plankhouse came to above-ground life, pushing up blade-like leaves, some of which have been nibbled down, but it looks like we had close to 140 of the 300 bulbs we planted survive their first year. A search of 30 random holes planted with bulbs, but absence above ground leaves, found only 1 bulb remaining, perhaps planted too deep. Please remember to not pick the flowers on the refuge as their seeds are next yearโs bulbs, and a future winter larder for whatever rodent stole all those bulbs we planted.
In May/June volunteers will be  performing planting maintenance on several fields filled with trees and shrubs planted in 2014-2015. This is not the standing in water, or at least wading through it, planting maintenance of willow stands that some may be familiar with, but a nice, probably partly sunny, probably dry, slightly weeding like experience on areas of the refuge not normally accessed by non-volunteers.
Every Wednesday 9 AM-12:30 PM! Sign up below or email today!ย
Now you can sign up to volunteer easily on our website! Check it out by clicking here ! ย
Check out more about Habitat Restoration here!
ย Questions? Contact Keith_Rutz@fws.gov for more information
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Name the Wildlife!ย
Last months answer wasย a group of Golden-crowned Sparrows!ย (check out the species spotlight for more information)!
See the answer from last month, and a closer photo for yourselfย here !
For May:ย
(click photo to be taken to a larger photo) 
Every so often, guests will send us photos to help identify wildlife on the Refuge, and we want to see if you can do it too! Who do you think this is, seen at Steigerwald Lake NWR?ย
Email your answers to contact@ridgefieldfriends.org and we will announce who got it right, and what the answer is, in nextย month's newsletter! Stay tuned! And, if you have a photo that took some time to identify, or that you need help with, send it our way and it may end up here!
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2018ย Events to Save the Date for:ย
Keep an eye out for more informationย on these events!ย
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 Friends of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Annual Fundraiser 2018 :
Friday, July 20th, 2018 - Evening,ย ย Lucy's Garden -ย 3302 NW Carty Rd, Ridgefield, WA 98642
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Help the Friendsย and the Refuge Whenย You Shop ย
ย  ย When you link your Fred Meyer Rewards Card to the Friends, you help us earn donations from Fred Meyer Community Rewards. It doesn't change your regular personal shopping and fuel rewards, but it does make a meaningful contribution to our work on the Refuge.
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It's easy to sign up. Just go toย www.fredmeyer.com/communityrewards . You can search for us by our name, Friends of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge , or by our non-profit number,ย 89824 .ย Then, every time you shop and use your Rewards Card, you are helping the Friends earn a donation to support the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. If you do not have a Rewards Card, they are available at the Customer Service desk of any Fred Meyer store. ย
Shop and Give Online at AmazonSmile.com
 Log on to smile.amazon.com, shop as you usually would and .5% of your purchase will be donated directly to the Friends. Use the special link, smile.amazon.com , with your existing user name and password.
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To set up your AmazonSmile account, click this link:ย http://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-2018749 .ย Whenย prompted to select a charity, choose the Friends of Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge.ย ย Begin shopping as you normally would and the Friends will receive 0.5% of eligible purchases.
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Or Shop Online and Give through Giving Assistant
 Giving Assistant makes it easy to donate to Friends of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge! Simply shop online, earn cash back, and donate as much as 30% of your purchase priceโGiving Assistant facilitates the whole process. Now, you can help change the world for free while saving money at over 3,000 popular online retailers like Home Depot, ULTA, and Macyโs!ย Start HERE!
Thanks for being an EcoShopper and helping the Refuge!
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Follow the Friends on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!
Want regular updates on Refuge events and happenings? Follow the Friends on your favorite social media by clicking the logos below toย stay connected even when you are off the Refuge.
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Header Photo Credit:ย William Lee, 2010 Photo Contest Honorable
Mention
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