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2019 Refuge Photo Contest Calendars!  The Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Photo Contest Calendar is back for the 2019 calendar season! Check out the winners from the 2018 contest, learn about the subjects of the photos, and stay up-to-date on important events, volunteer opportunities, and more. Support volunteer programs like habitat restoration and educational programming, and host beautiful photos of wildlife and your refuge in your home the whole year through. Just $18.00 for the standard heavyweight gloss 8.5x11 (opens to 11x17) calendar, or $23.00 for the XL 11x14 (opens to 14x22) size! Choose your own preferred binding color- and keep a little piece of the Refuge right in your own home.
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Friends seeking new Board Members 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 specifically interested in the board treasurer role. Please review the position description and submit your application by November 23rd. Thank you for your interest in the Friends and the Refuge!
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BirdFest & Bluegrass 2018 
The 19th Annual BirdFest & Bluegrass Celebration is in the books! Thank you to everyone who came down to join us on the River 'S' Unit, in Downtown Ridgefield, and on the Carty Unit to celebrate the return of the Sandhill Crane and our Refuge! Guests spent their sunny Saturday shopping, making  crafts and listening to music all over town, spotting a variety of species of birds on the River 'S' Unit at the Spotting Scopes, watching Northern Harriers hunt as they drove the Auto Tour, and learning, hiking, painting or making crafts on the Carty Unit! Sunday was a little more grey with a little more rain, but those who came out enjoyed more species spotting and crafts, as well as delicious traditionally baked salmon and seafood stew, cooked for us by Greg Robinson (Chinook Indian Nation), and Greg Archuleta (Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde). We simply could not do it without the amazing Community Partners, Birders Marketplace and Saturday Market Vendors, volunteers, and sponsors who support this amazing event every year. We will see you next year on October 5th, 2019! Thank you!
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All,
As I am writing this, I'm leaving for Seattle in a little less than 2 weeks and for the past couple days I've been greeting incoming geese with warm goodbyes. I've been thanking Columbia white-tailed deer for making it acceptable for me to wear white after Labor Day. The Sandhill cranes and the White pelicans,  who have made it incredibly easy to live here during the shoulder seasons, have let me bid them adieu from afar. Our happy Garry oaks are showering me with yellow, red, and brown leaves as I tell them I'm going.
I'm not anthropomorphizing them. I'm reflecting on all the work you and I accomplished. In a way, I've been saying goodbye to you without having to actually say goodbye. Well the time is nigh.
Some of you joined me as we walked wetlands in search of weeds to pull  on 90° summer days. Some of you joined me on the rainiest of days where the promise of mediocre hot coffee and tea was the only thought keeping the damp chill at bay. Some of you joined me in the shoulder seasons to clear your mind while excising the Refuge of Himalayan blackberry under barking regiments of Sandhills. And some of you joined us in all seasons seemingly here as often as I am!
 Thank you for your appreciation and commitment to the stewardship of our national public lands. Thank you for teaching me what a Wilson's snipe is and about that funky winnowing behavior they exhibit. Thank you for your feedback on how best to plant our bare rooted trees. Thank you for setting up and staking pop-up tents when the driving rains would otherwise make our 11 am breaks miserable. Thank you for getting here early, recruiting your friends, or bringing hilarious levity to our "work" parties.
My job has some amazing opportunities and I've had an incredible time being introduced to genuinely cool professionals doing genuinely astounding, intriguing, groundbreaking, and thought-provoking things. I've been surrounded by science and education; my absolute favorites! And despite  all of the incredible brain food I have been afforded, I still get excited to see you all every single Wednesday.
I am certain that Wednesday and Saturday work parties will be the same without me. They will continue making steady progress for the greater good of geese, deer, trees, and people. But this is one volunteer who, while absent, will never be the same again after having met and toiled with you all. I am forever changed. I will, from now on, look at back on this time as impactful, both for me and for our amazing wildlife refuge. I will look at humanity, going forward, as a species capable of empathy and stewardship (which might be quite valuable given our current time and space) thanks to you all.
My last day and final work party in this role will be Wednesday, October 31st. For now, Keith Rutz will continue to be in regular touch with you all. No beats will be skipped. In Seattle, I'll be taking a certificate program in Wetland Science & Management. I'll also be back in town regularly to play basketball or tennis or volunteer with you or at other land stewardship outfits. Feel welcomed to reach out to say hello, ask for a professional reference/recommendation, or to share a story or some science with me. (email the Friends for my contact if you don't have it)
Thank you for being amazing and goodbye,
Sean Davis
Habitat Restoration & Education Technician
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Ridgefield Refuge Complex
News & Events
Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
Notice! Refuge Closure- November 7th
The River ‘S’ Unit will be closed to all access on Wednesday, November  7th. Refuge staff will be performing road maintenance work. To provide a safe work environment for them as well as keep the public safe, the River ‘S’ will be closed during this work. We will open as soon as the work is done, but plan for it to be closed all day.
The Carty Unit and Refuge Office remain open during this time. Please contact the Refuge Office at (360) 887-4106 during regular business hours (M-F, 7:30 AM – 3:30 PM) Check out the Hours & Directions tab for directions and more.
Poetry Appreciating our Refuge
Thank you for visiting the Refuge and supporting conservation. If you have any questions regarding activities and regulations on the Refuge, call the office Monday through Friday 7:30 am to 3:30 pm at
360-887-4106.
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Cathlapotle Plankhouse
Native American Heritage and Culture Month Celebrations
In November, we have a unique opportunity in celebrating Native American Heritage and Culture Month as part of a larger Clark County-wide celebration. The Clark County Historical Museum, Water Resources Education Center, the Ridgefield branch of Meaningful Movies, the Friends of RNWR, and Clark College have worked together this year to help co-plan and co-promote our events. It has been over a year’s work in the making and there are many events this month in which to learn about the Native Heritage of the area and how indigenous populations are thriving and contributing today.
Please see below for all of the extraordinary offerings from our partners this November:
Thursday, Nov. 1st 7:00 PM
Clark County Historical Museum
Friday, Nov. 2nd 5:00 PM
Clark College
Educating for the 7th Generation: Clark College Powwow
Sunday, Nov. 11th 12:00 - 4:00 PM
Friends of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
Colonial Mythologies of the Oregon Indian Wars with Dr. David G Lewis
Please see below.
Wednesday, Nov. 28th 7:00 PM
Ridgefield Meaningful Movies
Saturday, Nov. 17th 1:00-3:00 PM
Water Resources Education Center
Cathlapotle Plankhouse Second Series
For the first time ever we are co-hosting an event with the Clark County Historical Museum. It is being held in Vancouver, WA in the Museum.
Sunday, November 11, 2018 - Veterans Day
1:00: Colonial Mythologies of the Oregon Indian Wars with Dr. David G Lewis
The Pacific Northwest has a history of “Indian Wars” but the majority of the wars were actually created by Euro-American colonists seeking to remove people from the land in a variety of ways. Histories of Native peoples in the colonization era will be discussed, including campaigns to drive invaders from their lands. The falsehoods, as written into northwest histories, will be addressed as well as the experiences of the Native Peoples as they sought to survive colonization of their homelands.
3:00: City Inspired Naturalist Walk
Join a RNWR Naturalist for a stroll around the block directly around the Clark County Historical Museum as we explore what Urban Landscapes have to offer for birdwatching and quiet places among the bustle. Please come prepared for the weather. Walk will be approximately 1 hour and will stay mainly on city sidewalks and streets.
12:00 – 4:00: Clark County Historical Museum open
Museum entrance fee is waived for this event.
Free Event, free CCHM Admission. 1511 Main St, Vancouver, WA 98660 (click flyer to view or download)
PSU iTEK Fellowship
PSU iTEK Fellow, Savanha Jackson, and Friends’ Community & Cultural Education Director, Juliet McGraw, have begun mapping the culturally significant native plant species on the ethnobotany branch of the Oaks to Wetlands Trail at the Carty Unit. They are currently focused on a patch of oak understory on eastern side of the ethnobotany trail. Our regular hikers may have noticed some brush clearing done in and around the beaked hazel wood stand. This is the result of some excellent work by NARA Youth Programs, as their youth have stepped up to tend this Plant Relative on the landscape. The area the we are working on has been designated as a place to rehabilitate oak understory to encourage Columbia White-tailed deer and invertebrate pollinators to move in to the space. The Friends have been working with Alex Chmielewski, ,USFWS Ridgefield National Wildlife Complex Biologist, to identify suites of plants to bring into the space once we have finished clearing out the invasive Himalayan blackberry and tall non-native grasses. We look forward to the results of our work in the coming spring.
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
 October on the Refuge brings with it the ruckus of returning cranes, geese, and three days a week the discharging of firearms. For many of us the return of over-wintering waterfowl is the payoff for weeks and months of field work and the reason we graze cattle, mow fields, maintain dikes, and manage water.
We were also busy this fall managing our planting sites so the Refuge deer populations...Keep Reading...
General Habitat Questions? Contact Keith_Rutz@fws.gov for more information |
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Help the Friends and the Refuge When You Shop
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.
It's easy to sign up. Just go to www.fredmeyer.com/communityrewards. You can search for us by our name, Friends of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, or by our non-profit number, PK822. 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.
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.
To set up your AmazonSmile account, click this link: http://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-2018749. When prompted to select a charity, choose the Friends of Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. Begin shopping as you normally would and the Friends will receive 0.5% of eligible purchases.
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 price—Giving 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 Macy’s! 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 to stay connected even when you are off the Refuge.
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Header Photo Credit: Gretchen Thompson 2010 Refuge Photo Contest Honorable Mention |
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