Urban Wildlife Conservation Program

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is bringing nature into the city. While the four National Wildlife Refuges of the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Area are great places to experience the outdoors, we also understand that we need to meet people at their “nature beginning place,” be it at venues as grand as the Oregon Zoo or as local as neighborhood parks.

The Urban Wildlife Conservation Program gives us the people and the resources to be a strong partner in the community and advance some of the great projects and ideas rising from the many people and organizations in the Portland-Vancouver area that care as much about the future of the natural world as we do.

More than 80 percent of Americans now live in urban environments – a shift that has profound implications for the health and well-being of millions of people, especially our nation’s youth. The children of today will soon be our nation’s elected officials, business leaders, parents, and public servants. What happens when a generation that has little connection to the outdoors is suddenly in charge of taking care of nature? We hope to never have to find out.

The Urban Wildlife Conservation Program will shine a spotlight on the relevancy of conservation to the daily lives of the community through direct participation, whether it be by recreating and learning in our natural spaces or by adopting new conservation actions, big and small, right at home. Wherever people are ready to make their connection to nature and conservation, we and our partners will be there to meet them.

Check here to learn more about how the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Complex is striving to meet this challenge or visit the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Complex’s website to find out more.

To find out how much of an impact refuges have on more than just wildlife and habitat all over the country, check out this Sierra Club Article here.