Children and adults alike flock to
the wildest classrooms around:
America’s wildlife refuges.
Millions visit wildlife refuges each
year, on their own or as part of school
or tour groups, to learn more about
the diversity of wildlife there. With a
wildlife refuge within a hour’s drive
of most major cities, wildlife refuges
offer all Americans an opportunity to
learn about their natural surroundings.
Wildlife refuges offer two main
approaches to learning—interpretation
and environmental education—both
of which are designated by law as
priority activities.
Environmental
education encom-passes
planned,
often sequential,
instructional
programs and
activities aimed at
building skills, abili-ties,
and knowledge
about wildlife-related
environmental topics.
Interpretation is not strictly instruc-tional.
Interpretive programs and
activities seek to relate an area’s
natural resources to visitors’ individual
expectations and experience, to pique
interest, allow them to develop their
own conclusions, and, hopefully, inspire
them to consider the effect of their
actions on the world around them.
Wildlife refuges around the country
offer unique hands-on opportunities
to learn about wildlife and the natural
world—and many feature dedicated
education centers. Programs range
from nature walks for local school
children to full-scale teacher-training
programs. Here are a few of the
learning opportunities available on
America’s wildlife refuges.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Discovering the
Wonders of Nature
The National Wildlife Refuge System
The National Wildlife
Refuge System is one
of America’s greatest
conservation success
stories. In its first
hundred years, it
helped save our
national symbol,
the American bald
eagle, from extinction
and has protected
hundreds of other wild
species—including—
fish, migratory birds,
and many other
plants and animals
and the habitats that
support them.
Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge | John and Karen Hollingsworth | USFWS
Don Edwards San Francisco Bay
National Wildlife Refuge hosts thou-sands
of schoolchildren who come each
year to learn about conserving wildlife
habitat, especially the importance of
saltmarsh to migratory birds and other
wildlife. In addition to an outdoor
classroom and other facilities onsite,
this refuge operates an environmental
education center in nearby San Jose,
California.
Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in
Iowa boasts a Prairie Learning Center,
where schoolchildren and others learn
about this refuge’s extensive efforts to
restore the tallgrass prairie and rein-troduce
bison and elk. Programs and
displays on prairie management and
restoration include interactive exhibits,
theatrical productions, and a simulated
underground burrow that gives visitors
the experience of living below the soil.
Patuxent Research Refuge in Maryland
operates year-round outdoor education
and wildlife management demonstration
areas for school classes and the refuge
hosts an extensive teacher-training
program. The visitor center focuses
on wildlife research and manage-ment
practices as well as rare
species and habitat conservation.
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife
Refuge, near Minneapolis, offers
curriculum-based field trips for
students from preschool through high
school and a river stewardship pro-gram
focusing on water quality. The
visitor center’s interactive exhibits
describe the history of the Minnesota
River and explain how wetlands
are managed for waterfowl and
other wildlife.
But you don’t have to go far to
learn about America’s wild places.
You can find many exciting educa-tion
and interpretation programs
at refuges near major metropoli-tan
areas. Patuxent Research
Refuge lies between Washington,
D.C. and Baltimore. John Heinz
National Wildlife Refuge at
Tinicum is just outside Philadelphia.
There is the Tualatin River Refuge
near Portland, Oregon, and Bayou
Sauvage Refuge near New Orleans.
Programs at these refuges and hun-dreds
of others demonstrate that
there’s no better place to learn about
nature than right in the wildest heart
of it—America’s wildlife refuges.
To find out about interpretation and
environmental education programs
at wildlife refuges near you, call
1-800-344-WILD or visit refuges.fws.gov.
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service
National Wildlife Refuge System
4401 N. Fairfax Drive
Room 670
Arlington, VA 22203
1 800/344 WILD
http://refuges.fws.gov
July 2002
Ryan Hagerty | USFWS
When President
Theodore Roosevelt
made Florida’s tiny
Pelican Island a
refuge for birds
in 1903, he wrote
the first chapter of
a great American
conservation success story. And the
story of safeguarding America’s
migratory birds, endangered
species, and other wildlife keeps
getting better and better. Entering
its second century, the National
Wildlife Refuge System comprises
95 million acres, protected within
more than 535 refuges and thou-sands
of small prairie wetlands
that serve as waterfowl breeding
and nesting areas. There are
wildlife refuges in every state, and
at least one within an hour’s drive
of every major American city,
providing much-needed refuge
for people as well as wildlife.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
is a Federal agency whose mission,
working with others, is to conserve
fish and wildlife and their habitats
for the continuing benefit of the
American people. Under the
management of fish and wildlife
professionals, the National Wildlife
Refuge System has become
the world’s premier network of
wildlife habitats.
America’s Best Kept Secret
