Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in the News

Visit These Top Twin Cities Parks
Minnesota Monthly
 June 26, 2019 
Fort Snelling State Park borders the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, where access to trails, birdwatching and more is just a light rail ride away. 

From Superstar to Sewer: The Path of the Minnesota River
Star Tribune
May 3, 2019
The superstar Minnesota River runs through our state, but is quickly being degraded by us. 

Wildlife Event Held at Our Refuge
KARE-TV
Oct. 26, 2019
Celebrating Wildlife in the City was the theme at an event held at our Refuge

Currents: Sarena Selbo, Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
​Star Tribune
Sept. 6, 2018
Meet our refuge's newest manager!

 Discover Nature App Helps Connect Smartphone Users to Nature's Glory 
WCCO-TV
June 26, 2019
Explore our refuge in an exciting new way with the Discover Nature app.

Refuge First in the Midwest to Offer Discover Nature App
KMSP-TV
May 12, 2018
Reporter M.A. Rosko checks out the refuge's new Discover Nature app during the morning show. A big thank you to FOX-9 for giving us permission to post this video!

A Letter from Oscar Hernandez

Hispanic Access Foundation News / August 23rd, 2018
Link to article 
Picture
Thanks to Hispanic Access Foundation, I am able to intern at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, where I focus my work on Urban Outreach. As an Urban Outreach Intern, my goal is connecting communities with the nature that surrounds them. I was given an amazing opportunity with this internship to be able to explore a career path that perfectly fits my education background, my skills, and, most importantly, my interests. It's a job that keeps me excited to come back to the next day and it's one where I really feel like I'm making a difference - not just with the environment, but with the people that I get to work with. So far, I've gotten to work with teenagers from the SEAK (Students Eagerly Acquiring Knowledge) program, kids from the ArtStart Between Water and Sky program, and youth from Urban Ventures. The kids that I've had the pleasure to work with have all been so passionate about the environment and getting to see them get excited about wildlife and nature really makes the work I do worth it.
With the SEAK kids, I was able to be with them for a week while they learned about environmental topics such as water quality, pollinator conservation, and human impact on an ecosystem. It's been very exciting to be able to work with such bright and excited kids and it's great to see just how much they are wanting to learn.
Together we were able to help out the Ecological Services team at the Wildlife Refuge by planting new shrubs and wildflowers near their offices, so that a great pollinator garden will began to grow. It was great to be able to talk with the kids and tell them that human impact on the environment doesn't have to mean that it's a bad thing. When we do restoration projects and continuous conservation, even if it's just in our backyards, we really are making a difference!
Looking to the future with Latino Conservation Week, I am currently planning two camps for Latino youth, one aimed at elementary aged kids and one for high school students. With these camps, my goal is to inspire these kids to take a new look at the nature that's all around them and to really understand that these things have both ecological and cultural value. I want them to know that they can make a difference; that they are that difference.
In the News / September 13th, 2017 / La tierra de 10,000 lagos published in La Prensa MN
written by Layne Warner, RFI

La tierra de 10 mil lagos

Picture

​Blog written by Layne Warner, Urban Outreach Coordinator, Refuge Friends, Inc.
layne_warner@fws.gov











​Layne Warner was contracted by Refuge Friends, Inc in April 2017 to connect the MN Valley National Wildlife Refuge with the growing Hispanic community in the Twin Cities. Warner is bilingual due to her Peace Corps service in Panama 2013-14, and is passionate about providing environmental education and career opportunities to diverse youth throughout the Twin Cities. 

Warner works with Urban Ventures every week during the school year, and every 2 weeks throughout the summer, to inspire confidence and instill an environmental ethic with Latinx youth. 
Did you know that 1 in every 20 Minnesota residents identify as Hispanic? As a group, Hispanics are much younger than Minnesota’s overall population, and an increasing share are native born (MN Compass). Since January 1st, 2017, the Urban Wildlife Conservation Program at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge has been working with Refuge Friends Inc to better serve the Hispanic communities. As a result, Refuge Friends Inc has contracted a bilingual Urban Outreach Coordinator to provide nature-based education and resources to the Hispanic community throughout the Twin Cities. 

Through a connection with the Latino Communications Network, Refuge Friends Inc is able to publish and promote our programs directly to the Hispanic audiences! Articles are published bi-weekly in "La Prensa Minnesota" (Minnesota Press). 
Source: Minnesota Compass, 2014. http://www.mncompass.org/trends/insights/2014-10-02-hispanic-population-trends

Pictured left are Oman and Yosmeri, from Urban Ventures, a faith-based non-profit providing a variety of community resources in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis.

​Oman is showcasing his bee house project, made possible by Bee Kind Inc.  After-school enrichment sessions focus on a variety of topics and Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge covers science. Programs include snowshoeing, wildlife signs walks through the park, building bird feeders, and more. 
See our latest articles in La Prensa:
​
El mes de la mariposa monarca: http://www.laprensademn.com/el-mes-de-la-mariposa-monarca/ 

La tierra de 10 mil lagos: www.laprensademn.com/minnesota-la-tierra-de-10-mil-lagos/

Conoce sus vecinos naturalistas: www.laprensademn.com/conoce-sus-vecinos-naturalistas/

​
In the News / August 4, 2017 / Ding Darling Reception hosted at the Minnesota  Valley National Wildlife Refuge
written by Jamie Kay Podratz, Kids for Conservation, Inc. 
Blog written By
Jamie Kay Podratz, 
Refuge Friends, Inc.
Board Director,
Kids for Conservation, Inc.
 Executive Director

Jamie Podratz joined the Refuge Friends, Inc. board of directors in 2017. She serves as Executive Director of Kids for Conservation (K4C), a frequent partner of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge Urban Outreach Program. Podratz is passionate about youth and community education as well as conservation of our natural resources.

For more information about the "Ding" Darling Wildlife Society and the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, please visit their websites:

 "Ding" Darling Wildlife Society

 J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge

Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
​

"Ding" Darling Wildlife Society
  visits Minnesota

The Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge was thrilled to host nearly 100 guests on July 27th for a reception co-hosted by the "Ding" Darling Wildlife Society (Friends of the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge and the Refuge Friends, Inc. (Official Support Group of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Highlights included presentations by the Ding Darling Wildlife Society Director Birgie Miller, Regional Director for the Midwest Region Tom Melius, Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge Manager Tim Bodeen, and Refuge Friends, Inc. Board President Kelly Cain. 

The Ding Darling Wildlife Society and Refuge Friends, Inc. celebrated their mutual interest in supporting the National Wildlife Refuge System, particularly as both organizations support wildlife refuges which are critical to bird migratory routes along the southernmost and near the northern border of the United States. Many of Ding Darling’s supporters split time between the Twin Cities Metro Area and Sanibel Island, where Ding Darling is located. The event gave Minnesota-based supporters of each an opportunity to learn more about these national treasures as well as to celebrate recent programmatic successes of both of these critical areas for wildlife habitat and ecosystem restoration. 
In the News / December 4, 2016 / Minnesota's Best Kept Secret

Blog Written By
​Joy Blackwood
Urban Wildlife Refuge Program Manager

National Wildlife
Refuge Association
1001 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 905
​Washington, DC  20036

jblackwood
@refugeassociation.org
202-577-3396
refugeassociation.org

Joy is responsible for the Refuge Association’s urban wildlife refuge program. Working in partnership with 14 urban refuges around the nation both on-the-ground and at the national level, she will help to bring forth their visions for the future, provide technical assistance, support collaborative efforts that raises awareness and elevates the importance of wildlife refuges in urban areas.
​
​Joy’s passion for protecting the majestic places we so cherish is deeply rooted in her British and Jamaican background, as well as the years she devoted to changing the public’s opinion and understanding of the green movement and the benefits of the great outdoors.

Minnesota's Best Kept Secret!

Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
The Bald eagles that soar over rush hour traffic, ignoring the roar of jet engines from nearby Minnesota-St. Paul International airport, are a testament to one of the Twin Cities’ best kept secrets – the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, an urban green belt of 14,000 acres and home to hundreds of migratory birds, songbirds, pelicans, wild turkey, deer, other wildlife species and an array of wildflowers.
Established in 1976 and designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as 1 of 14 regional priority urban wildlife refuges, Minnesota Valley NWR spans 72 miles along the Minnesota River from Henderson to the Bloomington Education and Visitor Center, which is adjacent to metro bus and light rail transit systems, the Mall of America and just south of Fort Snelling State Park. The Visitor Center provides information on a variety of educational and recreational opportunities designed to bring a connectedness to nature and the Refuge including interpretive exhibits, self-guided tours, walking, hiking, biking and jogging on the many miles of trails, canoeing, hunting, fishing at Bass Ponds — stocked with bass, bluegill, crapple and catfish, and snowshoeing and cross-country skiing during the winter season.
I’ve always thought of Minnesota Valley NWR as a place where you can escape to the tranquility of nature amidst the shadows of skyscrapers and hustle and bustle of a thriving city.

The Twin Cities area is also known for its lakes, bone-chilling temperatures and a hub for refugee resettlement. In the past two decades or so, Minneapolis-St. Paul has become increasingly diverse culturally and ethnically – approximately one-third of our nation’s Somali population resides in Minneapolis, and St. Paul is home to the largest population of Hmong Americans. In an effort to respond to this demographic transformation, soci-economic and educational gaps so many large urban regions face, Minnesota Valley’s Urban Wildlife Refuge Initiative (UWRI) has stepped up efforts to engage the surrounding communities in a way that brings a sense of excitement, adventure and responsibility for protecting this urban utopia as a vital part of the National Wildlife Refuge System, the world’s largest network of wildlife conservation.
Collaborating with local school districts, community leaders and organizations including Refuge Friends, Inc., Wildderness Inquiry – recently designated an USFWS Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership, CommonBond Communities and YouthCARE, Refuge staff provide nature-based youth employment opportunities, robust citizen science programs, environmental education training for teachers and a variety of outdoor activities that resonate with Minnesotans of all ages and ethnicities. The Minnesota Valley NWR team has embraced the challenge of connecting these diverse community groups and families to this beautiful parcel of green space with the same enthusiasm 500,000 Minnesotans looked forward to the start of deer hunting season this year. Therefore, it is my hope the lessons learned through Minnesota Valley’s Urban Initiative will serve as a model for other urban/metropolitan wildlife refuges as they explore ways to truly bring people and nature together in a thoughtful, holistic and healthy way.
We would love to hear about your experience enjoying Minnesota’s best kept secret or any other Refuge! 

​Tag the Refuge Association in your Instagram posts at @refugeassociation or on Twitter and Facebook use the hashtag #wildliferefuge. Questions/comments or thoughts can be shared with our Urban Wildlife Refuge Program Manager, Joy Blackwood at jblackwood@refugeassociation.org
​or call 202-577-3396.
In The News / October 7, 2016 - 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge


​The Refuge marked its 40th anniversary with a public celebration in October that featured events throughout the day including family-friendly and hands-on activities such as birding, exploration, fishing, hiking and more. We celebrate this urban oasis for nature and animal lovers alike.  Come enjoy the Refuge, and learn more about one of Minnesota’s best-kept secrets.  It's a natural treasure that connects our urban community to wildlife and wild places, and provides a variety of recreational opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts, children, and families.  An urban oasis, the Refuge is a place for nature lovers to learn, grow and enjoy for generations to come.
Enjoy this special video created in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Refuge.