Conserving the Future: Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation

Since July of last summer, five teams of employees from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been collaborating on draft vision documents in the areas of conservation planning, delivery, and science; relevance to a changing America; and leadership and organizational excellence. Throughout the fall, our partners at the National Wildlife Refuge Association interviewed different groups of folks ranging from members of Friends organizations to known conservation leaders about their thoughts on the future of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Now the teams – known as the Core Teams – have put together revised draft vision documents based on the feedback and discussions from an in-person meeting they had in Madison, Wisconsin back in November. These documents are posted in the various Groups for the Core Teams (see the Groups Directory for a complete list and links to each Group).

Right now, these documents are being reviewed and integrated by a team of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees who have been heavily involved on the Core Teams or as central staff. Their substantive review will help edit the document into a more digestible format, highlight the bold ideas and themes in the draft vision, and put it all together in a way that tells a single story for a larger group of the public, partners, and government employees to react to.

We know folks are excited for the opportunity to comment directly on the document, and there will be ample time starting in late January and into the coming months to review and comment on the draft vision. Right now is the time to join the community, contribute to the discussions in the forums, and stay informed.

You can see a list of the various Groups that have already formed in the social network.  If you haven’t joined the social network yet, now is a great time to join (click here to create a profile). If there is a group that appeals to your interests, feel free to join it.  If not, we’ll be opening up the website for users to create your own groups sometime in the new year.

Keep the discussions going in the Forums on this website. We have really learned a lot from them and your ideas will continue to drive this community. In fact, we are currently working on a “community of ideas” tool to be launched in January to better and more immediately capture your ideas while not losing the value of the discussion forums.