Share your stories about vacationing on or near national wildlife refuges! (Image: Lower Rio Grand NWR, Steve Hillebrand/FWS)

With the summer travel season kicking off this Memorial Day weekend, and gas prices hovering near $4 a gallon, it’s a good time to remember that our national wildlife refuges offer affordable, close-to-home recreation opportunities. Most American cities are just an hour’s drive from a refuge. And there are so many to choose from—553 of them, at least one in every state and U.S. territory. As we get in a vacation mind-set, and prepare for the Vision conference in July, it’s also a good time to think about how we can reach more Americans with the news of these treasured places.

Refuges are an ideal family destination, with activities to appeal to kids, seniors, and everyone in between. Lots of coastal refuges offer great canoeing and kayaking, some of them with designated water trails. The nation’s refuges offer spectacular scenery and wildlife photography opportunities. Whether you enjoy fresh- or salt-water angling, refuges are great places to put your line in the water. There is hiking, bird watching and the opportunity to get away from it all in the wilderness. Refuges offer all these, and more.

Many refuges offer facilities and trails that are accessible to disabled visitors. For example, the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay NWR offers a handicapped-accessible fishing pier. On the other coast, Maine’s Rachel Carson NWR has a mile-long, self-guided wheelchair accessible trail skirting the refuge’s salt marshes and uplands.

Many refuges also offer affordable summer programs designed especially for children. The Chincoteague Natural History Association partners with the Chincoteague NWR to offer three months of summer day-camp sessions, called “Children in the Woods.”  With the refuge as an outdoor classroom, young campers learn about the island’s wildlife, explore the lighthouse, and hone new skills that include kayaking, birding, forestry, crabbing, clamming, surf fishing, digital photography, and archery. Other refuges offer similar summer programs.

Since FWS pledged “to build a broader base of public support for wildlife conservation” when it adopted its “Fulfilling the Promise” plan in 1999, the Service has dramatically improved its public outreach. Last year, refuges hosted approximately 45 million visitors. As we prepare to adopt a new vision for the Refuge System, we need to build on the progress of the past decade, reaching a more diverse American population with our refuge message. We can start now by encouraging our friends and neighbors to get out and explore our refuges this summer. Direct them to the great interactive map on the USFWS website. Let them know that refuges are close to home, and they’re the best summer recreation bargain imaginable.

Maribeth Oakes, National Wildlife Refuge Association

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