Friends Of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge

Youth programs: it is a priority of fonwr to connect youth with environmental education and career development opportunities on the refuge. -- internships: fonwr offers internships for college students or recent graduates pursuing degrees in conservation fields. Interns assist with visitor services, biology, law enforcement, and maintenance programs. This year fonwr provided 6 internships for a total of 3,225.5 hours of work and funded training opportunities for interns. --career pathways: together with the united states fish and wildlife service, fonwr continued a cooperative agreement for the career pathways program to allow interns opportunity for advancement and selected two technician positions. These technicians contributed 3,120 hours of work for community engagement, intern recruitment, and invasive species projects. -environmental education: fonwr sponsored field trip transportation grants to local schools, bringing 111 students to the refuge for environmental education programs. Fonwr sponsored the earth heart farms fall field days event by providing volunteer guides and a tent for participant activities. Fonwr purchased archery equipment for youth programs, and sponsorship of the turkey hunting workshop and youth waterfowl hunting workshop reached over 50 youth. Additionally, fonwr awarded its first two 2,500 scholarships to high school seniors who are pursuing conservation careers.

Habitat restoration and management: restoration and maintenance work is completed by fonwr as resources allow to sustain the globally important stopover habitats at ottawa national wildlife refuge. Together with the partners for fish and wildlife program, fonwr continued a cooperative agreement to restore wetland habitat on private lands. In 2024, funds were used to restore 265 acres of emergent wetland and 65 acres of upland pollinator habitat on 12 parcels of private lands. Additionally, fonwr provided support for the glass city bird crew collision monitoring project in downtown toledo, the kontz unit restoration project.

Fonwr supports the mission of the ottawa national wildlife refuge by helping to protect 11,245 acres for wildlife and fostering its use by 400,000 visitors annually. Fonwr extends the visitor experience by operating a nature store within the refuge visitor center. Through marketing and outreach, fonwr shares information online about the refuge and friends group through email updates, social media, and the www.friendsofottawanwr.org website which also features the rookery nature store online. Printed quarterly newsletters and annual reports share news about refuge projects, accomplishments, and program updates to keep visitors connected. Outreach events such as art classes and nest box building workshops, lorax day, chili cook-off, migration-a-thon, howl- oween, and the holiday open house bring new user groups to the refuge grounds to diversify visitation and deepen community involvement.