From our blogs

11 Sep 2012

NWRA 2012 Wildlife Refuge Photo Contest

National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) 2012 Wildlife Refuge Photo Contest. Photograph courtesy NWRA. Copyright NWRA.

The National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) is pleased to announce the 2012 Wildlife Refuge Photo Contest, an exciting event dedicated to showcasing the National Wildlife Refuge System’s rich diversity of wildlife and habitat. Your photos can help us promote this magnificent 150-million-acre federal lands system, a centerpiece of conservation in America.

Contest Entry

Submit up to five digital photos taken at a national wildlife refuge within the last three years through our website, www.refugeassociation.org, between September 7 and the end of National Wildlife Refuge Week on October 12, 2012. Results will be announced in late October 2012. Download the contest flyer [PDF 1.5 MB].

01 Sep 2012

Environmental Education Internship

Watershed Watchers Program Coordinator Debra King talks about wildlife and the habitat they depend on during the Habitat Hike. Photograph courtesy SFBWS. Copyright CC BY-SA 3.0.

Watershed Watchers Program Coordinator Debra King talks about wildlife and the habitat they depend on during the Habitat Hike. Photograph courtesy SFBWS. Copyright CC BY-SA 3.0.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

This volunteer internship is located at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Environmental Education Center in Alviso, CA. The Environmental Education Center provides free programs to schools and the public, while teaching about the local wildlife, conservation, and how to help the environment. The Living Wetlands program is designed to teach about wetlands and the properties of wetlands including watersheds and water conservation. We need a highly motivated individual who has an interest in education and visitor services and will assist in educating, planning, and developing the Living Wetlands program.

24 Aug 2012

Drawbridge, CA featured in the Milpitas Post 8/24/2012

By Ceal Craig and Debra King

Water tower at Drawbridge, CA. Photograph courtesy Cecilia Craig. Copyright CC BY-SA 3.0.

Water tower at Drawbridge, CA. Photograph courtesy Cecilia Craig. Copyright CC BY-SA 3.0.

Shannon Barry, an education and feature writer for the Milpitas Post, has covered the ghost town of Drawbridge, CA in the August 24, 2012 print edition of her popular column "Sightseeing with Shannon".

The article, available on the Mercury News website, is part of an ongoing series of profiles about activities and places of interest in the greater Silicon Valley.

The full article (PDF version) can be downloaded here.

13 May 2012

Virtual Watershed Flight Campaign: Endow WOWW!

Virtual Watershed Flight Campaign: Endow WOWW!

Help raise $60,000 to create two interactive computer exhibits at the Visitor Center in Fremont and the Environmental Education Center in Alviso. You can contribute first-hand to education programs for local schools and the general public.

To donate, click here or call 510-745-8170.

Pilot Level

Donate $5,000 or more Recognition in Kiosk WOWW application program, shown as Sponsor on www.sfbws.com website and special mention in Tideline for 1 year.

Navigator Level

Donate $1,000 or more Recognition in Kiosk WOWW application program and special mention in Tideline for that quarter.

WOWW Support Level

Donate $100 or more Receive a Wildlife Society memento of your choice: mug or mouse pad.

01 May 2012

Winners of the 30th Annual Endangered Species Poster Contest

The San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society is happy to announce the winners of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge's 30th Annual Endangered Species Poster Contest. This contest is held annually for schools in Union City, Newark, Fremont, and East Palo Alto. Posters were judged for their concept, composition, color and expression. Winners were then forwarded on to the national contest. Jasmine Lee's rendition of the Quino Checkerspot Butterfly took first place in the K-2 category in the national contest.

2nd Grade 1st Place and National K-2 winner. 'Quino Checkerspot Butterfly' by Jasmine C. Lee from Warwick Elementary School. Image courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

2nd Grade 1st Place and National K-2 winner. 'Quino Checkerspot Butterfly' by Jasmine C. Lee from Warwick Elementary School. Image courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Please join us on Endangered Species Day, May 19, 2012 from 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. for a reception for all the artists who entered. The reception will be held at the Refuge Visitor Center at 2 Marshlands Rd, Fremont, CA.

22 Apr 2012

South Bay Bird Fest - 05/12

Discover the beauty of local birds! Free face painting, guided bird walks, hands-on activities and crafts!

Date: Saturday, May 12, 2012 - 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Venue: Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Environmental Education Center in Alviso

For more information, please call us at (408) 262-5513, visit our website www.fws.gov/desfbay or check out our Facebook page!

Sponsored by the City of San Jose, Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program, Santa Clara Valley Audobon Society, San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

01 Mar 2012

A look back at the last 25 years

The First Decade 1987 - 1996

 

1987: Donated funds for old Fremont pumphouse restoration, making it an environmental education classroom. Runs bookstore & purchased a copy machine for Refuge.

1988: Bought first computer at Refuge. Established bookstore at Klamath Basin NWR. Began publishing The Tideline. Established Explorer post (Boy Scouts) with emphasis on conservation & natural resources.

1989: Published Drawbridge, A Hand-Me-Down History. Began Exploring The Wilds seminars. Purchased computer and slide projector for EEC. Held first Winter Wildlife Arts & Crafts sale.

1990: Klamath Basin & Sacramento NWRs became part of SFBWS scope. Established bookstore at Sacramento NWR. Funded Summer Art Academy. Published Wetland Wildlife Viewing Guide with funding from several grant. Purchased another computer for Fremont site. Purchased electron microscope for Pumphouse classroom and Bio-Scope for EEC.

1991: Began financial support of NWR Volunteer program.

1992: Purchased a laser printer for Refuge. Part-time environmental education employees hired to keep Alviso EEC open n weekends. Positions funded with grants from the City of San Jose and Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program.

1993: Funded Latin American Internship for Hopper Mountain Condor Recovery Program through grant agreement with FWS. Malheur Wildlife Refuge, Oregon, added to SFBWS scope. Purchased a laptop computer for the Refuge.

1994: Hired Program Administrator to support growing needs of 7 programs.

1995: Grant funded up-grade EEC Pavilion & new EEC Butterfly Garden. Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention program expanded to full time position.

1996: Funded EEC Disabled Access Pathway. Published Endangered Species brochure. Purchased a video microscope for Pumphouse, a lamination machine and funded mural in the Fremont Pavilion. Salt Marsh Manual developed as a tool for teacher training for class room visits to the Refuge.

10 Feb 2012

San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society Celebrates 25 years of Environmental Education & Refuge Complex Support

By Ceal Craig, Eric McKee, Debra King, and Sue Ten Eyck

What began 25 years ago as a small not-for-profit organization formed primarily to publish a quarterly newsletter, has blossomed into a cooperating association and friends group that helps finance environmental education, facility construction, and habitat restoration. John Steiner, former San Francisco Bay NWR Complex Chief Naturalist who was instrumental in launching the San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society, wrote in a 1997 Tideline article that the Society was create“to help fund the refuge’s expanded public use effort... A public-benefit, nonprofit organization chartered by the State of California in 1987, the Society has spent its first ten years providing vital support to the many refuge programs.”

The Society owes its success over the years to a number of volunteers, who mapped out the organization’s future course and made success possible. Oakland attorney Jed Somit volunteered his time to draw up the initial charter documents and provided the guidance that got the organization started. He served as a volunteer Director for many years.

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