What We Do

The Office of Communications has four divisions:

Roles and Responsibilities of Congressional and Legislative Affairs:

  • Develop and promote the Service’s legislative agenda, including recommending initiatives to the Service Directorate
  • Prepare legislative priorities, reviews and reports on legislation referred by the Department of the Interior, and coordinate the Service’s views with other bureaus and offices to achieve Service objectives
  • Educate Congress about Service programs and accomplishments
  • Inform Service leadership, programs, and regional and field offices about congressional actions and legislative activities
  • Serve as the main point of contact with members of Congress and committees
  • Provide information and materials in response to congressional inquiries and other assistance as required by members of Congress

Roles and Responsibilities of Marketing Communications, which includes the Branch of Digital Strategy and the Branch of Printing and Publishing:

  • Establish digital media policy
  • Develop and maintain our homepage and various supporting pages
  • Operate the national social media accounts and the Open Spaces blog
  • Oversee our overall web presence including www.fws.gov and all social media sites
  • Produce and edit videos
  • Help other offices in the creation of online videos
  • Provide training and guidance in digital media creation and policy
  • Maintain and update our internal website
  • Produce our quarterly e-magazine, Fish & Wildlife News
  • Provide technical and policy support in the production of printed materials
  • Serve as the main point of contact to the General Printing Office for brochures and printed materials including the Code of Federal Regulations

Roles and Responsibilities of Partners and Intergovernmental Affairs:

  • Build a partnership-based approach to stewardship
  • Combine individual strengths to accomplish missions
  • Foster relationships, common goals, and collaboration
  • Build constituencies and broad-based community support
  • Reach out to underserved communities and find ways to work together
  • Leverage resources to meet challenges and improve opportunities
  • Meet the needs of Environmental Justice communities

Roles and Responsibilities of Public Affairs:

  • Develop and publish news releases and other official communications for the Service
  • Respond to inquiries from the news media, constituent groups, and the public
  • Create communication campaigns to inform the public on certain issues.
  • Keep other program areas aware of developments with the media and stakeholder groups
  • Develop communications and outreach strategies for emerging issues and crisis events
  • Work with Service leadership and programs to enhance external communications techniques
  • Oversee the agency’s call and e-mail information center

Our Programs

The Office of Communication program in headquarters consists of the following programs

the dome of US Capitol in blue sky
The Division of Congressional and Legislative Affairs is the liaison between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Congress. The Division is responsible for ensuring effective and appropriate communications between Congress and the Service, and for implementing the Service’s legislative agenda...
Program
Falls Church,VA
lynx wanders in snow
Public Affairs works to ensure the public can find out about us and our work in a timely way and in formats they can easily access, use, and understand.
Program
frog on mossy bank
Marketing Communications is responsible for web, social media, and video strategy and development, as well as printing and publishing operations in support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service mission.
Program
a flock of birds fly across an orange sky
Although one finds partnerships and partnering opportunities throughout the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, External Affairs’ Partners and Intergovernmental Affairs coordinates many of them, working with other federal government bureaus, and non-governmental entities and individuals. It also...
Program
Open field of poppies and wishbone bush at San Diego National Wildlife Refuge,
The initial environmental justice spark sprang from a Warren County, NC protest. In 1982, a small, predominately African-American community was designated to host a hazardous waste landfill. This landfill would accept PCB-contaminated soil that resulted from illegal dumping of toxic waste along...
Program