Ways to Get Involved
Whether you want to further conservation, learn more about nature or share your love of the outdoors, you’ve come to the right place. National wildlife refuges provide many opportunities for you to help your community and fish and wildlife by doing what you love. National wildlife refuges partner with volunteers, youth groups, landowners, neighbors and residents of urban and coastal communities to make a lasting difference. Find out how you can help make American lands healthier and communities stronger while doing something personally satisfying.
Volunteers: Gain new experiences and meet new people while helping to advance wildlife conservation.
Friends: Join neighbors in helping refuges restore habitat and expand access to green space.
Landowners: Learn how you can partner with the Fish and Wildlife Service to voluntarily restore land.
Local Groups: Find out how communities can work with refuges better for wildlife and people.
Youth: Explore paid and unpaid opportunities to learn and develop leadership skills.
We welcome you at Santee NWR! Please contact Monica Williams, Refuge Manager, at (803) 478-2217 or email monica_williams@fws.gov
Volunteering
Discover for yourself what tens of thousands of volunteers have learned: Volunteering for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is fun and rewarding in many ways. Master new skills. Meet new friends. Enjoy a sense of accomplishment from doing your part to further wildlife conservation for the pleasure of generations to follow.
At Santee NWR, volunteers work alongside refuge staff on tasks and projects according to their interests and abilities. Volunteers provide office support, staff the visitor center, work in the pollinator garden and help maintain the center grounds and trails. Volunteers maintain and restore habitat areas, conduct wildlife surveys, and assist with bird nesting boxes and bird banding programs. Volunteers provide interpretive and environmental education programs to school groups, organizations and visitors. As work projects and needs arise, volunteers provide support wherever and whenever they can help.
Check out our station's latest volunteer opportunities on volunteer.gov.
Our Partners
Nature does not recognize human-made boundaries. In order to conserve our natural and cultural resources effectively, we must work with others to bridge these boundaries. Partnerships foster creative solutions to challenging situations and often the results are greater than the sum of the parts. Learn more about our local partners.
Santee National Wildlife Refuge works with many partners to accomplish the mission of the refuge, the National Wildlife Refuge System, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is "working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people." This mission could not be accomplished without partners at the national, regional, and local levels.
Organizations like the National Wildlife Refuge Association and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation are wonderful partners that work with refuges at the national level.
Santee has worked with many partners throughout the state and locally. Thanks to all of our partners for helping to get the job done of helping wildlife and their habitats.
