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.

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. Check out our station's latest volunteer opportunities on volunteer.gov

Shawangunk Grasslands NWR welcomes assistance from volunteers. Those with specific skills in conducting breeding bird surveys by ear, or with an interest in maintaining trails and invasive plant species control, may contact Scott_Lenhart@fws.gov regarding potential volunteer opportunities.  

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.

The National Wildlife Refuge System is committed to building partnerships which encourage conservation and preservation of our natural and cultural resources.  Partnerships with the Refuge System bring innovative approaches to solving land management and water disputes in the most environmentally protective manner.  Scientifically-informed and technologically-based stewardship of our public lands, waters, wildlife and special places must be collaborative efforts between the Refuge System, other government agencies, and private organizations if conservation efforts are to succeed.