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 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. 

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. 

Volunteers at the refuge help staff conduct wildlife surveys, take photographs, lead tours, help staff the Washita Farm Heritage Center, maintain refuge facilities, compile plant and animal species lists, design and construct exhibits and more. 

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. 

Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge works with the following partners. They play a very important role in helping the refuge accomplish its wildlife management, conservation, and education goals: 

  • Arbuckle-Simpson Nature Festival  
  • Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma 
  • Chickasaw Nation OklaVision Videos  
  • Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma 
  • Citizens for the Protection of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer 
  • City of Tishomingo 
  • Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative 
  • Johnston County Chamber of Commerce 
  • Johnston County Historical Society 
  • Marshall County Chamber of Commerce 
  • Missouri State University 
  • Murray State College 
  • Nature Conservancy 
  • National Park Service 
  • National Wild Turkey Federation 
  • Natural Resource Conservation Science 
  • Noble Foundation 
  • Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation 
  • Oklahoma Conservation Commission 
  • Oaks and Prairies Ventures 
  • Oklahoma State University 
  • Oklahoma Department of Transportation 
  • State of Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry 
  • Student Conservation Association 
  • Southeastern Oklahoma State University 
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District 
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture 
  • The University of Oklahoma 
  • Tishomingo Refuge Ecology and Education Society 

Outreach

The refuge provides a pavilion and tables for outdoor classrooms and has an educational center for hosting special programs. Three trails are available for an outdoor experience with the sights and sounds of nature. Trails are easy to travel with groups and provide a variety of environments and habitats. If you would like to bring a group to the refuge for a staff-led program, please contact the refuge to schedule. 

Education Programs

Open the door to a potentially life-changing experience. If you land a student internship, a fellowship or a volunteer opportunity at a national wildlife refuge national wildlife refuge
A national wildlife refuge is typically a contiguous area of land and water managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.

Learn more about national wildlife refuge , fish hatchery or other U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service site, you’re bound to come away with new insights and excitement about conservation.