We at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are charged with protecting and enhancing America's treasured fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats. We work for the perpetuation of diverse and abundant wildlife because biodiversity is essential to maintaining the health of our environment, families and economy.

We maintain a network of public lands totaling upwards of 150 million acres. In order to best serve the needs of wildlife and people, we are split into eight geographic regions and nearly 700 field stations, with our headquarters located in Falls Church, Virginia.

Our approach with social media takes cues from our agency structure and translates it into the digital space. In the interest of allocating our resources carefully and effectively, we have developed a strategic approach to social media wherein we choose which platforms we use based on how well they help us accomplish our mission.

Policies

Whatever the tool, whether it's for official Service communication or an employee's personal use; we use social media in accordance with all applicable federal laws, the Department of the Interior social media policydigital media guidelines and the requirements and policies outlined here.

Additional relevant policies

Comment Policy

We welcome your comments and hope that our conversations here will be courteous. You are fully responsible for the content of your comments. In all our forums, we monitor comments either before they are published or shortly thereafter.

We never discriminate against any views, but we reserve the right to delete any of the following: 

  • off-topic comments
  • violent, vulgar, obscene, profane, hateful, or racist comments
  • comments that threaten or defame any person or organization
  • the violation of the privacy of another individual
  • solicitations, advertisements, or endorsements of any financial, commercial, or non-governmental agency
  • comments that suggest or encourage illegal activity
  • comments promoting or opposing any person who is campaigning for election to a political office or promoting or opposing any ballot proposition
  • comments including phone numbers, email addresses, residential addresses, or similar information
  • multiple, successive off-topic posts by a single user
  • repetitive posts copied and pasted by multiple users

Egregious or repeated violations of the comment policy may result in the deletion of your comment or the reporting of your account to third party site administrators.

Communication made through official U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service social media accounts, blogs, and/or online forums or groups will in no way constitute a legal or official notice or comment to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or any official or employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for any purpose.

References to commercial entities, products, services, or nongovernmental organizations or individuals are provided solely for information. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Government, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

Reporters or other media representatives are asked to send questions through their normal channels (the appropriate FWS office public affairs or communications office) and to refrain from submitting questions through official U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service social media accounts, blogs, and/or online forums or groups as comments.

This Comment Policy is subject to amendment or modification at any time to ensure that its continued use is consistent with its intended purpose as a limited forum.

Contacts

If you're an employee seeking information on requesting a social media account, please reach out to your digital strategist to learn more.

Portrait of Erin Huggins
Digital Strategist
Office of Communications,
Marketing Communications
Additional Role(s)
Digital strategy,
Social media management,
Multimedia production,
Public engagement,
Media relations
Falls Church,VA
a woman with light brown hair and bangs sits on a couch
Digital Strategist, Southwest Region
Office of Communications
Additional Role(s)
Regional Web Manager,
Social Media Coordinator
Expertise
Digital Communication
Area
NM
OK
AZ
TX
Albuquerque,NM
Mikaela Oles smiles in sunset for a profile headshot
Public Affairs Specialist
Office of Communications
Additional Role(s)
Social Media Manager
Expertise
Fisheries and Aquatic Conservation,
Social Media,
Photography,
Visual Design
Lakewood,CO

Additional resources

3-2260 and 3-2260s Agreement for Use of Likeness in Audio/Visual Products

This form grants us the rights to photograph and use the likeness of an indivdual and to place allowed photographs into the public domain. Read the form for details.

Includes English and Spanish language versions.

3-2259 Copyright Release Agreement form

This form establishes an agreement between a copyright holder and the Service for the use of copyrighted content, particularly images.

Includes English and Spanish language versions.