9/11/23 Meeting Agenda

6:30 pm Zoom

Brad Knudsen, former manager of the Patuxent Research Refuge, talk about the history of the National Refuge system.

9/11/23 Meeting Minutes

The agenda for this meeting was a presentation by Brad Knudsen on the evolution of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Brad Knudsen is the former manager of the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge.

A few notes from the presentation include -

Patuxent Wildlife Refuge is just under 13,000 acres. Across the nation, national wildlife refuges range from 6 acres to 20 million acres! It is the largest mass of land dedicated to wildlife protection.

Wildlife refuges exist in every state as well as Puerto Rico and Guam.

The goals of the National Wildlife Refuge System are 1) to protect wildlife, 2) to encourage visitation into natural areas and, 3) to take the wildlife refuge to the people. There is a push to create refuges in urban areas of the country.

Allowed uses of the nation's wildlife refuges are 1) hunting, 2) fishing, 3) photography, 4) environmental interpretation, 5) environmental education and, 6) wildlife observation.

In today’s world, the National Wildlife Refuge System is dealing with complex issues including climate change, habitat fragmentation, hazardous waste management, etc.

Click here for Brad Knudsen’s slides