U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service History

09/15/2026

09/14/2026

The NCTC Conservation Lecture Series Presents:
“Evening Grand Rounds: The Health of a Person, a Place, and a Planet” with Chris Lemon, Director of Clinical Program Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health and Chris Marshall, Senior Administrative Manager Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health
Thursday September 24, 2026, at 7:00 PM
National Conservation Training Center
Byrd Auditorium
698 Conservation Way Shepherdstown, WV

This event is free and open to the public. To register, please email:
[email protected]
Include the program date, the names of adults attending, and any questions.

Doors open at 6:30 PM.
Program begins at 7:00 PM.

This lecture will be recorded and available online October 1 at 2:00 pm ET
at https://www.youtube.com//streams

09/09/2026

Remembering Richard Guadagno
September 26, 1962 – September 11, 2001​​

Working collaboratively, USFWS Museum staff and Interior Museum staff have set up exhibits honoring Richard Guadagno, featuring personal items and tributes from their collections. The exhibit will be on display at Stewart Udall Main Interior's C Street entrance from September 8-11 after which it will move to the Interior Museum until the end of the year. Guests to the National Conservation Training Center may view displays honoring Rich at the Front Entry Building near the USFWS Museum. ​

Richard Guadagno was the Refuge Manager at Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge in California. He was killed on September 11, 2001, when United Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.​

Rich greeted each day with enthusiasm and curiosity. He loved being outdoors, scuba diving and surfing, riding motorcycles, playing one of his eight guitars, and growing bonsai and orchids. He studied the stars, did taxidermy, collected rocks, loved to cook, and enjoyed many adventures with his dog Raven.​​

Rich was on his way home to California on September 11 after celebrating his grandmother’s 100th birthday with family in New Jersey. Since his Federal law enforcement badge and credentials were found in the remains near the plane’s cockpit, it is believed that he took an active role in confronting the terrorists. ​​

In honor of his actions that day, Rich was posthumously awarded the U.S. Department of the Interior Valor Award. Congress established the Richard J. Guadagno Visitor Center at Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge in 2002. ​​

Twenty-five years have passed since that fateful September morning. We hope the displays encourage visitors to reflect on the life, service, and dedication of Richard Guadagno—and all the other lives lost that day.

Image 1: Memorial exhibit for Richard Guadagno at Stewart Udall Main Interior Building, Washington D.C.

Image 2: Richard and Raven, courtesy of the Guadagno Family.

09/01/2026

Remembering Wendell Berry who passed August 31, 2026.

The National Conservation Training Center had the honor of hosting Wendell Berry in June 1999 at the Orion Society's "Fire and Grit" literary conference. Berry provided many sage remarks at that event including this particularly appropriate one.

"No individual life is an end in itself, one can live fully by participating fully in the succession of the generations, in death as well as in life. Some would say, and I am one of them, that we can live fully only by making ourselves answerable to the claims of eternity as to those in time."

Photo: Wendell Berry in 2011. Photo by David Marshall.

08/24/2026

Conservation Hero: Helen Fenske (1922-2007)

Reach for the stars, darling. Dream the unattainable, have humor and enthusiasm. Dream the big dreams. — Helen Fenske

A neighborhood meeting in her New Jersey kitchen started a nine-year battle against impossible odds to save Great Swamp from becoming a 10,000-acre jetport. It also launched the influential career of a woman determined to harness the power of citizen action.

On May 29, 1964, the conservation efforts of Helen Fenske, a homemaker-turned-activist with little formal training, were recognized at the dedication ceremony of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. With Fenske as their galvanizing force, 6,100 citizens challenged the Port Authority and transformed 3,000 acres of marshland into a Federally protected wildlife refuge. Four years later, Fenske’s determination culminated in signing of the Great Swamp Wilderness Act, permanently protecting this rare area of undeveloped wetland located only 26 miles from the nation’s largest city.

“Yellin’ Helen” was a figure larger than life. Known as the grand dame of New Jersey’s environmental movement, Fenske’s influence spread well beyond Great Swamp. She fostered conservation non-profits and inspired the work of numerous environmental commissions and organizations. Her legacy grew as she worked to ensure a public voice in government policy through her work at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, where she retired as acting Commissioner. She received many awards in her career, including the Department of Interior’s Conservation Service Award. For Fenske, however, nothing was more significant or more personal than protection of Great Swamp, an achievement that continues to inspire future generations with the determination to never give up.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Fenske Family.

08/11/2026

In our latest episode of The Future of Conservation, we trace the origins, growth, and evolving purpose of an important part of America’s public lands from Pelican Island to today’s cutting edge conservation work. Discover the people, places, and wildlife shaping the next century of stewardship, and get inspired to visit a refuge near you.
Listen to Your National Wildlife Refuge System now on our Future of Conservation Podcast website or your favorite podcast app!

Photo: Waterfowl at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge by USFWS

07/28/2026

Tummy time is essential for USFWS biologists surveying albatross chicks. This early 1980s photo captures the reality of fieldwork: getting down to eye level on the sand with pencil and notebook in hand.

Photo Jerry Ludwig/USFWS

07/18/2026

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07/16/2026

If you happen to be in the vicinity of Springfield Armory National Historic Site this Saturday, check out “Saving America’s Wildlife: History, Conservation Funding, and the Pittman-Robertson Act” featuring our very own Mark Madison, Historian for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service!

Reminder! Join us this Saturday, July 18 at 1:00 PM, for the next installment of our American System of Conservation Funding Speaker Series at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site.

This session, "Saving America's Wildlife: History, Conservation Funding, and the Pittman-Robertson Act," features Mark Madison, Historian for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Discover how the Pittman-Robertson Act transformed America's wildlife and wild places by revolutionizing the way wildlife conservation and restoration are funded.

Session attendees will have the opportunity to see the pen President Franklin D. Roosevelt used to sign the Pittman-Robertson Act as well as other historical artifacts from the USFWS Archives on display during Madison’s session.

Check out U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service History to learn more about the USFWS Museum and Archives.

07/15/2026

History doesn't stand still—it evolves with our understanding of the world. A recently transferred elephant skin briefcase once owned by Gen. William B. Rosson has found a new home at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Wildlife Property Repository, where it will help tell a story that reaches beyond military history.

When it was bought, owning it was perfectly legal. But, today, that same briefcase stands as a quiet reminder of how much the world has changed in the name of conservation. Both African and Asian elephants are now protected under Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), with international trade in their parts largely banned. This artifact cuts through the policy and makes that fight feel real — a physical window into why the world decided these animals were worth saving.

Placing this historical object in a conservation setting, gives its significance new meaning. It's still a piece of Gen. Rosson's remarkable military legacy, but now it's something more: a conversation starter about how our relationship with the natural world has changed, and why that change matters.

Credit: National Wildlife Property Repository