The Friends of Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

Friends of Bosque del Apache (Friends) was incorporated in November 1993 as a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization. Its mission statement is “We support Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and promote appreciation and conservation of wildlife and habitat.” Friends has provided substantial financial and organizational support to Bosque del Apache for almost thirty years. Friends raises funds and partners with other organizations to serve refuge needs, advocates for relevant conservation issues, and provides funding for environmental education and research. Friends’ important work is funded by grants, program profits, and donations from members, sponsors, and donors. Friends operates the Bosque del Apache Nature Store in the refuge visitor center, runs at least one event or workshop per season to educate the public, fundraises to support refuge needs, publishes guides and a quarterly newsletter to orient visitors to the refuge and to inform people of the latest news on the refuge, and organizes and orchestrates the annual Festival of the Cranes. The Friends funds environmental education by providing materials to the refuge and bus scholarships that bring over five hundred students and teachers from around New Mexico to the refuge each year. The Friends have raised substantial funds to help the refuge: add land to the refuge; add square footage to the Visitor Center; buy farm equipment; install metal bridges on trails; drill new and rehabilitate old groundwater wells, etc. For more details about Friends’ contributions to the refuge thus far, see “Three Decades of Support” document on our website: https://friendsofbosquedelapache.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/3_Decade_Brochure.pdf Our next two big projects are to fund a regenerative agricultural project to help with refuge farms to feed wildlife, and to fund a pollinator habitat enhancement project to support pollinators, build trails, and educate the public. Friends of Bosque del Apache has been recognized both regionally and nationally for excellence in the following: advancing the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge system; promoting partnerships between the refuge and the local community and among other refuges and Friends groups; and advocating for protection of natural resources. Friends was recognized in 2014 with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region II Friends Group of the Year Award, and in 2015 with National Wildlife Refuge Association’s Molly Krival Friends Group of the Year.