It is National Wildlife Refuges centennial and Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge has participated in this years celebration.   On March 14, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order establishing Pelican Island, located in Florida, as the first National Wildlife Refuge.

Special Events:

To commemorate the centennial, Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge partnered up with the McGregor Flower Club and the Aitkin County Master Gardeners to plant a centennial garden.  On June 4th, twenty six enthusiastic gardeners met on the Refuge to plant the new flowerbed.  Come and visit us today and enjoy the new centennial garden.

Events:

On January 3, 2004, Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge coordinated the Christmas Bird Count on the refuge and surrounding area. All birds observed within a 15-mile circle centering on the headquarters at Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge were counted.  Seven people, 9 hours of searching, 24 species, and 1,134 birds later, the day was a tremendous success!  All of the 24 species observed during the Christmas Bird Count at Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge occur in the boreal forests of North America.  A few of the spectacular species observed include northern shrike, boreal chickadee, snow bunting, white-winged crossbill, common redpoll, and pine grosbeak.  The Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge Christmas Bird Count was done in conjunction with The National Audubon Society and the Boreal Songbird Initiative. This year, nearly 2,000 counts have taken place throughout the Americas between the dates of December 14 and January 5.  The count is designed to monitor the status and distribution of bird populations across the Western Hemisphere.  The focus of this year's Christmas Bird Count is on the 288 species of birds that breed within the North American boreal forest and winter in the United States and southern Canada.  Alaska and Canada's boreal forest is one of the three largest remaining unspoiled forests on the earth and provides nesting grounds for as many as one-third (up to 3 billion) of our continent's songbirds. If you are interested in viewing the list of species and actual numbers seen click the chart.    

Employment Opportunity: Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge is accepting rÈsumÈ's for a Biological Sciences Technician position.  This position requires education of two-years beyond high school or six months of general experience and six months of specialized experience in the biological field.  The candidate must also be registered for classes and/or accepted for enrollment for the Fall 2004 semester. If you are interested contact Refuge Headquarters by calling (218) 768-2402 or click on the link to view the position description, employment conditions and application information.  The deadline for receiving rÈsumÈ's is February 6, 2004.