Detroit Lakes WMD staff help children assemble nesting boxes. Families took the boxes home to attract nesting birds to thier yard. - USFWS photo by Les Peterson

Visitors learn how people influenced wildlife populations of today at a reenactment of a rendezvous at Tamarac NWR. - USFWS photo by Denis Mudderman

Three U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stations in Northwest Minnesota  celebrated National Wildlife Week September 24 through October 2.  Special activities took place at all three stations attracting over 1,000 participants.

The Wetland Management District of Detroit Lakes kicked off the week on with the Blue Goose Fest. People migrated through a variety of hands-on activities fit for the whole family.  Biologist Gerda Nordquist gave a special demonstration of the equipment used to capture and study birds, bats and other wildlife for the County Biological Surveys. This was followed by the firing of a rocket net for duck banding.  Participants built bird houses and feeders, and practiced duck identification skills just before hunting season.  The Friends of Detroit Lakes Wetlands co-sponsored the event and conducted a successful silent auction. The District also hosted two tour buses traveling the Lake Country Scenic Byway.  Riders were introduced to the prairie restoration efforts and toured facilities for seed collection, drying and storage.

As one of Minnesota's Important Bird Areas, thousands of migrating waterfowl and shorebirds find Hamden Slough National Wildlife Refuge a great place to rest on their journey south.   The staff of Hamden Slough captured this timely occurrence with highlights airing on several local cable channel vignettes.  College students from Moorhead, Minn., volunteered on the refuge as they assisted with the muddy installation of a new water control structure.  The project was a partnership with the Becker County Soil and Water Conservation District. Donations from local civic groups covered transportation costs for several local school groups to make a site visit to the refuge. Students were engaged in hands-on activities as they learned the characteristics and habitat needs for shorebirds. They also explored the current conservation projects happening at Hamden Slough.

Wildlife Week concluded with a celebration at Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge. Visitors took a step back in time and learned how people have influenced the wildlife populations of today.  They were intrigued by the stories of the beaver, deer, and trumpeter swan.  Visitors were able to take a peek inside old settler's cabins, visit with traders at a rendezvous reenactment and sampled some wild edibles. Guided bus tours of the refuge took participants to a deer ex-closure as they explored the carrying capacity for the white-tailed deer populations.  Participants were also introduced to a few invasive species and discovered why they are the number one threat to refuges.  Both the Tamarac Interpretive Association and the Becker County Historical Society sponsored this event featuring the past and present of conservation in action at Tamarac NWR.

A joint activity also included wildlife refuge displays and posters created by local students that were exhibited at the Washington Square Mall in Detroit Lakes.  A stroll through the mall highlighted for visitors how they can help the National Wildlife Refuge System protect a place for wildlife for future generations.