Volunteers participating in Turnbull NWR's biological program contributed over 8,000 hours. Volunteers assisted biological staff with spring/fall waterfowl surveys, marshbird surveys, songbird point counts, MAPS (Monitoring Avian Production and Survivorship), waterfowl pair surveys, breeding bird surveys, forest monitoring, fire monitoring in ponderosa pine and aspen forests, pit fall trapping, raptor/shorebird surveys, amphibian surveys, invasive species monitoring, bluebird nest box monitoring, data entry and wood duck and barn owl box construction and monitoring.

Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Troops 419 and 333 built over 30 bluebird boxes for the refuge's biological program and the refuge's Friends group to donate for membership donations.

Eastern Washington University's spring Mammalogy class monitored 14 of the refuge's pitfall traps during the spring. Twenty two students helped staff set up pitfall traps to monitor small mammal and amphibian populations in forest restoration units.

Volunteers participating in Turnbull NWR's environmental education program contributed nearly 7,000 hours. Volunteers and refuge staff facilitated environmental education on and off refuge for 8,000 students this past year. Many school groups, as well as scouts, church and civic groups enjoyed field trips, classroom activities, aquatic ecology studies, fire ecology studies, night hikes, tours, guided nature walks, bird and bat presentations, habitat and endangered species activities.

Turnbull NWR hosts a University research and teaching facility (TLES) in cooperation with Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington located on the Refuge. This University has been instrumental in conducting studies on the Refuge ecosystem to assist in the development of Refuge objectives. Three thousand four hundred fifty five students were taught college level courses at TLES. Five universities are located within 80 miles of the Refuge resulting in a high demand for the Refuge as a study site.

Turnbull NWR volunteers and staff reached over 12,000 individuals at several fairs and festivals that the Refuge participated in including; Sunrise Elementary Science Fair, Betz and Salnave Elementary 5th grade Recognition Camp, Cheney Rodeo Parade, West Plains Community Fair, Kids Run Sports Festival, Spokane Sports Festival and Children's Fair, and the North American Conference.

Refuge volunteers and staff, manned a booth during the Sportsfest and Children's Fair held at the Spokane Convention Center. Over 5,000 students participated in this event. Activities and displays offered by the refuge to festival participants included: a track station where children could make their own animal prints, track identification and match-up table, touch table, an aquatic discovery table with invertebrates and fish and microscope, coloring station, mystery box station, and a refuge display board. The refuge received high reviews and was asked to participate in the upcoming Kids Run event (Previously named Junior Bloomsday). Sportsfest/Children's Fair representatives waived a $750 booth fee in order for Turnbull to participate in their event.

Turnbull NWR partnered with Audubon to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day and National Wildlife Refuge Week by hosting its semi-annual community planting event at the Refuge. One hundred twenty-five volunteers from Audubon, Boy Scouts of America, 4-H, Eastern Washington University's EWU (EWU) Circle K International Club, EWU's Black Student Union, Cheney High School Ecology Club, Inland Northwest Wildlife Council, WA State Master Hunter Program, Friends of Turnbull NWR (FOTNWR), AARP, EWU AmeriCorps, Spokane Community College, Campfire, Discovery School, Spokane Community Natural Resource Association, WSC AmeriCorps, and numerous individuals participated in these very successful events. Volunteers planted 90 native saplings and 300 propagated willow and red-osier dogwood cuttings. They also weeded existing trees, prepared new planting sites, fixed hardware cloth around the saplings, and watered. Volunteers and refuge staff erected 4 exclosures to protect the saplings from deer, elk and moose browse. Volunteers baked over 20 dozen cookies for these events, and Discovery School supplied and cooked enough buffalo and sirloin burgers for all individuals attending IMBD event. The school had a special fundraiser to purchase meat and snacks just for this community planting event.

Cheney High School sophomore students completed a 2-day riparian restoration project at the refuge. One hundred forty general biology students planted over 20 native saplings, erected 4 elk exclosures, and participated in a wetland ecology program. Refuge staff and AmeriCorps volunteers worked side by side with the students directing and assisting them with preparing new planting sites, planting, watering, building elk exclosures, and catching and identifying aquatic invertebrates. Three elk exclosures (16?x48?, 16?x64?, 16?x32?) were erected at the Pine Creek Restoration Area and a 64?x 16? exclosure was erected at a new restoration site south of Reeves Lake. Black Hawthorne was planted inside this new exclosure.

Students, parents and teachers from Discovery School came out weekly during the summer to tend the native saplings in the refuge's Pine Creek Riparian Restoration Unit. Discovery School renewed their partnership this year with Turnbull and has been a great asset to the refuge. The group was assigned a section of the stream reach to tend and monitor.

The refuge now has a beautiful environmental education shelter thanks to the efforts of Inland Northwest Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). AGC, under the direction of the Apprenticeship Director, Rick Grant, spent several weeks erecting the shelter at no cost to the refuge. Bids from contractors average $25,000-$30,000 to erect the complicated shelter but AGC graciously accepted the task and did an outstanding job. The group even installed 5 benches. The shelter is located at refuge headquarters and is already being put to good use by many school groups and the general public.

Over 60 students from Upper Columbia Academy's Hope Task Force Team and Lewis and Clark High School tackled 3 refuge trail restoration projects. Despite very warm weather and enormous piles of wood chips, several dump loads of chips were loaded onto wheel barrels, and dumped and raked along three, 0.5 mile long trails. The trails are used by students and visitors. Both Upper Columbia Academy and Lewis and Clark High School have partnered with the refuge for the past several years on trail restoration and invasive species control projects.