U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service History

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

07/08/2026

Saddle up, pardner, we’re reading about the Old West!

Environmental advocate and renaissance man Stewart Udall not only served as Secretary of the Interior during both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations but was also an accomplished author and historian. The 250 Years of America’s Best Nature Writing Book Club is featuring Udall’s Forgotten Founders: Rethinking the History of the Old West this July. Many of us think of the Old West as an era of gunslingers and rugged individualism, but Udall dispels these myths with close portraits of real communities of settlers.

Image: Steve Hillebrand/USFWS

07/03/2026

Did you know the United States is one of the few countries in the world that celebrates its Independence Day based on the publication date of a key document?

The Declaration of Independence is not just a founding document, it's also a powerful example of how information can shape history. While the American Revolution didn't officially end until 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, July 4,1776 marks the day the Declaration was printed and distributed.
Working overnight, printers in Philadelphia produced approximately 200 copies, known as broadsides, which were completed July 4th and sent throughout the colonies with instructions to be read aloud in public squares, courthouses, churches, and state capitols. These printed pages sparked celebrations, public readings, and demonstrations of support for independence. Newspapers quickly reprinted the text, spreading the revolutionary message across the colonies.

The Continental Congress ordered the Declaration to be embossed on parchment (the material of choice for longer-term preservation) on July 19th. By August 2nd, the now-famous parchment copy had been signed by delegates from each of the colonies, creating the enduring document we recognize today held in the National Archives.

From broadsides to archives, libraries and historical collections help ensure the ideas and documents that shape our nation remain accessible for generations to come.

Happy Independence Day from the USFWS Conservation Library and the USFWS Museum and Archives



Image Caption: One of the Dunlap Broadsides, the first printed version of the Declaration of Independence. Courtesy of the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

06/30/2026

🦅 From the archives, June 30, 1994 🦅

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Director Mollie Beattie, the first woman ever to lead the Service, prepares to release a bald eagle named "Hope" at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland.

The moment was chosen to mark a milestone announcement: the bald eagle was being reclassified from Endangered to Threatened.

It's hard to believe that just decades earlier, fewer than 450 nesting pairs remained in the lower 48 states. DDT, hunting, and habitat loss had pushed our national symbol to the very brink. But thanks to the banning of DDT in 1972, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and tireless conservation work, the eagles came back.

By 2007, the bald eagle was fully removed from the endangered species list, with nearly 10,000 nesting pairs documented across the country.

From the brink of extinction to soaring free.



Image credit: Steve Farrell