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About Friends
Friends of the Front Range Wildlife Refuges (Friends) is a nonprofit organization that supports the two largest national wildlife refuges in the Denver metro area: Rocky Mountain Arsenal and Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuges. Through active outreach and fundraising, Friends supports refuge programs, volunteers, environmental education, habitat restoration, and many other initiatives.
Friends of the Front Range Wildlife Refuges staff and Board of Directors work on ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of the hinono’eino’ biito’owu’ (Arapaho), Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), Núu-agha-tʉvʉ–pʉ̱ (Ute), Ndé Kónitsąąíí Gokíyaa (Lipan Apache), and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota) peoples.
With this land acknowledgment, we affirm Indigenous, history, and experiences.
Get Tickets to Harvest Moon Appreciation Dinner
Join Friends on September 20th from 5-8pm, where you’ll connect with nature, community members, and partners while enjoying a delightful dinner and browsing our silent auction—all in support of wildlife refuges.
Harvest Moon Appreciation Dinner serves the purpose of spreading awareness for the work of our organization and bringing the community together to celebrate the work of staff and volunteers supporting our wildlife refuges. Harvest Moon is made possible thanks to the work of volunteer board members and the support of annual sponsors.
Tickets are on sale now!
Stay in the Loop on Nature Play at RMA
Sign up below to hear the latest on our community-centered project to create a space for outdoor recreation.
Check out our Campaign Page
Montbello Community Inspires Art Projects at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
The Friends organization contracted local artists Michael Gadlin, Finley Baker, and Drew Austin to collaborate with students creating placemaking artwork at pedestrian entrances to the refuge. The artists worked with Montbello students from Environmental Learning Kids (ELK) and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Early Learning Center to help create the tall, nature-inspired pieces that spin when the Colorado breeze hits just right. ELK is a non-profit organization that helps underrepresented youth learn about math and science while connecting with nature. Read more…
Subscribe for Refuge Updates and Free Programs
Check out previous Newsletters by clicking the links below.
Click Subscribe to join for Refuge updates and upcoming events.
– Friends April Newsletter 2025
– Friends March Newsletter 2025
– Fishing is OPEN at RMANWR 2025
We took the Walk for the Wild 5K Challenge!
Together, we walked to thrive, and we walk to make sure wildlife thrives.
Walk for the Wild is an annual event to demonstrate our commitment to deepening human connections with nature and to protect the thriving ecosystems we depend on.
Walk for the Wild is an annual event in awareness and support of National Wildlife Refuges & their partners while we strive to get people moving a distance of 5K in nature in conjunction with National Wildlife Refuge Week, the second week of October.
Thanks for celebrating National Wildlife Refuge Week 2024 with Urban Refuge Day on Saturday, October 12th and Walk for the Wild 5K on October 19th. Check out some photos from our event at RMANWR below!
Thank you for celebrating Harvest Moon Appreciation Dinner
Thank you to our Sponsors!
Contact: vthurk@ffrwr.org to sponsor Harvest Moon 2025
Enjoy & Support your Denver-metro Urban National Wildlife Refuges
The Friends of the Front Range Wildlife Refuges (FFRWR) is a community that supports the two largest national wildlife refuges in the Denver metro area–the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuges.
Through events, communications, advocacy and fundraising, we support the refuges in
- Conserving and restoring native habitat and wildlife
- Giving the public opportunities to experience wildlife and nature near a major metropolitan area
- Providing environmental education in partnership with families and schools
We also support the refuges by:
- Keeping our congressional leaders and other Friends Groups informed about the successes and concerns of our refuges
- Soliciting expertise, ideas, funds, and materials from the community to help make our local refuges outstanding
Ultimately, our vision is to create two refuges in which native wildlife and habitat are maintained in a healthy ecosystem that is rich and diverse and that contributes to the education and recreational enjoyment of people from all walks of life.
The beautiful photos you see at the top of home page were taken by wildlife photographer, Dave Showalter, at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. Roll over each image to see an expanded view of the site and the wildlife that calls the Refuge home.