Friends Newsletter September Recap 2026 |
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Photo Credit: Liz Steiner, Information Desk Volunteer |
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| ContentsEvents Recap: Harvest Moon Dinner & Refuge Day Upcoming Community Events: Roadside Wildlife Count, Harvest Festival, and more Volunteering: Open Information Desk Volunteer position Advocacy: Resources including information on Prop 137 Wildlife Updates: Visitor sightings and Black-Footed Ferrets
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| | | | Recap: Harvest Moon Appreciation Dinner |
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| | Our Harvest Moon Appreciation Dinner on 9/10 was an incredible success, bringing the community together to celebrate the hard work of staff and volunteers supporting the Front Range Wildlife Refuges. Thanks to your incredible support, the fundraiser had higher attendance and raised more money than ever, successfully getting people interested and involved in public lands and conservation! This special evening serves the purpose of spreading awareness for our organization's conservation and environmental education work, and it was all made possible by the dedication of our volunteer board members and annual sponsors. Guests enjoyed an amazing lineup of event features, including a delicious catered dinner by Tocabe, an open bar, silent auction, and a fascinating Native CO Wildlife Program with the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Alliance. The evening also featured an inspiring speech from a member of our youth council, and we shared major Friends achievements alongside Refuge updates directly from Refuge Manager, David Lucas. The proceeds raised will directly support our efforts of wildlife conservation, habitat restoration, and environmental education in collaboration with local nonprofit organizations and Denver Metro area schools, and will help the organization as we take on the upcoming nature play project.
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| Recap: Refuge Day at RMANWR |
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| | We celebrated Refuge Day at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge on 9/26 with many community partners, where the Friends group revealed the updated nature play design to community members and helped with the new community butterfly mural (pictured below). We received fantastic feedback on how families and neighbors plan to use the new space, and we welcomed many new community members to our newsletter. They are now tuned in for all the exciting milestones ahead, including groundbreaking by February, a spring ribbon cutting, and upcoming community build days and plantings. |
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| | Upcoming Community Events |
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| 2026 Roadside Wildlife Count (10/2-10/11) with Environment America
As fall approaches, animals begin to move. Whether it’s an annual migration, the “rut” or reproduction season, or animals fattening up for the winter, they are moving through our landscapes. As people hit the road to enjoy fall colors and cool temperatures, this creates a dangerous mix for wildlife. Each year in Colorado there are over 3,500 wildlife vehicle collisions. Many of these occur in the fall. Environment Colorado Research & Policy Center, Wild Aware and Roaring Fork Safe Passages are recruiting volunteers to collect data about wildlife along Colorado roads from Oct. 2-11 as part of our 2026 Roadside Wildlife Count. Collecting data is easy to do while you are out enjoying fall festivities.
Become a volunteer and help us collect data on wildlife this fall.
Volunteers will be collecting data using a phone-based app created by our friends at the Center for Large Landscape Conservation that allows you to record when you see an animal on the side of the road (dead or alive). The data collected will help us tell the story of the impact of roads on wildlife over a 10-day period. We will share this snapshot of information with agency partners, the media, and decision-makers to put urgency behind our efforts to get more wildlife crossings built. When volunteers sign up to be a wildlife tracker, they will get an invitation to join our informational training webinar on September 24(recorded). Here they will learn more about wildlife crossings and how to use the app to collect data in your state. Note the webinar will be recorded and made available to all that sign up.
We invite you to join us in collecting data and helping to shine a light on how we can put the wild back on our landscapes for wildlife. |
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Barr Lake Harvest Festival (10/3) We’re excited to be part of the 14th Annual Harvest Festival at @barrlakestatepark presented by @friendsofbarrlake! Come spend a beautiful fall morning with us on Saturday, October 3 from 9 AM–1 PM. There will be tons of local vendors, performers, food, nature activities, and plenty to see and do! We’ll be there revealing the new Nature Play design🪵, so come find us and say hi!
📍 Barr Lake State Park
📅 Saturday, October 3
⏰ 9 AM–1 PM
Come hang out with us at the lake! |
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| Mini Mural Festival (10/4) THIS SUNDAY Oct 4th, Noon to 7pm: The MINI MURAL FESTIVAL, with food & drink, music, free children’s books, plus muralist CATIE MICHEL at work creating something new for Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. @habitatlibrarycolorado |
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| | | | | | Sign up for one of our Community Volunteer Days or apply for weekly volunteer positions at the Information Desk and Nature’s Nest store. Bring your friends and family to one or all of our upcoming volunteering events to show up for wildlife!
Fall volunteer projects are available online at volunteer.gov! *link below
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Advocacy CornerEducational Resources to Support Public Lands and Our Community |
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| Photo Credit: Candy Jones, Refuge Volunteer |
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| Election day is coming, be sure to return your ballot or vote in-person by Nov. 3rd Prop 137: proposes redirecting $175 million annually from existing sales tax revenue collected on sporting goods purchases to fund conservation, wildfire prevention, and outdoor initiatives—without raising taxes. Because the measure explicitly directs a portion of these funds toward creating new parks, open spaces, and outdoor educational programs, it aligns perfectly with efforts to connect youth and families with nature For our community, this funding has potential to support the Generation Wild program. Hosted at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge (RMANWR) with the Friends of the Front Range Wildlife Refuges (FFRWR) serving as the fiscal sponsor, the NEMC GenWild coalition relies on sustainable support to provide equitable access to nature. By dedicating state revenue to outdoor youth programming and habitat restoration, Proposition 137 reinforces community-driven initiatives like ours, ensuring future generations can learn, play, and grow outdoors.
Wildlife News Donation site for the family of Federal Wildlife Officer, David Taylor “David was also a Senior Chief in the United States Navy reserves who served his country selflessness and commitment as he did his local community. His loyalty to his family, his Fish and Wildlife family and his brothers and sisters in the Navy was honorable and commendable. The Navy community, the Fish and Wildlife community and most importantly his family lost a great warrior!…”
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| | | Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge |
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| Photo Credit: Liz & Rocky Steiner, Refuge Volunteers |
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| Photo Credit: Montoya Whiteman, FFRWR Board and RMANWR Volunteer |
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| | Land Acknowledgement
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 Nʉmʉnʉʉ (Comanche) and others.
With this land acknowledgment, we affirm Indigenous, history, and experiences. |
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| | | What is FFRWR?
Friends of the Front Range Wildlife Refuges (FFRWR or Friends) is a nonprofit organization that supports the two largest national wildlife refuges in the Denver metro area: Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMANWR) and Rocky Flats (RFNWR) National Wildlife Refuges. Through active outreach and fundraising, Friends supports refuge programs, volunteers, environmental education, habitat restoration, and many other initiatives.
Each year, the Friends set a variety of goals in support of our refuges. Those range from funding bus rides to the refuge for school students to coordinating special restoration projects or fishing programs with the community. Last year, 84% of our total budget directly supported programing, fulfilling our mission to provide meaningful opportunities for the public to experience wildlife. Please join and support us as we work together in stewardship. |
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