Your help is needed TODAY to speak up for our young but growing Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge that is bringing visitors to our region as well as connecting the residents of McHenry and Walworth counties to nature.

Friday, there was a mass firing of 420 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees, many of whom are critical to the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Refuge System is no bloated bureaucracy. Its workforce has shrunk to only 2353 – that’s down 30% from where they were 15 years ago.

Refuges are LOCAL assets to communities. Refuges enjoy visitors from around the world who want to connect with and observe America’s unique wildlife. They are economic engines generating on average $4 in economic activity for every $1 appropriated to run them – in many small, rural communities, these wild lands drive the local economy. But perhaps most importantly, refuges are where local people recreate, re-charge, and connect with nature.

Tell Congress and the Trump Administration that cutting the decimal dust budget of the Refuge System will result in “savings” that don’t even make a blip in the total of national spending but will cause significant damage to local economies and communities.

Don’t let the Trump Administration and Congress decimate the Refuge System! It’s time to stand up for what you believe is important to your community!

View a Fact Sheet on the Funding Challenges, from the National Wildlife Refuge Association ➞