U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service History

05/22/2026

This special Memorial Day issue of Conservation History pays tribute to 37 colleagues across 14 National Wildlife Refuges

and 2 National Fish Hatcheries who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty from 1904-2024. We invite you to read with us and remember. ​Link to the digital issue in the comments.

Since its founding in 2008 by Historian Mark Madison, the USFWS journal Conservation History has been a platform for exploring the legacy of the American conservation movement. ​
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Cover design by John Embrey, USFWS.

05/15/2026

Join NCTC for America's Wild Read Book Discussion! How to Participate
Join us online May 21st at 3 PM Eastern time for our book discussion. Please register in advance: https://tinyurl.com/455wf535

America’s Wild Read Book Discussion on May 21: The Feather Wars by James McCommons

The USFWS Conservation Library's Wild Read is continuing the yearlong celebration of America’s 250th anniversary with a book that blends distinct stories of the heroes and villains of the bird conservation movement. April/May’s book was The Feather Wars and the Great Crusade to Save America's Birds by James H. McCommons.

When you wake up in the morning, do you hear birdsong? It is easy to take for granted the presence of birds in our lives. Throughout American history, though, birds were assumed to be an infinitely available natural resource- plentiful and available for hunting and fashion.

As species numbers dwindled, the cause of bird conservation was hard fought by many disparate characters, from politicians to artists to hunters to presidents. This summer, dive into the rich history of the people who crusaded to protect America’s birds.

How to Participate
Join us online May 21st at 3 PM Eastern time for our book discussion. Please register in advance. Link to register is in the comments.

Image Caption: Passenger pigeon shoot. Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. Smith Bennett. 1875.

05/14/2026

Join us for the 2026 International Fly-Fishing Film Festival (IF4™) at the National Conservation Training Center! IF4™ is the world’s leading fly-fishing film event, consisting of coveted fly-fishing films produced by filmmakers from all corners of the globe and showcases the passion, lifestyle, and culture of fly fishing. It is the gathering place of the fly-fishing community and a celebration of friendship, stories and outdoor recreation. This event is free and open to the public at the Byrd Auditorium - National Conservation Training Center, 698 Conservation Way, Shepherdstown, WV 25443.

With shows around the globe, IF4™ is the world's leading fly-fishing film event, featuring the most anticipated annual collection of fly-fishing films from outstanding filmmakers. The National Conservation Training Center and The Friends of NCTC are happy to again host this event in the beautiful Byrd Auditorium on the NCTC campus.
Eleven featured films explore rugged and beautiful landscapes from around the world. The films run from 10 - 20 mins each. They feature a fly-fishing context, including adventure, travel, humor, conservation, natural history and human-interest topics. Preview film trailers at: https://flyfilmfest.com/films

To register for this free event, please email: [email protected]
Include the program date, the list the names of attending adults, and any questions.
Doors open at 6:30 PM.
Films begin at 7:00 PM.

Hosted by: The National Conservation Training Center. The NCTC Conservation Lecture Series is co-sponsored by The Friends of the NCTC.

05/11/2026

Conservation Hero: Harriet Hemenway (1858–1960)​

A prominent member of Boston’s high society at the turn of the twentieth century, initiated one of the most influential conservation movements in American history. The mid-1800s saw a dramatic increase in the use of bird feathers, plumes, and parts for fashion, particularly women’s hats. By 1886, over 5 million birds of at least 50 species were being killed each year in the United States for their use in the fashion industry alone.​​

Hemenway recognized the damage being wrought in the name of women’s fashion and used her position of influence to inspire over 900 women in Boston to boycott the feather industry. She and her cousin Minna B. Hall collaborated with respected businessmen and ornithologists to found the Massachusetts Audubon Society in 1896, with Hemenway serving as the first Vice President. Audubon Societies were subsequently founded in other states and within 10 years a National Audubon Society was formed. In 1897, Hemenway and the Massachusetts Audubon Society succeeded in convincing their legislature to prohibit trade in bird feathers. Soon after, the federal Lacey Act of 1900 prohibited the interstate shipment of birds killed in violation of state laws and, by 1918, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act had effectively ended the trade, firmly rooting a wildlife conservation ethic into the American consciousness.​​

Hemenway lived to be 102 years old, never giving up her interest in birds and their conservation. Her actions meaningfully engaged large numbers of women in grassroots conservation, helped shift public attitudes, and led to the formation of one of the most significant conservation organizations in the country.​​

“In our time, as wildlands throughout the world are shrinking, as habitats and species are lost and the human population continues to expand at exponential rates, the little bird club founded by Harriet Hemenway and company back in 1896 could serve as a model for international conservation in the twenty-first century.”​
– John Mitchell The Mothers of Conservation - Mass Audubon Society (1996)​​

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Image: Harriet Hemenway, courtesy of USFWS

05/08/2026

From American Revolution to a Refuge: Many current units of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wildlife Refuge System played a role in the Revolutionary War. Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge's wetlands, forests, and the rugged Watchung Mountains formed a natural defense around General George Washington’s encampment in Morristown, helping shield the Continental Army from British forces based in New York during a critical period in the war.

Located only 26 miles west of New York City’s Times Square, today the refuge is an encampment for migrating waterfowl to stop, rest and feed.

Image: Sunrise at Great Swamp NWR. Credit: Neil Nappe/USFWS.

05/06/2026

Join us to learn more about a unique figure who helped create a "new deal" for American wildlife with the Federal Duck Stamp program.​​

This May, the 250 Years of America’s Best Nature Writing Book Club is featuring Ding: the Life of Jay Norwood Darling by David L. Lendt. In his preface, Lendt writes "Probing the record of Darling's life also showed me that he was a fascinating combination of seemingly inconsistent beliefs and attitudes. As far as I could tell, he never wrote an uninteresting letter. He was a man of strong and stubborn conviction; a man capable of tremendous human compassion; a man who enjoyed prodigious powers of expression, uncommon energy, and immense commonsense intellect." Dive into the unique story of "Ding" with us this summer.​​

Image credit: Des Moines Register

05/02/2026

King Charles Explores U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service History. On April 30, 2026 King Charles III visited Shenandoah Park where he was shown artifacts from the USFWS Museum/Archives at the National Conservation Training Center. The King's great grandfather, George V, signed the Migratory Bird Treaty. King Charles was shown badges from officers who enforced the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and some images from his Majesty's first visit to the U.S. when he toured Patuxent Research Refuge in 1970.

King Charles looking at historic photos.

04/29/2026

Welcome back to the U.S. King Charles III.

Then-Prince Charles made his first visit to the United States in 1970 when he was 21. On July 18, 1970, Prince Charles visited Patuxent Research Refuge to learn more about whooping cranes and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service mission.

Image: Then-Prince Charles (far left), David Eisenhower, Dr. Lucille Stickel walk by bird breeding facilities at Patuxent Research Refuge.

04/14/2026

On April 14, 1935, a massive dust storm, later known as Black Sunday, swept across the Great Plains, turning day into night and carrying millions of tons of topsoil across the country. It remains the most infamous dust storm of the Dust Bowl and, for many Americans, was a stark illustration of the environmental crisis unfolding at the time.​​

The storm intensified public demand for action. Within weeks, Congress moved forward with landmark legislation.​

On April 27, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Soil Conservation Act into law. The act established the Soil Conservation Service (now the Natural Resources Conservation Service) and marked a turning point in how the federal government approached land management, promoting practices to prevent erosion, restore soil health, and support farmers facing devastated landscapes.​​

Black Sunday wasn’t just a dramatic weather event, it helped catalyze a nationwide commitment to conservation that continues to shape land stewardship today.​​

Image Caption: Boiling dust clouds about to swallow a homestead near Stratford, Texas during the Dust Bowl’s infamous Black Sunday storm April 14, 1935 captured by George Marsh, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Courtesy of NOAA

04/10/2026

The NCTC Conservation Lecture Series Presents:
“The Feather Wars and the Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds”
with Author James McCommons

Thursday April 16, 2026, at 7:00 PM, National Conservation Training Center, Byrd Auditorium, 698 Conservation Way Shepherdstown, WV

This lecture will be rebroadcast on Wednesday April 22 at 2pm [ET] and archived at:
https://www.youtube.com/live/PFCxSG-ZLqo