National Conservation Training Center

09/09/2026

Remembering Richard Guadagno​
September 26, 1962 – September 11, 2001

​Last week, museum staff from the USFWS Museum and Archives got to work with the staff from the Interior Museum to install an exhibit honoring Richard Guadagno (September 26,1962 – September 11, 2001) at the Stewart Udall Main Interior Building, Washington, D.C. ​

Richard Guadagno was the Refuge Manager at Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge in California. He was killed on September 11, 2001, when Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Since his Federal law enforcement badge and credentials were found near the plane’s cockpit, it is believed that he took an active role in confronting the terrorists. ​​

The exhibit will be on display at Interior's C Street entrance from September 8-11 after which it will move to the Interior Museum until the end of the year. Guests to the National Conservation Training Center may view displays honoring Rich at the Front Entry Building near the USFWS Museum.

09/01/2026

Did you know bison once roamed the valleys of West Virginia? 🦬
Imagine an abundant, Eastern landscape populated by elk, bison, wolves, and cougars not so long ago.

Join the USFWS Conservation Library America’s Wild Read in reading the Beasts of the East : the Fall and Rise of America’s Eastern Wilderness by Andrew Moore. We’ll explore the fascinating efforts taking place across the eastern U.S. to meet the challenge of rewilding once prevalent species. Link to register is in the comment section.

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.

08/31/2026

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is mourning federal wildlife officer David Taylor, 38 of Scio, Oregon, who is believed to have died while helping evacuate residents threatened by the Railroad South Fire.

Officer Taylor was going door to door alongside local emergency crews helping families get to safety. His last contact with dispatch came while he was helping a family evacuate their home. Evidence recovered from a structure where he was working to help a resident escape indicates that he died during the evacuation effort. Formal identification remains pending with the medical examiner.

Everything we know about David's actions reflects extraordinary courage, selflessness and devotion to duty.
Our hearts are with his family, friends, fellow officers and all who served alongside him. We will never forget his service.

08/24/2026

Reach for the stars, darling. Dream the unattainable, have humor and enthusiasm. Dream the big dreams. — Helen Fenske

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.

08/12/2026

We're proud to announce our first report from the Biological Technical Publication series published since 2021. We're renewing this technical report series to share cutting-edge science with the field.

"Habitat suitability of historical Mississippi sandhill crane nest sites 1991-2022" by Henry W. Woolley and Scott G. Hereford relaunches this technical report series from NCTC that aims to share science from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Read Henry Woolley' FWS Scholar profile to learn more about his journey as a biologist shaped by wide-ranging experiences, persistent curiosity, and a deepening commitment to conservation.

Links to the publication and FWS profile are in the comment section.

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

08/07/2026

Join us Thursday, August 20 at 7:00 PM for the NCTC Conservation Lecture Series featuring author Jeff Groff, presenting his new book “The Rocinante In Wonderland: A Yellowstone Story.“

Yellowstone is a land of boiling mud, shooting geysers, and thundering bison, so extraordinary that 19th-century visitors called it Wonderland. Groff's book follows two professors and a group of college students on a six-night journey through the park in a well-worn van named Rocinante, exploring the super volcano beneath the geysers, trace the ecology of wildfires, explore our relationship with wildlife, and learn the history of the Indigenous peoples who have called this place home for millennia. Along the way, the book follows the arc of the national park idea itself: from the expeditions that first captured the public imagination to the ongoing struggles for preservation and restoration that define Yellowstone today. Part travel story, part natural history, part philosophical reflection, this is Yellowstone like you've never heard it before.

Meet the author: Jeff Groff is a professor of physics and environmental science at Shepherd University and creator of the Yellowstone field course this book is based on.

Free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 PM.
Location: NCTC Byrd Auditorium, 698 Conservation Way, Shepherdstown, WV

Registration required: email [email protected] with the program date, names of adults attending, and any questions.

Can't make it in person? The lecture will be recorded and available September 3rd at 2:00 PM ET at youtube.com//streams

Image: Book cover for "The Rocinanate in Wonderland: A Yellowstone Story"

07/27/2026

Trees of North America​

Cucumbertree (Magnolia acuminata L.)​

Magnolia acuminata, also known as cucumber magnolia and mountain magnolia, is one of the largest magnolias and one of the cold hardiest. It's a large forest tree in the eastern deciduous forest, usually growing as scattered individuals rather than in clumps or groves. Its large, deep green leaves can grow up to 10 inches long and turn dull yellow in the fall. The bark is smooth and pale gray when young, becoming deeply furrowed and ridged as the tree matures. Native to eastern North America, cucumbertree grows best in the cool, moist sites of the southern Appalachian Mountains.​

Cucumbertree wood is used for wood products and closely resembles yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), which is why it's often sold under that name. In fact, cucumbertree hasn't been marketed as itself since 1928. It's also a pollinator plant that supports and attracts bees and butterflies, and it serves as a host plant, providing food for butterflies during their larval stage​.

Image: Magnolia acuminata leaves and fruit. Courtesy of Sally and Andy Wasowski, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

07/16/2026