Every year, the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) comes together to take a look back and honor the accomplishments of Refuge volunteers at the annual Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. This is an opportunity for Refuge staff to spend an evening thanking the volunteers who help them accomplish so much at the refuge.

 

Sherburne’s volunteer program is an integral part of the organization’s operations and the program continues to grow and be an asset. 

 

In 2018, over 300 volunteers contributed 8,731 hours to the Refuge! 

 

Volunteers are involved in every area of the refuge from education, community outreach, biology, maintenance, events, and more. The SNWR volunteers are truly the refuge’s heart and soul and are critical to Sherburne’s mission of conservation.

 

 

April St. Aoro was named the Volunteer of the Year for 2018. 

 

The volunteer of the year is determined by a number of criteria including commitment to conservation, superior skills in organization and leadership, having a positive attitude, and the ability to work as a team player. 

 

April began her volunteer service in 2008 and in those 10 years has contributed 1,530 hours to Sherburne. April has been involved in many different ways over the years. She helps keep the refuge clean by participating in the Adopt-a-Road program, as well as tidying up parking areas, kiosks, and trails. She is a regular volunteer at the refuge’s large annual events, Spring Celebration and Wildlife Festival. 

 

Her largest contributions to the Refuge has been in her role as a team lead for SNWR’s seed collection program. She has dedicated many hours to scouting the refuge, coordinating other volunteers, and scheduling and managing numerous seed collecting sessions throughout the field season. This year, she will be helping to train a new seed collection team lead before transitioning out of the role. 

 

April is extremely reliable, organized, always willing to help, and has a huge heart for plants and animals. The Refuge is fortunate to have a volunteer of her caliber on their team and they are honored to recognize her as the Volunteer of the Year.

 

 

2018 was another busy year at Sherburne and their volunteers accomplished a lot! 

 

The seed collector volunteer program celebrated the 20th anniversary of the program and volunteers collected 54 pounds of native seed. This seed will be used on the Refuge for habitat restoration projects. 

 

The Adopt-a-Road program saw over 80 volunteers come to the refuge and clean up over 24 miles of Refuge roadway in the spring and 28 miles in the fall. 

 

The nature education program, which is almost entirely volunteer-led, hosted over 2,000 students from neighboring communities at the Oak Savanna Learning Center. 

 

The Sherburne Photography Club, a volunteer led Refuge club that is open to the public, was in its second year and they successfully held well-attended monthly meetings. Additionally, they led a photography hike, judged the Youth Photography Contest, and captured thousands of stunning images of the refuge to be enjoyed in a variety of ways. In addition, volunteers also assisted with a variety of biological surveys, maintenance projects, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service News Release provided interpretive services along the Prairie’s Edge Wildlife Drive. 

 

Throughout the year, volunteers led several guided tours and assisted with multiple free, family-focused public events. The guided tours are only possible because of the organization’s expert volunteer leads and continue to be extremely popular programs year after year. 

 

Due to their popularity, the Refuge has doubled the number of bird, wildflower, and photography hikes offered in 2019. Again, this is only possible because of their volunteers. The work the volunteers do is invaluable and SNWR couldn’t be more thankful to have so many incredible volunteers on their team!

 

For more information on the refuge volunteer program or to learn more about becoming a volunteer, check out the refuge website (fws.gov/refuge/Sherburne/what_we_do/get_involved.html) or contact the refuge at 763-389-3323 or sherburne@fws.gov.

 

Sherburne Refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.  

 

For more information on their work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.