Black-crowned night herons are the short, squat cousins in the heron family. They are widespread across North America and can be seen reliably at Malheur from April through September. There is a special encounter with this piscivorous bird nestled into Lisa's summer update below. Make sure you click to Read More!
Photo by Dan Streiffert | | |
Sometimes I get asked questions like, 'what is the best part of your job?' or 'what about your organization inspires you?' There are a dozen or more ways to ask this question and infinitely more ways to answer it.
This morning my answer is this... something remarkable is happening this summer. For the first time, the Burns Paiute Tribe's Youth Opportunity Program is spending time on Malheur Refuge, a sliver of their ancestral homeland, working on service projects and learning from natural resource professionals. This may sound familiar in that the annual Tribal Stewards program does just this for one week each summer, but this is different. This is 14 Burns Paiute youth working as Tribal employees on a crew led by their own leadership and fully funded by an Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission grant. The crew rotates their work locations and has been coming to the refuge monthly for 3 days at a time. FOMR, with support from our partner the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission's generous sponsorship, is preparing to spend $10,000 on these youth in addition to what has already been sent to sponsor the 2025 Tribal Stewards Program. The form these funds will take is in active discussion with the program coordinators to assess the needs and fill those gaps!
Sometimes so much is going on that there's no practical way to capture it all here and I wonder, Am I doing the work justice? Are those of you who care deeply about Malheur learning all that you could or want to about what is happening here? I hope so. And I am looking forward to new opportunities to share more beyond this newsletter. In the coming months there are three upcoming opportunities to connect more deeply.
On any given day or in any random moment my answer to the question above could change vastly. I'm continually inspired by all that is happening on the refuge, with and for the Friends, in our community or throughout the region. Malheur NWR does not exist in isolation and therefore neither does anything that happens on it. I look forward to continuing to share it all with you. See the events section below for upcoming opportuities!
In Service to Malheur,
Janelle Wicks
Executive Director
| | |
President's Message; August 2025
Written by Bill Tweed
Photo of great egret by Lane Wintermute
Is providing staff to manage national wildlife refuges an example of wasteful spending by our federal government? Most citizens, if asked this question directly, would have no trouble disagreeing. We know better. The good things that make refuges work often take people to make them happen. At Malheur NWR this involves everything from managing the refuge’s complex irrigation system, to critical actions like issuing grazing permits and controlling the spread of invasive species that damage critical habitat for migrating birds. By law, these duties, and many more, must be carried out by the refuge’s small federal staff. Read More
| | |
Redband Trout in Malheur NWR & Harney Basin
Written by W.G. Duffy, FOMR Board Member / Image by ODFW
The redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss newberri) is a remarkable fish. A colorful, seemingly delicate relative of rainbow trout, it conjures up images of cold mountain streams. But they are creatures of basins in the Interior West, occupying streams, rivers and lakes from western Montana to eastern Oregon and northeastern California. This hot, dry environment would seem an inhospitable place for a subspecies of trout to prosper – yet the redband trout has done just that.
Furthermore, they have persisted in the Northern Great Basin for the past 10,000 to 60,000 years during a period of cataclysmic change wrought by volcanism and massive floods as well as intervals of drought and climate change. To better understand the redband trout of the Harney Basin and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, we should take a moment to understand the geologic and climactic phenomenon that have helped shape this fish and contributed to its continued survival. Read More
| | |
Keaira Burns Named 1st Recipient of Bob Sallinger Fellowship
Written by Marla Polenz, High Desert Partnership
Bird Conservation Oregon has selected Keaira Burns, a college student from Burns, Oregon, as the inaugural recipient of the Bob Sallinger Fellowship Award. The award celebrates young conservationists who embody Bob Sallinger's approach to habitat protection through science-based collaboration.
About the Award
Established by Bird Conservation Oregon at the request of Bob Sallinger's family, the fellowship honors the next generation of Oregon habitat protectors. The award provides "no-strings attached" support to young conservationists early in their careers, particularly in rural areas where paid conservation opportunities are scarce. Read More
| |
Lisa's Summer Update Pt 2!
Written by Lisa Leen, FOMR Bio Tech
June and July have been busy months, and I’m just about 2/3 of the way through my time here at Malheur. Some of the recent work that I’ve been doing with the Friends of Malheur is bat surveys for some of the buildings around headquarters, where some bats, such as the little brown bat, California bat, and Yuma bat, have been roosting. One night, we got over 300 bats from just one building! Continuing with the bat monitoring, I also helped Alexa, Malheur’s wildlife biologist, put up bat sensors that record their call around headquarters and Buena Vista, which were left out for four nights. Read More
| | |
Human History at Malheur NWR - Early Inhabitants
Written by Carla Burnside, USFWS retired Photo of lizard petroglyphs, USFWS
The land we cherish as Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has been in use by humans for thousands of years and it is likely that people were using refuge resources around 17,500 years ago – archaeological evidence from the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter near Riley shows that people were in the area by at least 18,000 years ago! The Indigenous inhabitants of the Harney Basin used food and animal resources from the lakes, the basin floor, the valleys, the forests and Steens Mountain for food, shelter, clothing and tools.
Malheur, Mud and Harney Lakes provided a diverse array of plants, fish, waterfowl and animals that were processed and stored for year round use. Short and long term use, as indicated by a variety of archaeological sites, begins to show up around the lakes around 6,000 years ago during an episode of cooler and wetter climatic conditions that encouraged sustainable marsh conditions and more reliable food resources. It was around this time that people began occupying the area we know as Headquarters. Read More
| | |
Interested in learning about Sarah Weber's Acoustic Doppler Current research mentioned in Lisa's Update?
You can read the Report Here!
| |  |
News from the Neighborhood
This section will rotate in and out of our monthly newsletter as we receive content from our Friends in the Neighborhood.
| | |
Species Spotlight; Long-eared Owl
Written by Peter Pearsall / Photo by Rick Vetter
Long-eared owls are cryptic nocturnal hunters, found year-round at Malheur Refuge but seldom encountered. Named for the prominent tufts of feathers on their heads (which resemble ears but are actually not related to hearing), long-eared owls favor willow thickets or woodland edges for daytime roosting, often near open fields or grasslands where they hunt.
In North America, these owls breed from southern Canada through much of the U.S., wintering farther south in Mexico and the southwestern states. They often use old stick nests built by other birds, such as crows, hawks, or magpies. They may form loose nesting colonies, especially when food is abundant. Read More
| | Volunteering with Friends | | |
July Volunteers at Malheur must be commended for their willingness to brave the threat of mosquitoes and high temperatures. We could not be more grateful. Thank you to all of our July Volunteers and a huge Kudos to FOMR's Crane's Nest Manager, Jill Bachman, for volunteer coordinating!
Craig Walker, Janet Willhaus, Phil Woodford, Susan Gyorog, and Linda Craig! Please enjoy the piece below from our newest volunteer, Valita Volkman.
| |
Sacred Relationship
(Me & Malheur)
Written by Valita Volkman
Photo of view from Frenchglen of the P Ranch site at Malheur NWR by Valita Volkman
When I first met you, I was blown away by your beauty. I had never seen anything quite like you, and you awakened something within me that I didn’t even know existed. You expanded my horizons, and I felt as if I had arrived. It was meant to be, and I knew it. Shame and anxiety dissipated because nothing else mattered. There was nowhere else to be. Nothing else to do. I didn’t notice, or I ignored, anything suboptimal about you. The possibilities and moments that took my breath away outweighed anything else. It was a whirlwind romance. Read More
| | |
The 2025 Stewardship Project Schedule
SIGN UP NOW! FREE HOUSING!
August 8-10 - Sod House Ranch; Every year the historic Sod House Ranch site must be prepared for visitors in advance of its August 15th opening date. Other tasks will be taken on as time and energy allows. Follow-up bat surveys will also be conducted in the evenings. HOUSING IS AVAILABLE at the Malheur Field Station and paid for by FOMR.
September 19-21 - Stewardship tasks TBD
October 17-19 - Stewardship tasks TBD
If you have any questions or would like to sign up for a Stewardship Weekend,
please email friends@malheurfriends.org
| | |
Outreach & Events
Be sure to check out the incredible opportunities below and see our website's event calendar for more. Click the links below to learn more about these programs and sign-up!
| | |
July's Most Popular
Every month there is excellent content on the Friends Facebook, Instagram and YouTube pages. Here we will feature the most popular post of the month.
| | |
Amazon Wish List!
The needs of the Friends and Refuge's programs are changing all the time. This Amazon WishList will be updated seasonally with items supporting the Biology Dept, Volunteer Program, Stewardship Projects and general operational needs!
| | | |
Annual Membership
Membership does more than contribute funds that sustain our work in service to Malheur NWR. FOMR's 1410+ members demonstrate a strength in community and that community's passion for Malheur NWR.
Unsure of your membership status? Email us at friends@malheurfriends.org
| | | | |
Not a member or need to RENEW?
Simply visit OUR WEBSITE!
Prefer to send a check? Easy.
Fill out THIS FORM and mail it with your dues to:
Friends of Malheur NWR
36391 Sodhouse Lane
Princeton, OR 97721
Photo (left) Barn swallows by P. Pearsall
| | |
Crane's Nest Nature Center & Store
OPEN 7 Days/Week from March 1 - October 31
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
| | |
NEW ONLINE STORE - LIVE NOW!
All of the classic Malheur apparel and keepsakes, books, gifts, and more are now available through our new and improved online store.
| | |
Malheur HQ Visitor Center
OPEN 7 Days/Week from March 1 - October 31
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
The Refuge HQ Visitor Center is completely dependent on the availability of volunteers. When volunteer availability is low the VC will be closed, but the Nature Store will remain open. Visitors are encouraged to ask any questions of the volunteers or staff in the Crane's Nest Nature Store at Refuge Headquarters.
| | | | |
