Friends Event

At the last Friends meeting it was approved for the Friends to apply for a MN Department of Natural Resources competitive grant to combat the invasive species flowering rush. Click here to learn more about flowering rush on the Winona District by looking at the program provided by Refuge Biologist Jennie Froehly. You can learn…

The annual Kid’s Ice Fishing Event co-sponsored by the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge) and Friends of the Refuge Headwaters is scheduled for Saturday, February 19, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. to noon at the McNally Boat Landing on Prairie Island Drive, Winona, MN. Children ages 6 through 13 and their families…

Refuge Friends and Volunteers, the next meeting of the Friends of the Refuge Headwaters will be held at the Refuge Office (102 Walnut Street, Suite 205) beginning at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, January 27th. Masks will be required. If you would like to attend but are not comfortable meeting in person, a virtual option will…

Winners in four categories were chosen by judges in the Friends of the Refuge Headwaters’ (FORH) Summer and Fall on Our Refuge Photo Contest. Submitted photos were taken on Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge or Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge. There were 55 incredible entries from 15 photographers making judging a challenging task.…

The Friends of the Refuge Headwaters are reminding all amateur photographers that the deadline for accepting entries for the current photo contest is December 3, 2021. Photos that capture the summer and fall beauty of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) are part of the current…

It’s been a slow start to the annual swan watching season on the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge) but they are starting to arrive! The tundra swan migration is a highlight of the fall on the Refuge offering a once-a-year spectacle for all to enjoy. At their peak, which usually occurs…

The Friends of the Refuge Headwaters wants you to get out and enjoy the refuge! To assist you with your planning, we have started a project that will provide information about the landings that you can visit. Three landings are currently available: McNally, Mertes, and Verchota. We will continue to update this list in coming…

Because the Friends of the Refuge Headwaters annual swan watch bus tour will not be offered again in 2021, we have created a Swan Watch Self-Guided Tour to help you enjoy this tradition on your own. Peak migration is the second week of November. Click here to “take the tour.”

Mary Stefanski would like to share a few photos from the tree planting at Weaver on Tuesday, October 26, 2021. Thank you to everyone who was able to show up this morning and make really quick work of the nearly 70 trees and shrubs that needed to get in the ground. We couldn’t do it…

Friends and Volunteers, you are invited to participate in the next regular Friends meeting which will be held at the Refuge office, 102 Walnut Street, Suite 205 beginning at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, October 28th. This will be the last meeting until January 2022! The focus of this meeting will be to review three slide…