October is a month of transition at Malheur. The summer of 2026 is now behind us, and the refuge’s wetlands have taken on a golden hue. Fall activity on the Pacific flyway has been busy. The fire season has ended (we hope!). Human visitation is dwindling. Winter is on the horizon.
October also is a good time to look back. It’s been quite a summer, with drought and fire playing a major role. It has also been, however, a very productive summer for our organization.
The goal of the Friends of Malheur is to find ways to assist the refuge in carrying out its challenging mission. This past summer, with your help, we implemented a new program that placed what we called a Stewardship Technician on the ground. We based this forty-hours-a-week job at refuge headquarters and assigned it a long list of duties. Included were things like volunteer project coordination and landscape and trail maintenance, but we also made our intern available to Fish and Wildlife Service staff to assist them with their huge workload of fieldwork.
This marked the first time we have hired someone to work full-time pursuing these projects, and the results surpassed our highest expectations. Ian Snyder, the young man we selected to fill the position, did a wonderful job. He not only worked long hours improving features like the headquarters native plant garden and working closely with our volunteers to make them more productive, but he also assisted refuge staff as they carried out their management and monitoring responsibilities. In addition, Ian somehow found the time to work up a plan for all the good things that could be done in the future if we continue to be able to fund this work.
We’ve been so impressed that we have extended Ian’s summer position into early 2027. We know there is plenty for him to do. To be honest, we’d like to make this a permanent, year-round position.
This is where you come in. October is the month in which we begin laying out our 2027 budget and also the month in which our fall/winter fundraising efforts move into high gear. Simply put, if we want to continue Ian’s important work in 2027, we must raise the funds to pay him, and the primary funding source for all our programs is the generous support of our loyal membership.
I know that we’ll see many of you at our annual fall fundraiser in Bend, scheduled for October 10th, and even if you can’t attend, I encourage to participate virtually. This year, we’ve added an online auction option with some wonderful prizes.
As I’ve said repeatedly in this space, our organization is able to do the good work it does because of you – our members – and the support you provide. It is because of you that we are able to sustain our first-class nature store and employ our highly effective executive director. Most of you have met our two full-time employes – Kaitlin and Janelle – who make these good things happen. Now, with your continued support, we can step up to grow our team and move to the next level of productivity for Malheur and its birds.
We’re counting on you.
– W. Tweed, Board President
