Wildlife refuge workers may feel the love Tuesday with celebration of the first National Wildlife Refuge System Employee Appreciation Day, but there is some sour with the sweets.
Citing a need to both boost morale and say thanks for a job well done, the National Wildlife Refuge Association inaugurated the employee appreciation day to honor the several thousand Fish and Wildlife Service workers who staff the 573 refuges and other management units.
“Morale is really tough right now in the refuge system,” Desiree Sorenson-Groves, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, said in an interview. “Frankly, it’s in a pretty dismal state. I haven’t seen people this demoralized in a long time, probably my whole career.”
Sorenson-Groves added that in her refuge visits since she was named association president last October, she found that refuge employees are “just so tired and don’t feel appreciated. And so we just wanted to, you know, say we appreciate you.”
