Friends of Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge

05/22/2026

Our online shop closes on May 26! This is your chance to purchase hats, tees and sweatshirts, and polar fleece jackets with beautiful embroidered refuge critters and insignia. Check it out now and oh, your purchase will directly benefit the Friends efforts to support our Refuge!
https://rachelcarsonnwr26.itemorder.com/shop/home/

05/22/2026

Online shop closes May 26 so get your Refuge hats, tees, sweatshirts and jackets before they sell out!

https://rachelcarsonnwr26.itemorder.com/shop/home/

05/13/2026

For more details and registration, visit: https://www.friendsofrachelcarsonnwr.org/story-hour

Facebook Event: https://facebook.com/events/s/saturday-morning-story-hour-on/1691229881919910/?

05/12/2026

📣Online shop open!

The Friends of Rachel Carson NWR temporary online shop gives our supporters near and far the opportunity to purchase custom designed refuge-themed gear in a variety of colors and with a choice of logos that spotlight the plover, egret and blue goose!

Visit: https://rachelcarsonnwr26.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Make sure to get your order in by Tuesday, May 26th!

05/11/2026

Fresh off the press! Our Friends’ Spring newsletter!

https://www.friendsofrachelcarsonnwr.org/news

05/08/2026

Sense of Wonder photo Contest is in full swing and so are the warblers on the refuge who are just passing through on their way to northerly nesting grounds. Have you seen any warblers on and near the refuge…like this Common Yellowthroat at Tmber Point in Biddeford?

Photo contest: https://www.friendsofrachelcarsonnwr.org/sow-photo-contest

Photo credit: Anne Post Poole

04/30/2026

The Rachel Carson Trail in the Town of Wells, Maine now has a much expanded parking lot due to the removal of the old refuge headquarters building. Enjoy an easier parking arrangement at the trail and of course the new Rachel Carson Center for People and Nature in Kennebunk - the spectacular new home for tge refuge, Gulf of Maine Coastal Program and the Friends of Rachel Carson NWR including our Friends Nature Store.

04/22/2026

04/15/2026

Our 2026 Sense of Wonder Photo Contest began May 1; please send up to three photos from your visits to the refuge that chronicle the beauty, biology and various habitats and critters. The contest closes July 31. Note: we will have the “Rising Star” youth award this year for ages 17 and younger so get your shutterbug kids out on the refuge!
See the Friends of Rachel Carson NWR website for more info and mark your calendars!

We invite you to submit up to three photos taken at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge - photos of all seasons! The submission period will run from May 1, 2026 through July 31, 2026. A judging panel will convene the following week to select twelve winning images, which will be compiled and publ....

04/15/2026

In case you hadn’t heard…

Attention:
Public announcement graphic stating that the Rachel Carson Trail and Old Headquarters Site in Wells are temporarily closed due to construction, with no public access from April 20 to May 1, 2026.

02/08/2026

Goosefare Brook at dawn as sea smoke filters light. Ocean Park, Maine 1-31-2026

Photo credit: Earl Wilcher (by special permission)