We’ve heard from you and the Service that having an annual event around National Wildlife Refuge Week that enables your local communities to experience nearby nature is great. And that Walk for the Wild has allowed Refuge Friends and other nonprofit partners to drive donations.

But we’ve also heard that a 5K Challenge may not be the ideal outdoor recreational opportunity to host at some refuges. Some refuges without a Friends organization have also asked to participate in Walk for the Wild, but the fundraising requirement made that impossible.

To address these issues, we’re making some important changes in 2025:

• Outdoor recreation is key, but 5K Challenges are no longer required. Instead, you can offer any approved outdoor recreational opportunity on your refuge from wildlife photography to mentored hunts. Choose something you believe will excite and engage your local community.
• Events scheduled before National Wildlife Refuge Week may be included. Some refuges are no longer open for visitors in mid-October, so we are extending the window of when an approved event can take place from Labor Day through the end of NWRW. This year, that is September 1 to October 18.
• Refuge Friends are encouraged to fundraise for their missions, but it is not required. Though we have seen some Refuge Friends have huge success in making this event a fundraiser, we recognize that it can be a difficult lift.
• National Wildlife Refuges may host events without a local nonprofit partner. We love when Service leaders and Refuge Friends get together to offer these events and continue to encourage those collaborations. But to accommodate refuges without these partnerships, the Service may now choose to offer an event on their own that does not include fundraising.