Conserve Wildlife Foundation Of New Jersey Inc

I have been involved with CWF of NJ for over 10 years, first as a volunteer and now as a board member. The work they do to protect endangered and threatened species in NJ and to educate the public and elected officials about them, is critically important. The foundation directly supports the efforts of the NJ Div. of Fish & Wildlife's Endangered and Nongame Species program. CWF has it own small staff of biologists, fund raisers and educators, that operate on a very high level on a shoe string budget. The CWF website has been recently updated. More than a year in the making, the new site features an interactive Field Guide, Video Channel, Eagle and Peregrine Cams, a new Online Store, Wildlife Protection Stories, Resources for Educators and Students and much more. One of the accomplishments of CWF that I am most proud to be associated with is our Species on the Edge Art & Essay contest. The contest is CWF’s flagship education program. Its purpose is to raise awareness for New Jersey’s endangered and threatened wildlife species among New Jersey fifth graders. Using art and writing as a focus, the contest encourages educators to teach about NJ’s endangered and threatened species across disciplines such as science, reading and writing, art, and technology. With guidance from their teachers, students write an essay detailing the needs of the species and the challenges to its future existence. They then create artwork depicting the species in its natural habitat. A winner and a runner up are selected from each of New Jersey’s 21 counties. The winners become ambassadors for wildlife and their artwork and essay are used throughout the state to raise awareness about New Jersey’s endangered wildlife and their struggle for survival. I was fortunate enough to attend the 2009 awards ceremony in Trenton and hand out the awards to the 21 winners. Meeting these future wildlife protection ambassadors and their teachers was a proud and rewarding moment for me.