U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service History

10/24/2026

100 Things You Didn't Know About the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service! "Capturing Bootleggers and Duckleggers!"

In 1929 U.S. Game Protector John Perry went undercover as a hobo name “Dopey” to infiltrate Chicago area poachers. Many Illionois bootleggers were also involved in the illegal game markets known as "ducklegging." The normally clean-cut Perry, went unshaven, poured alcohol on his unkempt clothing and, even though he would be involved in arresting the bad guys, they never recognized the undercover agent who carried out the ruse multiple times.

It was one of the earliest federal undercover operations and the beginning of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's undercover operations, which persist to the present with USFWS Special Agents.

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An ongoing history series on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of our nation's 250th anniversary.

Caption: Law enforcement agent John Perry undercover and in uniform. Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Museum/Archives at the National Conservation Training Center.

10/20/2026

100 Things You Didn't Know About the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service!

The first Duck Stamp in 1934 was drawn by an editorial cartoonist turned Chief of the Biological Survey, Jay "Ding" Darling.

An ongoing history series on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of our nation's 250th anniversary.
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10/15/2026

In 1982, only 22 California condors were left in the world. The largest flying bird in North America was on the verge of disappearing.​

Biologists made a bold choice: bring every remaining wild condor into a breeding program. It worked. Chicks were raised with great care, and young birds were slowly returned to the skies over California, Arizona, Utah, and Baja California.​

Today, more than 500 condors are alive, and over half of them fly free.​

This comeback took decades of patient work from biologists, zoo partners, Tribal Nations, and volunteers, and it continues every day. The Endangered Species Act gave them the foundation to try.​

Image 1: Historic captive breeding program image showing a California condor chick being fed with a puppet to prevent imprinting on humans. Credit: USFWS Museum and Archives​.

Image 2: A California condor protects its chick in a nest cave near Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge. Credit: Joseph Brandt/USFWS

10/10/2026

100 Things You Didn't Know About the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service!

The Nation's First Conservation Agency

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service traces it origins back to February 9, 1871 with the establishment of the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries--later renamed the Bureau of Fisheries. This predecessor bureau provided the "Fish" in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service name.

An ongoing history series on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of our nation's 250th anniversary.
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10/09/2026

10/05/2026

Curious how the idea of ecology took shape and how it changed the way we see our place in nature? Join the 250 Years of America’s Best Nature Writing Book Club in October to read "Nature’s Economy" by Donald Worster.

Worster traces the field’s roots through portraits of Carl Linnaeus, Gilbert White, Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold and other figures who shaped our understanding of natural world and our place in it. It’s a vivid history of ecological ideas and a reminder that conservation is part of America’s story.

Photo credit: Gary Peeples/USFWS

09/29/2026

Happy National Coffee Day!
Maxwell House Coffee claimed in their advertisements that enthusiastic coffee drinker Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 coined their catchphrase: "Good to the last drop." The energetic conservation President drank a gallon of coffee a day!

No doubt his immense coffee consumption gave him the energy to create what became the USFWS National Wildlife Refuge system creating 51 bird reservations and 4 game preserves between 1903-1909.

09/17/2026

Forty years ago, North American waterfowl were in serious decline. Today, most populations are thriving. This short film tells the story of how three nations chose collaboration over crisis, and what four decades of partnership have built.

Forty years ago, North American waterfowl were in serious decline. ...

09/15/2026

09/14/2026

The NCTC Conservation Lecture Series Presents:
“Evening Grand Rounds: The Health of a Person, a Place, and a Planet” with Chris Lemon, Director of Clinical Program Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health and Chris Marshall, Senior Administrative Manager Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health
Thursday September 24, 2026, at 7:00 PM
National Conservation Training Center
Byrd Auditorium
698 Conservation Way Shepherdstown, WV

This event is free and open to the public. To register, please email:
[email protected]
Include the program date, the names of adults attending, and any questions.

Doors open at 6:30 PM.
Program begins at 7:00 PM.

This lecture will be recorded and available online October 1 at 2:00 pm ET
at https://www.youtube.com//streams