Come to Roost

On February 23rd, Friends of Camas hosted the annual Come to Roost evening. The crowd viewed more than thirty eagles.

Friends of Camas NWR Photography Contest

The Friends of Camas National Wildlife Refuge is celebrating the natural wonders of Eastern Idaho wildlife refuges and wildlife management areas with its second photography contest. Photographs of birds, other wildlife and flora, as well as scenic images may be submitted at picturecamas@gmail.com through August 31, 2019.

Entrants may submit up to five photographs taken at the Southeast Idaho Refuge Management Complex (Camas NWR, Bear Lake NWR, Gray’s Lake NWR, Oxford Slough WPA) and Idaho Fish and Game-managed areas (Mud Lake WMA, Market Lake WMA and Deer Parks WMA[including Cartier Slough]).

A Grand Prize of $50 will be awarded; first, second, third place and honorable mention will also be awarded. First prize will be a Friends of Camas NWR T-shirt and ball cap; second prize will be Friends of Camas NWR T-shirt, third place will be a ball cap. All prize winners and honorable mention will receive ribbons.

Friends of Camas NWR Photography Contest Rules

Sole Sponsor is Friends of Camas National Wildlife Refuge

Terms of the contest – digital entries only will be accepted through August 31, 201

Eligibility – (Friends of Camas board members and families, and refuge and management area employees and families are not eligible to enter)

How to enter – Each digital image must be submitted separately using the on-line entry form at www.friendsofcamas.org. All entries must provide complete information, including subject matter, location, and any digital adjustments. Only five images in total may be submitted per entrant. Completed entry forms and digital images should be emailed to picturecamas@gmail.com.

Entry Requirements – Images must be in .jpg format, 10 MB or smaller and at least 1600 pixels on the long edge.

Images must be taken at the Southeast Idaho Refuge Complex (Camas NWR, Bear Lake NWR, Gray’s Lake NWR, Oxford Slough WPA) or Idaho Fish and Game-managed areas (Mud Lake WMA, Market Lake WMA, Deer Parks WMA).

Photo entry information – All photos must have complete entry form attached, including subjects, locations, and any digital adjustments.

Acceptable editing may include adjustments to color, contrast, brightness, and sharpness; removal of dust and scratches; cropping; black and white conversions; and use of HDR (High Dynamic Range); such modifications must be disclosed. Images may be scanned from negatives, slides, prints, or transparencies. No watermarks are permitted.

Judging – Photographs will be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact and artistic merit. Judges will be selected from current and former Friends of Camas NWR board members.

Intellectual Property –

Entrants retain ownership and all other rights to future use of the photographs they enter except for the following: your entry to the contest constitutes your agreement to allow your entered photographs, and your name, occupation, city/state/country of residence, and photo information, to be published as Winners or Honorable Mentions on the Friends of Camas website, and you grant Friends of Camas NWR and its licensees the perpetual, worldwide non-exclusive license to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entry (including name credit) in connection with the Friends of Camas NWR Photo Contest and promotion for the Friends of Camas NWR, in any media.

Prizes –

Grand Prize - $50 cash and ribbon

First Prize – Friends of Camas NWR T-shirt, ball cap and ribbon

Second Prize – Friends of Camas NWR T-shirt and ribbon

Third Prize – Friends of Camas ball cap and ribbon

Honorable Mention - ribbon

To view the previous View from the Board, click here.

What's New - 2019

Refuge Notes

February 20, 2019

Winter really has gripped east Idaho in a big way. Overnight temperatures at the Refuge still going well below zero with the latest being February 19 when it was negative 13. Still plenty of snow on the landscape with no signs of any melting occurring yet.

Bald eagles are using the roost trees near headquarters site and numbers seem to be somewhere between 20 and 60 depending on the given night we observe. There are also some Golden eagles in the area and as usual plenty of Rough-legged hawks.

Other than our winter mainstay of eagles other notable wildlife on the Refuge are the usual suspects, coyotes are breeding this time of year and very active and vocal, same with Great horned owls, white-tailed deer can be seen at times and the elk herd is still moving about. I have heard red-winged blackbirds near Refuge headquarters but also learned that there are some that have been wintering in the area. I was hoping it would be more of a sign that spring was coming, but I appear to still be hoping.

To date, the water outlook is looking good for abundant spring runoff. As of 2/20/2019, the Crab Creek snotel site is reporting 57 inches of snow depth, 13.1 inches of water equivalent which is about 124% of average. Last year on this date there was only 5.6 of water equivalent on this day. This month has been kind with snow and hoping that even more will be coming in March.

Even though Refuge staff is keeping the auto-tour route plowed, conditions are still icy and please use caution while driving on the tour route. Please keep in mind that only the main auto-tour route is maintained in the winter and with the amount of snow we now have driving off areas that are not plowed may get you stuck at some point. Please do not attempt to drive down any Refuge road that is not plowed. Opportunities do exist for snowshoeing and cross country skiing, especially in the afternoon when the temperatures warm up a little bit.

Brian Wehausen, Refuge Manager

To view previous Refuge Notes,
click here.

Fred Meyer Rewards Program

You can help Friends of Camas NWR earn donations just by shopping with your Fred Meyer Rewards Card!

Fred Meyer donates over $2 million per year to non-profits in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, based on where their customers tell them to give. Here’s how the program works:

Sign up for the Community Rewards program by linking your Fred Meyer Rewards Card to Friends of Camas NWR at: www.fredmeyer.com/communityrewards
You can search for us by our name or by our non-profit number BN983 (this is a new number, the previous number will continue to work)
Then, every time you shop and use your Rewards Card, you are helping Friends of Camas NWR earn a donation.
The great thing is that YOU still earn your Rewards Points, Fuel Points, and Rebates, just as you do today.
If you do not have a Rewards Card, they are available at the Custome Service desk of any Fred Meyer store.