National honor for top volunteer at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge

Posted 28 July 2025 at 5:18 pm

Carl Zenger has been very active presence at refuge since 1997

By Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge

Provided photo: Carl Zenger has been a dedicated volunteer at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge for nearly 30 years.

BASOM – Carl Zenger of Lockport has been awarded the Refuge Volunteer of the Year in the 2025 National Wildlife Refuge Awards by the National Wildlife Refuge Association.

A former board member of the Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and a retired mechanical engineer, Zenger is an integral part of the refuge. He has been recognized by peers, staff and the community for his unparalleled dedication to conservation. Since starting his volunteer journey in 1997, Zenger, 87, has invested over 44,000 hours — equivalent to 15½ years of a full-time employee.

“I’m not sure the refuge could operate without Carl — he’s such a treasure,” said Richard Moss, president of the Iroquois refuge Friends group. “We are planning to hold an award ceremony later this fall, likely in mid-October.”

In addition to this prestigious national award, Zenger was also named Volunteer of the Year for the Northeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and has been recognized by Congresswoman Claudia Tenney for his commitment to the community.

“Carl’s commitment truly embodies the spirit of John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural message — ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,’” said Desirée Sorenson-Groves, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. “We congratulate and commend Carl for living this ideal and we thank him on behalf of all Americans for his contribution to conservation and to our world.”

The award ceremony in October will include representatives of the national association, members of the Zenger family, and other dignitaries. Moss said more information would be available closer to that event.

Zenger’s inspirational efforts include:

Building hundreds of bluebird houses and toad abodes for outreach events.
Leading outreach programs and initiating a multi-species cavity nesting program.
Designing innovative nesting structures and pulley systems for safe and easy replacement.
Supplementing calcium intake for purple martins by processing eggshells from local community events.
Being a key proponent of our grassland habitat restoration team, mowing 200 acres annually and maintaining the refuge’s tractors for over sixteen years.

“Being chosen out of the entire national system for this honor is something special. If you see Carl, please join us in celebrating his incredible achievement and thanking him for his invaluable contributions to our community and the environment,” Moss said. “The refuge system has been hit hard by staff and budget cutbacks, going back well before the current round of federal budget scrutiny, so it is heavily dependent on volunteers like Carl to maintain and enhance our public lands.”

The National Wildlife Refuge Association’s 2025 awards also honored Rappahannock Wildlife Refuge Friends in Virginia as the refuge friends group of the year; Andrew Gude as refuge manager of the year for his work at the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys national wildlife refuges in Florida; and Dartha Campbell, with the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia, as refuge employee of the year.

Includes reporting by Michael Doyle of Greenwire.