Community Standards

for our online spaces

As an organization, it is our responsibility to ensure that our online spaces are welcoming to all and perpetuate information that is accurate and truthful to the best of our knowledge. Here are the basic expectations we ask of those engaging with our blog, social accounts, and website:

  • Be respectful, to each other and to the people who run the accounts.

  • Be truthful, avoid spreading information that could be false or misleading.


When someone violates the above expectations, moderators may take action by hiding/removing the comment and/or blocking the user. Some behaviors are unacceptable and will result in the following consequences.

  • Racist, bigoted, or other harmful language will not be tolerated in any capacity, and will result in the comments or messages being deleted and the user being blocked.

  • Other inflammatory language, including the use of profanity or swear words, will result in the comment or message being deleted, and potentially result in the user being blocked upon repeat offenses.

  • Bullying or targeted harassment of another user or a person associated with the organization is not tolerated; any comments or messages will be deleted and the user(s) engaging in this activity will be blocked.

  • Spamming—defined as posting the same comment multiple times on one post, across more than one post, or across multiple platforms; a campaign where multiple users post the same comment within one post or across more than one post; one user sending the same message more than twice or multiple users sending identical messages in tandem—will result in the comments being removed or messages being deleted and the user(s) being blocked.

  • Trolling—bad-faith, unwelcoming behavior with the intent to disrupt conversations and/or slander the targeted organization, often by parachuting into discussions uninvited—is not permitted. This includes writing comments that are topically unrelated to the content of the post (especially those of an inflammatory nature), spreading misinformation (especially repeatedly), posting only negative reactions on posts regardless of content (especially retroactively). Trolling may be the result of an individual’s opinion or set of beliefs or part of a targeted campaign against a user, person associated with the organization, or the organization itself. Multiple offenses will generally result in comments or messages being removed/hidden and the user being blocked.

Cover image: Karner Blue Butterfly (photo by USFWS Midwest).