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Audubon Washington Audubon
Washington E-Newswire Audubon Washington
E-Newswire June 2007 Volume 3 Number 6
Your Comments on NSO Recovery Plan
Urgently Needed NOW
OLYMPIA – Time is running out, but you still have until
June 25th to submit your comments about the flawed Northern
Spotted Owl Recovery Plan to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A recent Audubon
Advisory contains information about the history of the
recovery plan, the importance of the Northern Spotted Owl
to old growth forests, talking points about the draft plan,
and a convenient link to submit your comments. The last
issue of our E-Newswire featured a report on the Bush
Administration’s rejection of the draft recovery plan
(submitted by the team of scientists it had appointed) because
it placed too much emphasis on protecting the owl’s
habitat, thereby standing in the way of plans to increase
logging on federal land. The new “Recovery Plan”
proposed by the administration has been rejected by the scientific
community and by Audubon.
NAS Assumes Leadership Role in Confronting
Global Warming
PARK CITY, UTAH – National Audubon Society (NAS) held
a two day global warming retreat in Park City, Utah, in late
May. NAS President John Flicker said this is not an “issue”
like the Arctic or forests, but rather a worldwide movement
- like civil rights and anti-war protests. “We are the
leaders of this movement and can stop global warming through
our local, state and national contacts,” he said Several
times, NAS staff or John Flicker mentioned Audubon Washington’s
work on state legislation and Governor Gregoire’s climate
change advisory committees. A detailed campaign plan and a
global warming PowerPoint program (for use at presentations
to service clubs, businesses and other contacts) will be coming
from this conference to all state offices and chapter members.
Some important details about this campaign:
it is NOT another new program we have to overlay on our existing
work. Instead, we need to think about how much of our existing
work is already helping us combat global warming. We need
to incorporate the information coming from this conference
into our existing environmental efforts. The immediate goals
for the two year campaign are: (1) help pass federal legislation
to reduce CO2 emissions by 60-80% by 2050; (2) encourage federal
and state adoption or enhancement of a suite of renewable
energy measures, including Renewable Portfolio Standards;
(3) inspire voluntary actions to reduce the carbon footprint
of individuals and communities; and (4) promote responsible
energy development and conservation strategies consistent
with protection of birds and habitat.
Helen Engle Receives Callison Award
NEW YORK, NY – On May 24th the National Audubon Society
(NAS) announced that it has named the recipients for its 13th
Annual Charles H. Callison Awards., and one of the recipients
is our own Helen Engle, former member of the Board of Stewards
for Audubon Washington and an active leader of the Tahoma
Audubon Society in Tacoma. The awards, which were presented
to the winners at the May 2007 Audubon Global Warming Retreat
in Park City, Utah, recognize individuals who have made remarkable
contributions to conservation through creativity, coalition
building, creative thinking, outreach, and perseverance. Awardees
are nominated by their peers in the field: Audubon Chapter
members, state board members and Audubon staff. In its press
release about the award, National Audubon Society observed,
“Helen Engle’s fifty plus years of environmental
activism are an inspiration. She has been the Audubon matriarch
of Washington State, working with Audubon staff and volunteers
from throughout the region. Her contributions range from her
role as founding president of the Tahoma Audubon Society,
to editor of The Towhee newsletter for ten years, to positions
as a member of both the Audubon WashingtonB of Stewards and
the National Audubon Society board of directors. Helen’s
willingness and style of bringing people together and building
common consensus have brought about change that no one would
have thought possible.” In addition, Helen has served
on the boards of numerous local, state and regional non-profit
and governmental organizations, and has won many awards for
her contributions.
Fight Global Warming in Your Own Backyard
WASHINGTON, D.C. – With luxurious long days and (at
last!) warm weather, you may be spending more time in your
backyard. But did you know that your own yard can make a difference
for habitat conservation and environmental health? Audubon
at Home features a wealth of information about reducing or
eliminating pesticides, conserving water, protecting water
quality, removing exotic plants, planting natives, and more.
Check it out here.
River Center Awarded EE Grant
SEQUIM - The Dungeness
River Audubon Center has been awarded a $23,500 environmental
education grant from the Washington Superintendent of Public
Instruction to carry out its programs for school children
during the 2007-08 school year. The grant funds River Center
staff time, school buses, and materials for the Center's school
programs. Fourth and fifth graders will participate in water
monitoring of the Dungeness River, sixth graders will do park
stewardship projects, seventh graders will participate in
Watershed studies, and eighth graders will participate in
"Living in the Shadow," which looks at human uses
of natural resources in the rain shadow of the north Olympic
Peninsula during the last 12,000 years. The seventh and eighth
grade projects include more than two weeks of in-class curriculum
written by the staff of the River Center. In addition to the
in-class learning all students will go on a field trip with
specific lessons about the Dungeness River at Railroad Bridge
Park.
New NAS Team Charter to be drafted
by Nina Carter
PARK CITY, UTAH - A delegation of eight staff and chapter
members represented Audubon Washington at the retreat in Park
City, Utah this May. Nina Carter, Audubon Washington’s
(AudWA) Executive Director, was asked to draft a charter for
a new Audubon senior management team, the Alignment Working
Group (AWG.) Formed to improve communication among top Audubon
management, the AWG consists of all state and HQ directors.
Carter intends to use Leslie Wahl and Heath Packard’s
WSACC charter that was presented to the AudWA state board
meeting on April 13, 2007.
AudWA Represented on Washington’s Climate Advisory Team
SPOKANE - Lisa Remlinger will be representing Audubon Washington
at the next meeting of the Department of Ecology’s Climate
Advisory Team (CAT) on June 5 in Spokane. The committee is
charged with helping to meet Governor Gregoire’s ambitious
goal of reducing carbon emissions in Washington to 50 percent
below 1990 levels by the year 2050. Learn more about CAT and
Washington state’s response to climate change by going
here.
Planning Ahead:
Fall ACOW
SEQUIM – It’s not too early to plan. You may be
just warming up to spring, and trying to put chilly thoughts
behind you, but those crisp fall days will be blowing in before
we know it - and bringing Fall ACOW with them. Olympic Peninsula
Audubon Society (OPAS) will be hosting the fall conference
October 19, 20 and 21, in Sequim. The theme will be “Restoring
and Protecting Washington’s Natural Areas.”. Here’s
just an abbreviated list to whet your appetite: field trips
to the shorelines of Sequim and Dungeness Bays and the Elwha
River restoration and dam removal, a boat cruise around Protection
Island, talks by Bill Ruckelshaus, Chairman of the Puget Sound
Partnership’s Leadership Council and first administrator
of the U.S. EPA and by Jerry Freilich, Ph.D., Elwha River
Research and Monitoring Coordinator of Olympic National Park,
and a nature poetry reading by Tim McNulty, poet, conservationist
and award-winning nature writer. Starting July 16th you can
go to: www.olympicpeninsulaaudubon.org
or call 360/681-4076 for registration information. OPAS invites
all 26 chapters to create and bring for display a small, portable
exhibit. They want everyone to know what conservation-related
project your chapter is working on. Notify Bill
Jensen at 360/681-8772 by September 30th, 2007 to reserve
space for your display.
Giving is as easy
as a click away
What if Audubon Washington earned a penny every time you searched
the Internet? Well, now we can! GoodSearch.com is a new search
engine that donates half its revenue, about a penny per search,
to the charities its users designate. You use it just as you
would any search engine, and it's powered by Yahoo!, so you
get great results.
Just go to www.goodsearch.com
and be sure to enter Audubon Washington which will come up
as Audubon Society - Washington (Seattle, WA) in the task
bar as the charity you want to support. Just 500 of us searching
four times a day will raise about $7,300 in a year without
anyone spending a dime!
Be sure to spread the word!
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