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AUDUBON
CALIFORNIA NOTES
February E newsletter
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In this
issue:
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Audubon California Chapter Assembly Asilomar
March 19-21, 2006
Registration for Field Trips Open:
With over 100 people already registered for the Audubon
Assembly, we expanded from 12 workshops to 16. Participants will
have the opportunity to choose workshops on topic ranging from
Hot Issues in Bird Conservation, Wind Power and Wildlife, ESA
Conservation Successes to Recruitment Strategies and Great
Education Programming. The workshops will be lead by seasoned
Audubonners and experts from around the state.
If you have not yet registered, you can get more information and
download the registration form at
Assembly_At_A_Glance_2006.pdf.
If you are already registered, information for signing up for
the pre- and post- Assembly field trips will be emailed to you.
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 Chapter Building
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Membership Diversity
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Community Foundations
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Media Workshop: ESA theme- messaging and techniques
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Fundraising: Birdathon, Annual Appeal, Birding trips
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Recruitment strategies
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Education
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Great Environmental Education
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Making the Most of Audubon Adventures
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Infusing Education with Great Science
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Conservation and Science
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Wind
Energy and Wildlife
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Avian Bird Flu and West Nile
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Hot
issues in Bird Conservation
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ESA-
Species Conservation Successes
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Policy
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Statewide Priority Issues: Salton Sea & San Francisco Bay
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The
Conservation Bond Measure 2006: what, who, how to pass it-
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Strategies to Impact local land use decisions
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Organizing to save the ESA
Scholarships to the Assembly are available to high school and
college students who are involved with a chapter. Information on
the scholarships was emailed to chapter presidents and education
chairs. We are building the next generation of Audubon leaders.
Preferred Alternative for the Salton Sea
 Before this year is out, the state Secretary of Resources must
determine a preferred alternative for the restoration of the
Salton Sea. Audubon’s involvement is essential to the millions
of birds that use the sea. And so is your voice if we are to
have any chance of being heard above the din of the economic
interests. To add your voice to the Audubon choir, please e-mail
your contact info to:
advocate@audubonsaltonsea.org
The Quantification Settlement Agreement, (QSA) of September
2003, requires that the state Secretary of Resources determine a
preferred alternative for the restoration of the Salton Sea
ecosystem and the protection of wildlife dependent on that
ecosystem, and submit it to the California State Legislature on
or before December 31, 2006.
Audubon California has been participating on the Salton Sea
Advisory Committee and in the Habitat Working Group put together
by the state. We continue to push for restoration of the entire
ecosystem and not just at the Sea itself. We are also advocating
heavily for irreplaceable habitat, as well as protection of
wildlife during the project construction and transition phases.
Successful habitat preservation needs to include the Imperial
Valley farmland and riparian zones. Protecting working
landscapes requires a long-term commitment and presence on the
ground. Audubon California has launched its Landowner
Stewardship Program in Imperial Valley. Audubon’s Landowner
Stewardship Program will provide scientific, technical and
financial assistance to protect and enhance habitat on Imperial
Valley farmland and to increase wildlife-friendly farming
methods.
For more details about Salton Sea restoration, please look for
the information package Kathie Satterfield snail-mailed to your
chapter in late January and visit
http://www.ca.audubon.org/salton_sea.html.
 Salton Sea Marvel or Disaster? The
History Channel Decides
The History Channel’s Modern
Marvels: Engineering Disasters
series airs an episode on the Salton
Sea on Saturday, February 11th at
12pm. Our own Julia Levin, state
policy director along with Doug
Barnum, USGS/Salton Sea Science
office, and Raymond Torres of the
Torres Martinez tribe are featured.
Winter Loon Study on Morro Bay Reveals
Previously Unknown Data...
Under the cover of night, Henry Pontarelli, president of Morro
Coast Audubon Society and Darwin Long, researcher with
Biodiversity Research Institute, set out in a fishing boat on
Morro Bay. Armed with a powerful million-candle spotlight
Pontarelli and Long navigate the shallow bay in search of loons.
With a loon in sight, the men turn on the spotlight and ready
their nets and banding equipment. With a little luck, the bird
is scooped up in a net. Pontarelli and Long quickly examine,
weigh, draw blood and photograph the captured loon. After a
little snip of a feather and a colored band clipped around the
loon’s leg, the bird is released.
Common loons (Gavia immer) and a few Pacific loons use
Morro Bay as wintering grounds. While Common Loons have been
much studied in the summer breeding grounds in lakes along the
Canadian-US border, little is understood of loons and their
habits during their stays on bays along the Pacific Ocean. Morro
Bay is wintering grounds to 30-50 common loons. With all the
unanswered questions about loons on the Pacific Coast, Morro
Coast Audubon president Henry Pontarelli has teamed up with
graduate student Darwin Long to add to the scant information on
loons along the Pacific Coast. This is one of the first
undertakings of its kind on the Pacific. Their study seeks
answers to four big questions about rafting behavior; plumage
progression, site fidelity and use; and toxic load accumulation
in lakes and on the ocean.
To read the rest of this article click here.
Recap of 2005 in the State Capitol
 Eyes on the 2006 Elections
2005 was
not a great year for conservation in the State’s Capitol.
Wildlife bills, including Audubon’s Important Bird Area bill,
nearly all died in the Legislature or on the Governor’s desk.
The Governor’s 2005 and 2006 budgets included the lowest funding
levels in decades for the California Department of Fish and Game
and only slightly better for many other resource agencies. The
Legislature also failed to pass legislation to authorize a
conservation funding bond for the 2006 ballot, so we are
beginning to gather signatures instead to qualify a conservation
funding initiative for the November ballot. Instead of a
conservation funding bond, the Governor has sponsored a major
infrastructure bond that would fund highways, ports and other
sprawl-inducing transportation funds.
With
elections coming up in June and November, it’s important to let
your chapter members and the public know how their legislators
and the Governor are doing on the environment. The Sierra Club
just released its Scorecard showing how state legislators voted
on important environmental issues and a summary of the
Governor’s record on the environment for his first two years in
office. You can view them at
http://sierraclubcalifornia.org/scorecards.shtml and
http://www.sierraclubcalifornia.org/documents/ArnoldTwoYearFullReport_002.pdf.
The California League of Conservation Voters also has a 2005
legislative recap on its website,
http://www.ecovote.org/pdf/2005wins.pdf and will be
releasing its full Scorecard soon. We urge you to pass this
information on to your chapter members so they can vote for the
environment in June and November.
Endangered Species Field Trips
Deliver the Message
 As
part of the statewide campaign to Save the Endangered Species
Act, seven chapters responded to the call to host an Endangered
Species Field trip. The point of the field trip was to take a
typical birdwalk and “spin” it to respond to the attack on
endangered species protection from Congressman Richard Pombo.
The spin meant that the fieldtrips looked for endangered species
and invited the press and local officials along. The purpose was
to deliver the message to all Californians that the Endangered
Species Act is a success.
From the seven chapters’ effort in January, at least five
articles with a positive ESA message have been printed. To
highlight a few: Wintu Audubon in Redding was front page,
top-of-the-fold with a piece titled “Eagles future a hot topic”
and a 10 inch photo of a bald eagle. The articled detailed the
successful recovery of eagles from 20 breeding pairs in the
early 70’s to now over 200 in California. Santa Clara Valley
Audubon held a fieldtrip plus roundtable that was covered in the
Sunday San Jose Mercury News titled “Seeking to Protect an
Endangered Act” accompanied by two photos. Buena Vista Audubon
got a great opinion piece printed in the North County Times and
60 people attended their Endangered Species “hunt”. And in San
Mateo, Sequoia Audubon worked on a county resolution for the ESA
and received press for that.
It goes to show when we act together, we can have a powerful
voice in our nation-state of California and affect real change.
Its not to late your chapter to host a ESA fieldtrip!
Read the articles here:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/13737889.htm
http://www.sfexaminer.com/articles/2006/01/30/peninsula/20060130_pe01_act.txt
http://www.redding.com/redd/nw_local/article/0,2232,REDD_17533_4411146,00.html
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/01/13/opinion/commentary/20_12_051_12_06.txt
 A Review of the One-Audubon
Membership Policy
To the general public, there is only one Audubon. And like a
family, all our actions reflect upon one another. The One
Audubon Membership Policy was adopted by the National Audubon
Society Board in 2001, after significant input from Chapters.
For more on the frequently asked topics of membership rates,
membership reports and dues click here.
 Paperless Membership Renewal
National Audubon Society successfully recruits members through
direct mail. As irritating as all that mail is, until someone
can come up with a better recruitment strategy, direct mail it
is. However, there is an exciting option where any member can
sign up for Paperless Renewal Program and instead of multiple
paper notices, and simply receive one bill approximately two
months in advance of their membership expiration date. Chapter
generated members will continue to be credited as such, and, of
course, you can cancel at any time. To sign up for Paper Free
Renewal Program 800/274-4201.
Collaborative Funding Grants Awarded
In our first year of offering
Collaborative Funding to California
Audubon Chapters, we received 23
proposals. With careful
consideration we were able to fund
16 projects. We worked to balance
funding large and small chapters as
we recognize their differences in
capacity. We encourage all chapters
to apply again next year. With
advance knowledge of a small grants
program, chapters will have more
time to plan for the coming
Collaborative Funding Program. Thank
you to everyone who submitted a
proposal.
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 Ventura Audubon Outreach Programs $2,500
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Arroyo Hondo Preserve Riparian Habitat Restoration Project-
Santa Barbara AS $2000
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Seasons of Nature Family Education Program- Sea and Sage $2000
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Saving a Threatened Species on a Urban Seashore- Santa Monica
Bay AS $500
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Save
Camarillo Regional Park- Conejo Valley AS $1000
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Big
Morongo Canyon Preserve- San Bernardino Valley AS $2,500
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CA
Least Tern IBA/Habitat and Education Project- San Diego AS
$1,649
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Funding Outdoor Education Transportation in Culturally
Diverse, Poor, Rural School District- Peregrine AS $1,500
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Cobb
Estate Nature Trail- Pasadena AS $1,500
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Friends of Coyote Hills- Ohlone AS $1,000
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Richardson
Bay Audubon Center and Sanctuary Uplands Habitat Restoration
Project- Marin AS $2,445
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Symposium on Avian Influenza- Yolo AS $2,500
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Rebooting Sequoia and Reaching Out- Sequoia AS $2,500
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Website Development and Public Relations for April 2006 Heron
Festival Marketing Outreach- Redbud AS $1,700
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Altacal Membership Brochure- Altacal AS $1,000
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Volunteer Engagement Project- Golden Gate AS $500
Upcoming
Birding Events
 San Diego Bird
Festival
The San Diego Bird Festival
sponsored by San Diego Audubon will
be February 9 - 12, 2006 and held at
Marina Village on Mission Bay. The
keynote speaker Saturday evening
will be Pete Dunne. The Optic and
Nature Exhibits will be held
Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 4.
More information about available
trips and classes can be obtained
from
www.sandiegoaudubon.org/birdfest.htm
or you may call 619-682-7200.
Great Backyard Bird
Count
Winter Wings Festival
Salton Sea
International Bird Festival
California
Duck Days
Aleutian Goose
Festival
See:
CALIFORNIA NATURE
FESTIVALS for a calendar of events throughout the year.
California
Chapter Coordinator
– Chapter Coordinator
Audubon California
4225 Hollis Street
Emeryville, CA 94608
(510) 601-1866 x (extension) 3
(510) 601-1954 Fax
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