Steve Blank, Speech to the California Audubon Assembly:
Sunday, October 7th, 2007

Thank you.  I’m honored to be with you again as Chairman of Audubon California, and to be in front of the finest conservation organization in the world. It’s been 3 years since Glenn Olsen had the vision of restarting these assemblies and attendance has grown from 120 people in 2004, 180 in March of 2006 and over 250 of you here today.

I’ve had the job of Audubon California chair for about 18 months, so today I want to tell you a few stories about the education of an Audubon Chairman and a few lessons for our organization. 

The first story is about the big tent.
One of the most interesting phenomena of conservation and environmental groups has been their implicit litmus tests for membership.  When I first joined the Audubon California board, mentioning the word Republican could stop all conversation in a crowded room.  Saying “guns” or “hunting” could require a defibrillator for some of the board.  (Which had we known at the time would have eliminated Glenn Olson as our executive director.) So it’s with some irony that it was an ardent hunter and Republican who has became the most visible defender of the condor by supporting our recommendation of removing toxic lead from the environment at the Fish and Game Commission.

(Ask Judd Hanna to stand if he’s there?….)

Over time, we realized that supporting the mission of Audubon California; our work in Conservation, Policy and Education, didn’t require an entrance exam or means test. 

It simply required the ability to understand that birds and their habitats are harbingers of all our fate, and that if we are here on earth as stewards for what is around us, then our role is clear.  We need to conserve critical bird habitat, affect state and local policy that degrades or endangers birds and their homes, we need to educate young and old on why preserving birds and their habitats is important, and finally we need to understand that unless we stop Global Warming, all our other work is at risk. 

And anyone who supports that mission was welcome.  So I coined a phrase for board membership that said “from the Sierra Club to the Bohemian Club.”

So that’s “The Big Tent.”

The second story is about the Bigger Tent.

Since I felt we could accommodate a broad spectrum of political opinions, I believe I had all bases covered.  However life is full of surprises.  In the 2005, just before I became Chairman Audubon California, Garry George was elected as the regional representative to the California board.  I distinctly remember taking note of this since whoever told me this had a clear hint of trepidation in their voice.  Garry as most of you know is one of the most unabashedly vocal advocates of chapters in the Audubon family.

As I promised last time we met, the board and staff we wanted to hear from you, and Garry took that message to heart.  While the other chapter representatives were equal skeptical of what role Audubon California could play for chapters, Garry was not shy at voicing those thoughts.  (You all would have been proud.)

Without telling too many tales out of school, all I can say is that if we would have filmed and recorded some of our early interactions we’d be rich selling the tapes on iTunes.

As I got to know Garry I realized that what we had was nothing more than what’s known in engineering as an impedance mismatch.  Gary had the interests of Audubon at heart and was running at entrepreneurial speeds headfirst into an organization that at the time, was not used to rapid and sudden change – and if you know Garry you know he is impatient for change.

The only reason I like to tell this story (and the state staff and Garry let me) is that I’m happy to report that both the organization and Garry have evolved and adapted.  Garry and the other chapter reps on the board have continued to let us know what they think matters for chapters - as well as birds and their habitats - but have realized that even the Audubon California staff can only do 47 projects at one time.  And at the end of the day we share the belief, that in California our chapters are our most important local presence.

Along with Jerry Karr, Steve Ferry and Sid England, Garry is still one of our most vocal board members, but more important than just loud, he is heard, respected and effective.

So that’s why we now have a bigger tent.

So while it’s nice to have a big and bigger tent, it exists only to enable us to get things done – outside the building and in the field where it matters.  So let me tell you a bit about what Glenn Olsen, Graham Chisholm and the rest of the extraordinary Audubon California staff has been doing to get it done since our last get together.

First, for Chapters.  In the category of “what have you done for me lately?

• We’ve given chapters $24,000 in Collaborative Funding grants to support projects including a nature education day in a regional park, bluebird box construction and installation, and diversity outreach projects to Willow Flycatcher monitoring. 
• For Audubon at Home we’ve invested $20,000 for the San Diego, Santa Clara and Palo Verdes/South Bay chapters to develop curriculum. 
• Audubon California helped assist chapters in securing funding from foundations to support there work: A $40,000 grant over two years to Santa Barbara Audubon, and two grants of $2,500 for San Bernardino Valley Audubon.
• In addition, we funded 3 chapters with a total of $32,000 for conservation of Snowy Plover wintering and breeding habitat, coastal restoration, and outreach and monitoring.
• We’ve started publishing our chapter electronic newsletter.
• We’ve developed a chapter pilot to provide online communication tools to four chapters.   This tool will allow our chapters to reach your members and activists, and fundraise on-line. 

 

Second, in Conservation, Science and Education, we’ve been busy and productive. 

• We set up a $700,000 Audubon State Parks Endowment with California State Parks. This will establish long-term funding for cooperative projects with State Parks and Audubon chapters. 
• Bobcat Ranch –we acquired the 6,800 acre Bobcat Ranch in Yolo County – our largest acquisition in Audubon California’s history.
• At the Kern River - we acquired the 1,666 acre Cyrus Canyon. That makes over 10,000 acres acquired with our partners at the Kern. And our restoration work at Starr Ranch, Macyamas, Wattis and Kern River continue unabated.
• California Condor Campaign – Audubon launched a multi-faceted California Condor campaign focused on three main elements – 1) restricting the use of lead ammunition; 2) partnering with the American Ornithologists’ Union to establish a panel on the condor recovery program; 3) working with private landowners and public land managers on securing condor habitat, particularly Tejon Ranch (270,000 acres in Los Angeles and Kern counties). We drafted a Scientific Statement of Agreement on Condors and Lead and got signatures from 44 leading scientists, vets, and activists. 
• For our work in Climate Change we’ve initiated an analysis of Christmas Bird Count and Breeding Bird Survey data for 541 bird species to better understand how changing climate conditions are having an impact on birds and habitat west of the Rockies. 
• And finally, in the last 12 months, our Audubon Centers at Richardson Bay and Debs Park educated over 15,000 of the next generation of birders.

Which bring us to next story about Evolution and Adaptation
Over its 100 year history Audubon has always been about birds and their habitats.  We implemented that mission with both local chapters as well as centralized functions. 

This means from day we’ve had one a chapter-driven community presence that is an integral part of Audubon’s culture and a key strength of our organization.

Audubon has also had a national presence throughout its 100 year history. From working with President Roosevelt at the beginning of the last century to creating the national refuge system to playing a pivotal role in helping protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to today’s pressing issue of Global Warming, this national presence has also been essential to our organization

Making this chapter-driven community and a national presence work together in a coordinated and mutually supporting configuration has been a work in progress for 100 years. Think of this as evolution – and at times natural selection.

Back in 1995, Audubon put together a Strategic Plan that said State offices would become the central focus of operations in the field. Each would have their own Boards, deliver programs locally and have significant authority to decide their own directions.  This added “decentralization” to the National organization but left chapters alone. About five years later, as part of Audubon’s National 2020 vision we added the idea of building 1000 Audubon centers to the objectives of the state boards.

Over the last few years it became clear to the national board and staff that some of this worked well and some not.  The part that has exceeded our expectations – an unintended consequence - is that our state organizations have blossomed.  With 490 chapters, 400,000 members and 24 state offices throughout the country, Audubon’s presence in communities is growing.  State organizations now generate over 60% of Audubon total revenue.  And, as we’ll talk about in a second, in California this state structure has allowed us to re-connect and support our chapters. 

However, while “connecting people with nature” was and is a great idea, the focus on a 1000 physical nature centers that we own, cost us money and membership.  Think of this as evolution and unintended consequences.

The National Audubon board just reviewed our strategic plan this year and “guess what?” the phrase “1000 centers” has simply disappeared from our plan. Don’t get me wrong, we haven’t given up on connecting people through nature with Audubon Centers, but having run the science experiment, we realized that doing it in partnership with others might be a better approach. 

But the big new for chapters in this revision of the Plan is not what gotten taken out, but what is there – and that is a commitment to a largely decentralized organization with emphasis on community presence.  That means you.  The National office will provide leadership and vision, national conservation programs such as our Global Warming initiative, support services and guiding and fundraising.

The 100 year pendulum is swinging back, we are beginning embrace and build our grassroots organization not run away from it; the combination of national, state and chapters together can transform National Audubon into a highly effective, grassroots conservation organization.

Finally, the last story is about the conservation power of chapters.

As some of you may know I also sit on the Audubon National board.  It’s kind of fun putting on one hat and taking off another and trying to remember if I’m the good guy or bad guy this week.  As our California staff can tell you it’s given me an interesting perspective on how hard a job John Flicker has, and how good a job he’s done managing a multitude of constituencies in what essentially is a $100 million dollar franchise with 490 outlets.  Just to note, what Garry George was to the Audubon California board, I was to John Flicker at the National Board.   There is some irony in there somewhere.

I thought that I was doing just fine until this February until I got a call from Sacramento and the Governors office.  They asked me if I was interested in becoming a commissioner on the California Coastal Commission.  Given I had gone through the Coastal Commission appeals process in getting my house built on the coast, I thought that irony was showing up here again, so I said yes. 

As most of you know the Coastal Commission is responsible for regulation and planning of all development on all 1,100 miles of the California Coast.  This includes building, shoreline public access and recreation, low cost visitor accommodations, habitat protection, visual resources, landform alteration, agricultural lands, commercial fisheries, offshore oil and gas development, power plants, ports, and public works.   Whew.  It is a big list and it has big role, a great staff who are true believers in their mission to protect the coast.  The pristine nature of what we have saved of the California Coast is in great measure due to the Coastal Commission Staff and their tireless director.

Now it’s kind of funny, as the Chairman of Audubon sitting on the Coastal Commission I thought I’d be having my phone ring off the hook from chapters and their members on the coast.  Well for the first few months I felt like the Maytag repairman.  No one called. And no one from Audubon was at the Commission hearings.  We’d see the Sierra Club, NRDC, but no organized Audubon chapters.

It was surprising on two levels.  First, almost every day at every hearing had a bird and their habitat related under siege; whether it’s snowy plovers threatened at a beach, black-crowned night-herons being disturbed in the Channel Islands, coastal California gnatcatcher in the coastal sage scrub; or entire bird habitats such as wetlands and riparian corridors at risk.  The second surprise that since most commissioners are more than willing to meet before the hearings for a coherent presentation, and a well organized turnout at the hearing both can have an effect the outcome, our silence at these hearings were deafening.

But in the last few months I’m proud to say that Audubon chapters have figured out that they can become engaged and have stood up.  I’ve heard from Mary Parsell of El Dorado Audubon about the Home Depot project.  Our Sea and Sage chapter along with Garry George and Pete DeSimone and others, made Audubon’s position known on the TCA Toll road through the San Onofre State Park.  And Andrew Mauro of Buena Vista Audubon about the Oceanside Hotel next to the Buena Vista Lagoon and David De Lange of LAAudubon aboutMarina del Rey.  While I can’t say how I will vote on these issues, I did get a tremendous education.

So I urge all of you with a coastal habitat issue to contact Dan Taylor, our new head of Policy for Audubon California and set up a meeting or simply email or call me.

All of you need to know how much power is in your hands as individuals and as organized chapters.  That conservation power can make a difference in monitoring, mitigating and messaging to the world about the changes in those California IBAs their birds and their habitat.  Not only for Coastal Issues but for the changes we are beginning to see in Global Warming.

Your most effective role is to speak out and share what you see changing around you; Make your voices heard to local, state and policy makers and let them know,

You as Audubon chapter members understand that birds and their habitats are harbingers of all our fate, and that if we are here on this earth as stewards for what is around us, then our role is clear. Every Audubon member need to be the canary in the coal mine.

Thank You.

I now want to introduce John Flicker.