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AUDUBON
CALIFORNIA NOTES
May e-newsletter
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In this
issue:
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 Snowy Plover
Listing Maintained –
But Protections Cut Back
On
April 21, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it
would not delist the Pacific Coast Population of Western Snowy
Plover under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). On the
same day, however, the Service proposed a 4(d) rule under the
ESA that removes many of the current protections for plovers in
exchange for county level conservation and management plans. The
current population of coastal Snowy Plovers is approximately
2,300 breeding adults, 90 percent of which are located in
California.
Audubon California, Marin Audubon and Santa Barbara Audubon all
plan to submit comments to the Service by the June 20 deadline.
We encourage other chapters to submit comments as well. We will
send a draft of our comments around to use as a model. In the
meantime, you can find the proposed 4(d) rule and background
information about the plovers biological and conservation status
at
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-SPECIES/2006/April/Day-21/e3793.htm.
Bonds, Bonds,
Bonds !! (And we aren’t talking
baseball)
 On
May 4, the Legislature passed a $37 billion package of bonds,
including infrastructure, flood control, education and other
issues. The legislative bonds, along with our $5.3 billion
conservation bond, will all be on the November ballot, so we
need to start now to build public support for the conservation
bond. To kick off the campaign, Audubon is hosting a bond
campaign workshop at Debs Park on June 10, to go over outreach
and media strategies. Read more
On
May 4, the Legislature passed a $37 billion package of bond
legislation, which authorizes measures to be placed on the
November ballot. Passage of the bonds, or any single bond,
requires a majority vote, which makes it substantially easier
than passage of a new tax, which requires a two-thirds vote. If
passed, bonding authority allows the State to borrow money for
the specific programs and purposes laid out in the bond
language. Past bonds, such as Props 12, 13, 40 and 50, have
provided most of the State’s acquisition and restoration dollars
for the past 6 years, but those funds are drying up quickly. Our
conservation bond would provide an additional $5.3 billion in
conservation dollars and the legislative bonds would provide
approximately $1 billion in additional funds for parks,
non-structural flood control (which could include wetlands
enhancement), infill incentives, regional planning and water
quality improvements.
If
you live in Southern California, please come to a campaign
kick-off meeting at Debs Park to go over outreach, public
education and media strategies to ensure passage of the
conservation bond. The bond meeting will be from 2:30 to 5:30,
immediately following the Southern California Council meeting at
Debs Park. Dinner, wine and beer will be provided. We will hold
similar organizing meetings in other parts of the state later
this summer.
 Lead and
Condor Bill Fails to Pass
Legislative Committee
Assemblyman Nava’s bill to protect California Condors from lead
ammunition, AB 2123, failed to pass out of the Assembly Water,
Parks and Wildlife Committee in April. Although Assemblyman Nava
agreed to several amendments to limit the scope of the bill to
condor country and to provide incentives for hunters to switch
to non-lead ammunition, the NRA and some hunting groups
continued to oppose the bill. Audubon California supported the
bill and will continue to work with the author and others to
find a way to move California toward lead-free ammunition.
 Wetlands /
SWANCC Gap
Despite assurances from the Schwarzenegger Administration in
2004 that it would adopt a state program to protect
non-navigable and seasonal waters no longer protected by the
Federal Government, the State Water Board has not moved very
quickly to do so. Two regional Water Quality Control Boards (San
Francisco and the North Coast) are stepping in to fill in the
gap and, hopefully, the State Water Board will then adopt their
programs statewide. For more information about their plans and
to get involved in the development of their riparian and
wetlands program, go to
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/streamandwetlands.htm.
California Stands to take the Lead
on Climate
Change
Climate change, global warming, by either name scientists and
policymakers (at least in California) have agreed that this is a
very serious concern for human health and the environment. Once
again California stands poised to take the lead on solving
environmental problems. Several leaders in California’s state
Legislature have stepped forward a laudable bill that would take
real steps to address global warming in California. This bill,
the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32),
co-authored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Asm. Fran
Pavley, would cut greenhouse gas emission by placing a hard cap
on emissions for the stationary sources like power plants,
refineries and large manufacturers. The bills call to reduce
these sources of green house has emissions to the 1990 level by
2020.
For a
fact sheet on the bill from Fran Pavley’s office see this
webpage.
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a41/pdf/AB32.pdf
 Welcome
Andrea Jones, Important Bird
Area Program Coordinator
The
California Important Bird Area (IBA) program is entering ‘phase
II’ under the direction of Andrea Jones, program coordinator.
California’s IBA program began as a volunteer-driven effort in
the mid 1990s, and was greatly expanded into a fully-funded
research project in 2000. A team of dozens of technical advisors
contributed hundreds of hours granting interviews, providing
data and reviewing sites. Over 150 IBAs have been identified,
and in 2003, Audubon California published Important Bird Areas
of California by Daniel S. Cooper, the culmination of a
three-year effort to identify and describe key areas around the
state most important to birds.
Andrea joins Audubon California from Mass Audubon where she
worked on a variety of bird conservation projects for 13 years,
including directing the Coastal Waterbird Program and
co-coordinating the IBA program.
Read more
 On
Volunteers
Steve
Blank, Chairman of the Audubon California Board spoke these good
words on the power and metamorphosis of volunteers to Golden
Gate Audubon’s annual volunteer appreciation day. His words
resonant and reflective each of us striving to improve the world
we were given. Definitely worth reading…
Speech to the Golden Gate Audubon -
Volunteer Day: Saturday, May 06, 2006
By
Steve
Blank (Board Chair Audubon California)
Thank
you. I’m honored to be with you today as a speaker at Golden
Gate Audubon, and to be in front of the finest volunteers in the
world. When I was younger I didn’t always understand the
motivation of volunteers. “You mean they do it for free?” was my
first response. So today I want to tell you a couple of stories
about how I came to understand how your role as volunteers for
Golden Gate Audubon has an importance far beyond the Bay Area.
My
first story is “It’s Déjà vu all over again.”
It’s based on an article I read in The Non Profit Times about
“On Volunteers."
It said that organizations go through seven stages in Volunteer
Involvement.
The
first Stage: is when one or two people see a need before anyone
else does and start shouting about it. (Think of them like the
Arthur Feinstein’s of the world.)
The
fact is that major innovation and change rarely occur within
established institutions. Often it’s those very organizations
that put obstacles in the way of visionaries. The first people,
who recognize what needs to be done are often met with
hostility.
These
pioneering volunteers may feel like they are wandering in the
wilderness alone. It takes courage and staying power. Passion
drives them. And these volunteers accept the role of mavericks
until...
Read more
Chapter
Funding Cycle
 With
summer on your minds, don’t forget to plan for the next round of
Collaborative Funds for Chapters from Audubon California. The
funding guidelines and proposal forms will be mailed to chapters
on July 10th. The proposals will be due in late September. This
year in addition to the $25,000 for activism, conservation, and
education activities, another pool of $20,000 will be granted to
pilot programs of the new Audubon At Home California program.
The Audubon At Home funding will be based on a framework
resulting from the workshops at councils meetings. Completed
chapter annual reports will be a pre-requisite for applications.
NAS Chapter Service
Website
Revamp
 National Audubon Society Chapter Services has revamped their
website. It now includes much useful information on the
day-to-day mechanics of running a chapter. Documents like board
position descriptions, chapter planning, updating chapter
territory are available. The site is still under construction so
know that more links will be live soon.
http://www.audubon.org/local/index.html
Also
any Chapter that did not receive a Planned Giving Guide for
Chapter Leaders at the Asilomar can contact Dave Bonfilio at
dbonfilio@audubon.org
Vote for the
Western Region Representative to NAS
   Please remember to vote for the Chapter representative to the
National Audubon Society Board of Directors from the Western
Region. Ballots have been mailed to each Chapter president. All
ballots must be returned by mail and received by Lynn Tennefoss,
Chapter Services by June 30th. All three nominees are from
California: Jess Morton, Elizabeth Murdock and Catherine Pannell
Waters.
Upcoming
Birding Events
JUNE
Fifth Annual Mono Basin Bird
Chautauqua
Sierra Valley
Barns, Birds and Barbecue
JULY
California
Reptile Festival
AUGUST
Kern Valley Hummingbird
Celebration
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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