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Latest News and Updates from Audubon in California

California Condor. Photo: Scott Frier/USFWS

Bird Lovers United to Count Brown Pelicans
Press Center

Bird Lovers United to Count Brown Pelicans

— Two hour birding blitz was first of its kind and will aid conservation of an iconic species
Birds' striking beauty magnified in new photo book
Audublog

Birds' striking beauty magnified in new photo book

Deborah Samuel offers a different perspective through her stunning photographs.

Editorial in The Hill argues for California leadership in wildlife-smart renewable energy

Jamie Williams, President of the Wilderness Society, and Nancy Pfund, Founder and Managing Partner of DBL Partners, pleaded with the Bureau of Land Management to finalize California's Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP). They argue in their post on The Hill that DRECP would help make California a leader not just in renewable energy, but in renewable energy that works well with wildlife conservation. An excerpt:

"The need for a solid plan is clear in the California desert, a region already feeling the impacts of prolonged drought and rising temperatures from climate change. If we’re going to get serious about slowing the march toward extinction for many native plants and animals, we must move swiftly to invest in clean energy, while taking steps to conserve wild places. With protection, these desert lands can become a wide, connected safe-haven, providing enough space for plants and animals to migrate and adapt to a warming temperatures....

...As leaders in both conservation and renewable energy, we encourage the BLM [Bureau of Land Management] to move quickly to finalize the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. We can seek renewable energy solutions without spoiling our precious public lands. California is poised to demonstrate to the nation that ambitious goals, combined with intelligent planning, can yield exceptional results. Let’s push this innovative plan over the finish line."

Read the whole post here.

5 non-obvious ways engineers are totally copying birds
Audublog

5 non-obvious ways engineers are totally copying birds

And none of them are flying.

Check out the cool video from Bird LA day

Huge thanks to everyont that took part in this year's Bird LA Day. This year, we had more participants, and more partners, than ever before. Huge thanks to Susan and Dan Gotlieb, who supported the creation of this video.

Redlands professor makes his case for the Salton Sea

The Los Angeles Times's Patt Morrison interviews Tim Krantz, a University of Redlands environmental studies professor, about what's at stake at the Salton Sea. An excerpt:

"If you had a 30-second TV spot to make your pitch for saving the Salton Sea, what would it say?

The sea is not an accident. It's not there in the isolated desert. It affects 1.5 million people who live around it. It's not a local, regional problem; it's much broader. To deal with it retroactively, only after thousands of people have lost their lives, only after property values from Palm Springs to the border have declined, only after the fish and wildlife values, the migratory bird values have been lost — we're facing the dilemma in perpetuity, trying to put Band-Aids on the problem. Or we can spend that money now and maybe get a return on our investment in short order."

Read the whole piece here.

Birds with bad attitudes
Audublog

Birds with bad attitudes

Los Angeles-based artist Matt Adrian, a.k.a. Mincing Mockingbird, paints birds with ... colorful personalities.

Creating Shorebird Habitat on Duck Clubs in the San Joaquin Valley
Audublog

Creating Shorebird Habitat on Duck Clubs in the San Joaquin Valley

Audubon California partnered with duck clubs in the San Joaquin Valley to provide critical habitat for migrating shorebirds by stretching water through the spring.

Climate bills working their way through California Legislature
Global Warming

Climate bills working their way through California Legislature

Lawmakers are addressing bills to extend California's cap-and-trade system, ban specific pollutants, and embrace the carbon capturing power of natural and agricultural landscapes.

​Los Angeles County parks measure will have multiple benefits for people and birds
Audublog

L.A. County parks measure is a great deal for people and birds

— Ballot measure will raise nearly $95 million a year to build and maintain L.A. County parks, connecting millions to the outdoor world and bolstering habitat for birds.

How you can help, right now