Sen. Dianne Feinstein urges Bay Area voters to support Measure AA

San Francisco Bay is vital to our economy and vital to our environment -- the physical center of the place we call home, argue Sen. Dianne Feinstein and The Gap Board Chairman Bob Fisher in today's Mercury News, as they call on Bay Area voters to pass Measure AA on June 7:

"Measure AA would provide the financial resources we need to restore thousands of acres of wetlands and provide natural flood protection for critical infrastructure on the shorelines. Levees could be built to facilitate these wetlands projects, while 25 miles of new trails would be put in place to improve recreational and open space access.

For the sake of future generations, we need to take this opportunity to preserve and protect the Bay we love. The time is now if we are to leave a lasting legacy to our children and grandchildren. Please join us in supporting Measure AA. Visit YesonAAfortheBay.com for more information or to sign up as a supporter."

One-third of North American birds need immediate conservation action, says report

One-third of North American birds need immediate conservation action, or they could face extinction, according to the 2016 State of North America's Birds report. According to the report, ocean birds and those in the tropical forests face the greatest danger. The National Audubon Society was one of many conservation organizations and government agencies partnering on the study.

Tricolored Blackbird population at Atwell Island continues to expand

NRCS California reports that the Tricolored Blackbird population at Atwell Island, a restoration project run by NRCS in conjunction with Bureau of Land Management, has grown to 4,000 birds. Read their Medium story on the colony's success. It is encouraging to see other groups working hard, and seeing results in their efforts to save this imperiled bird.

Maps show how important the Salton Sea is for birds in the Western Hemisphere

When Audubon California talks about the Salton Sea, we often highlight that about 400 species of birds make regular use of this habitat -- massive numbers of sandpipers migrating between Alaska and South America, as much as 90 percent of the world’s Eared Grebes, and large numbers of American White Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, the threatened Snowy Plover. Without the Salton Sea, these species and many others would struggle for survival.

The two maps below offer another view of how birds from all over the Western Hemisphere use the Salton Sea. Since 1908, volunteers and researchers have been banding birds for the U.S. Geological Survey's North American Bird Banding Program, and so we have data on where we found birds that were banded at the Salton Sea, as well as where birds were banded that ultimately turned up at the Salton Sea.

Birds banded at the Salton Sea and found elsewhere

Birds banded throughout the Western Hemisphere and found at the Salton Sea
 

Assembly Bill 2148 has passed the floor

Audubon California sponsored bill, AB 2148, which if passed provides the National Resources Agency the ability to develop regulations regarding drone use on about 1,000,000 acres of publicly managed lands in California in effort to protect nesting birds, passed out of the floor of the State Assembly today with a 51-13 vote. Thank you to everyone who sent an action alert in support.