December, 2023

“CREATING A SYSTEM OF MUTUAL SUPPORT FOR CHAPTERS!” A Special Virtual Council Meeting! 7:00 PM, Monday, January 8, 2024 This is the meeting originally scheduled to take place in November. Unfortunately technical difficulties made it a challenge for all registrants to participate in the original meeting. We have rescheduled this meeting for January 8, 2024. The rescheduling also gives us the opportunity to add a few items to the discussion. We will invite chapter updates on the “Audubon” name and comments on the recent decisions regarding the Audubon Bird Habitat Recognition Program.   The main focus of this meeting is to provide an open forum for chapter leaders to identify organizational challenges and to share ideas on how our chapter network can provide consider support. This forum was scheduled in the wake of the announcement from the Northeast Pennsylvania Audubon Society that they disbanded. Most of our chapters have functioned for decades but not without challenges. Nearly all chapters experience organizational struggles from time to time. Some do not succeed. Bucktail Audubon Society, Unami Audubon Society, Wapiti Audubon Society, and now Northeast Pennsylvania Audubon Society are among those that have ceased to operate. A primary purpose of the Pennsylvania Audubon Council has been to establish a means to foster mutual learning and support among our Pennsylvania chapters.   This is a Pennsylvania Audubon Council virtual program and all are invited to participate via ZOOM. Registration via Constant Contact is required in order to participate via ZOOM. The ZOOM link is sent to registrants from Constant Contact! SHARE WITH YOUR CHAPTER BOARD MEMBERS AND SAVE THE DATE!

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WHY A MUNICIPALITY SHOULD CONSIDER A UTILITY SCALE SOLAR ORDINANCE! Cohosted by WeConservePA and the Pennsylvania Audubon Council 7:00 PM, Monday, January 22, 2024 We are looking ahead to bringing leaders from Environmental Advisory Councils, Bird Town and Pennsylvania Audubon Chapters together for this webinar. The webinar will feature a relatively short PowerPoint and references created by the Pennsylvania Audubon Council’s Renewable Energy Committee. This program is an orientation for use these tools by participants to use as a “turnkey” for presentations to officials at the municipal government level in the communities with which they are associated. Carolyn Grayshaw, WeConservePA; Heidi Shiver, President of Bird Town Pennsylvania; and Leigh Altadonna, President of the Pennsylvania Audubon Council will set the objectives of the webinar and introduce the panel of presenters.   Tom Kuehl, Allegheny Front Audubon Society and Judy Stepenaskie, Wyncote Audubon Society will present the PowerPoint and toolkit as the keystone feature of the webinar. Laura Jackson, Juniata Valley Audubon Society, and Sue Murawski, Presque Isle Audubon Society will provide a brief walkthrough of the Commonwealth Court decision on the Brookview Solar Project in Adams County. This court opinion was strongly based on upholding the local ordinances. It demonstrates the critical importance of municipalities having local ordinances in place. Steve Nelson will provide a brief “civics 101” lesson on the limits of authority of state government and the importance of the authority vested at the municipal level. leaders, EAC leaders, and our Bird Town leaders. I plan to get the DRUMMER drafted over the weekend and out early next week. WeConservePA plan to promote it in their newsletter next week too.    WeConservPA and the Pennsylvania Audubon Council are cohosting this webinar. It is a virtual program and registration is through WeConservePA at the link below:   SHARE WITH YOUR CHAPTER BOARD MEMBERS AND SAVE THE DATE!

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CONSERVATION ALERTS Brief Updates on Issues of Concern   SOLAR 4 SCHOOLS! (HB 1032) Last spring the Pennsylvania Audubon Council encouraged chapters to be active in support of the Solar for Schools (HB 1032) legislation. It has been the focus of two of Conservation Alerts! We noted that the bill subsequently passed with broad bipartisan support. There was hope that the Solar for Schools program would be included in the state budget for FY 23-24 but that did not materialize. It subsequently was caught up in discussion about funding public schools that has now been resolved and signed by Governor Shapiro last Friday.   The Solar for Schools legislation has now come back to the “front burner.” Last spring’s successful House Bill has now moved to the Senate for consideration. The next steps are for the bill to be considered by the State Senate’s CERD Committee (Community, Economic and Recreational Development) and then move to the floor of the full Senate for consideration. It is an important for our chapters to contact the State Senators who represent districts that are part of respective chapter territories. Reach out through the senatorial district offices with a phone call, email or other form of outreach to urge their support for Solar for Schools (HB 1032).   Thank you all so much for helping us get this far! Passing legislation is not easy, and creating a new and unique program is especially challenging. That said, everyone that has studied this bill closely recognizes that this is an important step for support of renewable energy and for schools! We are confident that with your continued support, we can make Solar for Schools law.   LIGHT POLLUTION AND RESPONSIBLE LIGHTING: (HB1803) Our colleagues with the Pennsylvania Dark Skies Association have alerted us to this legislation introduced on October 31, 2023 regarding the issue of “light.” The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Environmental Resources and Energy. While this legislation was not specifically introduced in relation to the many “Lights Out” initiatives to protect night migrants, it will benefit these efforts as well as provide benefits for insects and other wildlife.   This legislation was introduced by Representative Chris Pielli and has a number of cosponsors. We encourage our chapter leaders and members to reach out to the state representatives who represent any portion of their chapter territories during this current recess of the General Assembly recess. . Reach out through the their district offices with a phone call, email or other form of outreach to urge their support for (HB 1803). Our friends from “Dark Skies” appreciate whatever support or encouragement you all can provide! A copy of the legislation can be found here: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=PDF&sessYr=2023&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=1803&pn=2235&mobile_choice=suppress   DUKE LOW MOA AND THE PA WILDS! The Pennsylvania Audubon Council shared concerns for this proposal of the Maryland Air National Guard on multiple occasions for over a year. We urged support for our sister chapters of Lycoming, Tiadaughton, and Jamestown (NY) Audubon Societies. We urged comment to seek modification of this proposal in support the coalition of environmental groups and agencies leading on this issue of focus in the PA Wilds. There had been draft environmental assessments and some opportunities for comment. We received word from representatives at DCNR that there is nothing new to report on this issue. We will continue to monitor and provide updates as they become available.

The Third Pennsylvania Bird Atlas! A Five-Year Community Science Opportunity Begins January 1, 2024 This five-year long community science project will begin in January 1, 2024 and continuing through 2029. There are widespread opportunities for Audubon members and leaders to participate in PBA3! Participation will be welcomed among our members despite their birding expertise. There are many ways for our chapters and Bird Towns to be involved. Wyncote Audubon recorded a presentation by Amber Wiewel, the Director of the Project. A recording of her presentation can be found on the Pennsylvania Audubon Council YouTube channel. VIEW THE RECORDED PRESENTATION HERE

THANK YOU FOR YOUR UPDATED CHAPTER CONTACTS Thank you to the chapters that provided the updated contact information of their chapter leaders and board members. They have been added to the distribution list of the DRUMMER. Contact us if individuals need to be added or if names are on this updated distribution list should be removed. Members of the Council Executive Committee will also follow up as needed to confirm any changes, additions, or deletions to the contacts listed for your chapters. Please send your changes and updates to: paauduboncouncil@gmail.com

MANAGE YOUR EMAIL IN BOX Be Sure to Receive Messages from the Council: The Pennsylvania Audubon Council uses a Gmail address for many routine communications. Because Gmail uses a “.com” in its address, many recipients will find messages routed to a “junk” or “spam” folder. This can be avoided by a simple step as you manage your email at home or work. Simply add paauduboncouncil@gmail.com to your email mailbox and future messages will appear in your regular “inbox” of incoming emails.

CBC HIGHLIGHTS ARE WELCOMED ON THE COUNCIL FACEBOOK PAGE Every Pennsylvania Audubon Chapter sponsors and/or participates in an Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The Council welcomes posts of photos of participants or special birds that were encountered during your CBC. You can request permission to post if you have not already received such access. It is wonderful to profile our participation and support of this long running community science effort now in its 124 year!

PA Audubon Council