The compendium of the Pennsylvania Audubon Council’s draft Education and Outreach Statements has been created and can be accessed at the link below. This includes the draft statements that were previewed at the January 3, 2023 Council meeting. The recoding of that meeting can be accessed on our Council’s YouTube Channel link below.

Those Statements have been revised as a result of input from participants following that Council Meeting. There are additional Education and Outreach Statements on Conservation Issues of Highest priority as identified by our chapters. The format of the Education and Outreach Statements is a two-page document. The first page of the document is intended as a brief introduction and overview of the issue that is the focus of each Statement. The second page of the template outlines potential opportunities for both chapters and the Council. The Statements are not prescriptive.

We recognize that chapters do not have the independent capacity to address every issue. The matrix provides a means for chapters to select ways to become involved with any given issue. We recognize that these Statements help to frame how we can network, collaborate, and provide support for one another as we advance each of our priority issues.

We welcome the review and input of any and all chapter leaders to the compendium of Education and Outreach Statements. Access the Response Form and provide your remarks for any of the statements to which you wish to provide input. We ask chapter leaders interested in providing comment to respond by February 10^th.

Last week a “Release” and an “Executive Summary” of the Pennsylvania Audubon Council’s Renewable Energy Committee white paper regarding "Guidelines for Municipalities: Bird-Friendly and Environmentally Responsible Utility-Scale Solar” was shared with our conservation partners in the Commonwealth.

The white paper is authored by the Pennsylvania Audubon Council’s Renewable Energy Committee and is solely responsible for its content. We advised our conservation partners that the Pennsylvania Audubon Council was formed in 2020 to serve Audubon chapters in Pennsylvania.

The Council seeks to advocate for the conservation and preservation of birds, other wildlife and the environment on which they depend through the sharing of resources and ideas among and between the chapters, and in collaboration with other conservation partners. 

The deadline for chapters to submit their Annual Reports to the National Audubon Society is January 31, 2023 -- just two weeks away! We urge Pennsylvania Audubon Chapters that have not already submitted to do so as soon as possible. The completion and submission of the report is necessary for chapters to receive their annual stipend of support from Audubon.

These reports also include your most recent and updated contacts of chapter leaders that we would like to add to our DRUMMER recipient list. PLEASE SEND A COPY OF THE LIST OF CHAPTER LEADERS YOU FILE WITH YOUR REPORT. Special thanks to those chapters that have already shared their Annual Reports and/or their updated leaders lists!

 We will add the contacts from your chapter to the DRUMMER mailing list. Please send to paauduboncouncil@gmail.com

Last October, the Pennsylvania Audubon Council Executive Committee re-inaugurated its conservation award in honor of Walt Pomeroy, a great friend of Audubon. Cindy Adams Dunn, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources was the clear choice as the recipient of this award. Her long association with Appalachian Audubon, the Audubon Council of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Audubon Council, and her long record of conservation made her the outstanding honoree!

The tradition, established by the former Audubon Council of Pennsylvania, had been to present the award in a low-key ceremony. Only one, sometimes two, recipients were recognized in any given year. Historically, the award was presented in simple ceremonies and never envisioned as apart of a fundraising event. Past recipients have included policy makers, legislators, chapter leaders, and others.

 

We seek volunteers interested to create a process to identify and select nominations for future awardees of the Pennsylvania Audubon Walt Pomeroy Conservation Award. Volunteers will be expected to meet several times via zoom to develop the standards for potential nominees and a nomination and selection process. We seek an open process that provides opportunities for chapters and chapter leaders to participate throughout the process. Please send expressions of interest to participate with this effort to the Council at paauduboncouncil@gmail.com by February 10, 2023.