July, 2024

SOLAR 4 SCHOOLS IS ADOPTED!

HB 1032 Passed in the Senate With Broad Bipartisan Support!

I’m writing to say, thank you!

Yesterday, HB1032: Solar for Schools passed on concurrence in the House and is now be headed to the Governor to be signed into law. I am amazed and humbled that this great concept, is about to become a real program! Please feel free to use our social media toolkit here to help us celebrate online!

This bill would not have passed without your support, expertise, patience, flexibility, and dedication to collaboration and success. The commitment of environmental leaders like yourself was critical in getting Solar for Schools across the finish line. Thank you!

As we pause to celebrate, my mind is also looking forward to next steps and ensuring that this program is a success for the entire Commonwealth from Day 1! I know that implementation will bring just as many (or more) challenges as getting the bill passage, and I hope you will continue to work with me and the administration to ensure that our schools and children benefit from the program. I am hopeful that the presence of solar arrays at schools will not just generate clean energy and save schools money, but that they will inspire the next generation to face the environmental challenges of the next century with courage and optimism. I am also hopeful that the Solar for Schools coalition you helped to build can be used to secure other legislative victories that protect our air, water, and soil and mitigate the harms of climate change. We can do better, and we must, for all Pennsylvania’s children.

I will share details on upcoming celebrations as we plan them. In the meantime, use our social media toolkit here to help us celebrate online! It would be an honor to mark the bill’s passage with the folks that made it happen—you!

Congratulations again on a great victory!

Elizabeth

https://www.pahouse.com/Fiedler/Solar4Schools

There are several important ways that chapters can do to follow-up and support the implementation of the Solar for Schools program:

• THANK YOUR STATE SENATOR: There were 47 State Senators who voted to adopt Solar for Schools! Check the list at this website: Reach out to your State Senator by email, phone, or in person while they are home during their summer recess to thank them for their vote! Let them know that actions like this help schools, students and BIRDS! Find how your senator voted here: https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2023/hb1032

• GET YOUR LOCAL SCHOOLS ON BOARD: Encourage your local school district to participate in the Solar for Schools Program. Encourage district officials to prioritize the installation of solar on rooftops and over parking lots.

• MAKE SOLAR PART OF THE CURRICULM: The Council and Chapters have identified Environmental Education as a high priority conservation issue. Solar for Schools provides a rich opportunity for a “deep dive” into solar energy, climate change and our energy future. This is perfect for those areas in the school curriculum that address environment and respond to the new “Ecology and Environment Educational Standards.”

The Pennsylvania Audubon Council and Renewable Energy Committee will track this program and continue to monitor progress toward future legislation that promotes “community solar.”

The Pennsylvania Audubon Council

WALT POMEROY CONSERVATION AWARD

Congratulations Dr. Daniel Klem!

The Pennsylvania Audubon Council is pleased to report that Dr. Daniel Klem, will be the recipient of the Pennsylvania Audubon Council Walt Pomeroy Conservation Award. The Lehigh Valley Audubon Society and the Presque Isle Audubon Society nominated Dr. Klem for the award. The Pennsylvania Audubon Council Executive Committee unanimously endorsed his nomination. Arrangements will be made to present the award to Dr. Klem this fall. The tradition has been to present the award in an informal basis at a chapter designated location or event. The award is presented in a simple ceremony and is not a fundraising event for the Council.

Daniel Klem, Jr., Ph.D., D.Sc. Daniel Klem, Jr. is Sarkis Acopian Professor of Ornithology and Conservation Biology at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Dr. Klem obtained his B.Sc. at Wilkes University and his M.Sc. at Hofstra University. He served in the US military during the Vietnam War, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. He subsequently obtained his doctorate from Southern Illinois University.

For over 50 years Dr. Klem has undertaken diverse avian studies. He writes, and teaches about the threat that sheet glass and plastic pose to birds. No other scientist has comprehensively studied and published research results documenting and preventing the lethal threat that human structures pose to birds. In his 1990 papers “Bird injuries, cause of death, and recuperation from collisions with windows” and “Collisions between birds and windows: mortality and prevention”, he calculated that between 100 million and 1 billion birds are killed, annually, in the United States alone, by flying into windows. His most recent research indicates that up to 3.5 million birds is the daily mortality rate for bird collision!

His research has influenced the design of buildings, not least the Niagara Falls State Park Observation Tower, on which he was a design consultant. He holds several US patents relating to windows design. He is motivated by available and growing evidence that bird-building collisions are an important wildlife conservation, building industry, and animal welfare issue for birds and people worldwide. His recent book, Solid Air, is a chronicle of his research and what we need to do to address the alarming “human made” destruction of birds.

SAVE THESE DATES FOR THE PENNSYLVANIA AUDUBON COUNCIL

2024 FALL CHAPTER GATHERINGS!

The Pennsylvania Audubon Council will host three regional one-day gatherings will be planned for this fall. These will be schedule for the Eastern, Central, and Western part of the state and to make it more convenient for chapters to send a delegation of their leaders to the locations that work best. The schedule is as follows:

Saturday, October 5, 2024, Beechwood Farm Nature Park, Pittsburgh

Saturday, October 19, 2024, Fort Hunter, Harrisburg

Saturday, November 2, 2024, Muhlenberg College, Allentown

Each gathering will be a one-day event beginning around 9:00 AM and concluding around 3:00 PM. Lunch will be provided along with provisions for morning and afternoon refreshments. There are no plans for a registration fee. Registration details will be provided in the August edition of the DRUMMER! We encourage and welcome multiple participants from each and every chapter!

The emphasis for these gatherings is an agenda that offers broad opportunities for interaction and discussion. Each gathering will feature time set aside for “chapter sharing” centered around each chapter’s “signature” or special events or projects that are a point of pride. We seek to build upon the series of Council zoom meetings we hosted earlier this year that focused on our efforts to strengthen our chapters. We need your help in advance of these gatherings. We invite chapter leaders to share the ”top three challenges that face your chapter” – Please take this five-minute survey at the link below.

Also note that there is potential to include special topics tailored for each of the gatherings. For example, we hope to have updates on the status of two grant applications that offer a role for chapters in the Delaware River and Susquehanna River watersheds.

Please complete the survey no later than August 15, 2024.

AUDUBON CHAPTERS HELP USHER IN NEW BIRD TOWNS

AS THE PROGRAM GROWS ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH!

Bird Town Pennsylvania is experiencing exponential growth with new Bird Towns being established across the Commonwealth. There are now sixty-two Bird Towns with nine new Bird Towns added in just the last month! New Bird Towns are now established in Allegheny and Cumberland Counties. There are fifty-two additional municipalities that are in the process of exploring and/or preparing applications to become a Bird Town.

Appalachian Audubon and the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania have been important partners to fuel this amazing expansion of municipalities interested in the Bird Town program. Heidi Shiver, President of Bird Town Pennsylvania, has made multiple visits and meetings with Zach Richard, President, and Marla Miller, Board member, of the Appalachian Audubon as part of the collaboration with the chapter to expand the program. As a result, three new Bird Towns have been established, three others are applying, and there are more than twelve additional municipalities identified as potential Bird Towns in the Appalachian Audubon chapter territory! Congratulations to Mechanicsburg Borough, South Middleton Township and Upper Allen Township in becoming new Bird Towns!

The collaboration with the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania through Jim Bonner, Executive Director, and Nick Stahlman, Wildlife Habitat Educator, has resulted in the explosive growth of new Bird Towns in the southwest portion of the state. New Bird Towns have been established in Allegheny County including the municipalities in Avalon Borough, Bellvue Borough, Dormont Borough, Fox Chapel Borough, Millvale Borough, and Swissvale Borough. There are seventeen additional municipalities currently working on Bird Town applications and they are expected to be successful through the mentorship with ASWP.

Juniata Valley, Lycoming, and Seven Mountains Audubon Societies have been in contact to explore the establishment of new Bird Towns in municipalities within their chapter territories including State College Borough nearing completion of their application!

We're excited about our program expanding across the state and thank you to all the Audubon Chapter leaders for their support and all the Bird Town Leaders for the excellent work that they're doing across their communities! 

Pennsylvania Audubon Council

ELECTION UPDATE!

Special thanks to all twenty Pennsylvania Audubon Chapters for their participation in the election of the officers and chapter representatives who serve on the Executive Committee of the Council. The election was for the official vote Council leadership for one-year terms from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. Congratulations to our slate of officers and Executive Committee Members.

Officers:

President: Leigh Altadonna, Wyncote Audubon Society

Vice President: Paul Burroughs, Presque Isle Audubon Society

Secretary: John Carter, Conococheague Audubon Society

Treasurer: Jim Bonner, Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania

Executive Committee Members

Laura Jackson, Juniata Valley Audubon Society

Susan Murawski, Presque Isle Audubon Society

Peter Saenger, Lehigh Valley Audubon Society

Jeff Stratford, Greater Wyoming Valley Audubon Society

Bird Town Pennsylvania Liaison

Heidi Shiver, President, Bird Town Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Audubon Council

OUR WEBSITE IS ON THE MOVE!

The Pennsylvania Audubon Council Website was created maintained by Marsha Pearson, Principal of “Market Your Socks Off.” The site has served us well since the Council initiated the steps to reincorporated in 2021. We are on the move as Marsha is beginning a well-deserved retirement. We anticipate that the “look and feel” of the site will remain the same but we are using this transition to consider the addition of new features and serviceability for our chapters. A small committee that includes Leigh Altadonna, Sue Murawski, and Heidi Shiver is managing the transition. We welcome any suggestions from chapter leaders for our website. Please send any thoughts to paauduboncouncil@gmail.com

Share Your Chapter Posts on the Council Facebook Page!

The Pennsylvania Audubon Council Facebook Page is up and running as a public Facebook group. It has been established as a means for our Pennsylvania Audubon Chapters to share posts that spotlight special projects, events, and other significant activities. The goal is to demonstrate the contributions that our chapter network makes to benefit the conservation and protection of birds and the environment. It is a public Facebook group intended as a vehicle to highlight our important work in communities throughout the Commonwealth.

The Council continues to invite to any representative designated by a chapter with authority and access and post items to the Council Facebook. Please continue to alert us with contact information for any specific individuals you would like to have your authority to post to the Council Facebook! Let us know  at: paauduboncouncil@gmaii.com.

We Need Your Updated Chapter Contacts!

Many chapters have their elections for officers and directors on a fiscal year schedule. Please share your updated list. We also welcome requests for chapters for any names and contacts to be added to the DRUMMER mailing list. Similarly, contact us if individuals whose names are on the current 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. We simply need you to include the name and preferred email address for each person listed. Please send your most current and updated list to: paaudubncouncil@gmail.com.