SPECIAL PENNSYLVANIA AUDUBON COUNCIL WEBINAR
“Guidelines for Municipalities: Developing Bird Friendly and Environmentally Responsible Utility Scale Solar”
7:00 PM, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6,2022
We encourage representatives from each of our Pennsylvania Audubon chapters to register and participate in this upcoming webinar scheduled for 7:00 PM on Tuesday, December 6, 2022. Our chapter colleagues who serve on our Renewable Energy Committee will present the webinar. The webinar will be presented via ZOOM by Tom Kuel, Allegheny Plateau Audubon Society, Laura Jackson, Juniata Valley Audubon Society, Susan Murawski, Presque Isle Audubon, and Judy Stepenaskie, Wyncote Audubon Society. These individuals formed the Renewable Energy Committee and have been at work for over two years, to focus on the guidelines for responsibly sited solar and wind projects.
This webinar will feature the “White Paper” they have written based on the groups extensive research. This webinar is very timely, as there will be important initiatives and funding to support the development of solar installations across the Commonwealth and the nation. There will be a critical need for fossil free energy production that is responsibly sited and operated! This webinar on December 6th is intended especially for our Pennsylvania Audubon Chapters as our chapter network constitutes the “eyes and ears’ for developments in our “Home Rule” Commonwealth.
The Pennsylvania Audubon Council Renewable Energy Committee aims to provide information to Pennsylvania Audubon Chapters and others on: a) proper siting criteria for renewable energy projects to ensure that critical bird areas, migration routes and important wildlife habitats are protected, and b) methods to minimize and mitigate the impact of renewable energy projects on birds and other wildlife.
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PENNSYLVANIA AUDUBON COUNCIL MEETING
7:00 PM, TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2023
A Review of Our Draft Pennsylvania Audubon Council
Education and Outreach Statements of Our Priority Conservation Issues
Begin the New Year as we look ahead to the 118th Congress and the new Legislative Session in the General Assembly. January 2023 is the start of the two-year sessions in both Washington D.C. and Harrisburg. Our year long work through 2022 will culminate in the consideration of multiple “Education and Outreach Statements” based on the high priority conservation issues identified by our chapters. The development of the “Education and Outreach Statements” is continuing through the fall and will be presented for the review and input from our chapters. We continue to work with individuals to help develop these draft statements. The goal of the Pennsylvania Audubon Council Executive Committee is to develop these “Education and Outreach Statements” for each priority conservation issue. The Special Council Meeting on January 3rd will provide broad opportunity for participants to provide comment and input. The Education and Outreach Statements will be revised based on the input received at the January Council Meeting, circulated to chapters and then subject to adoption by the full Council.
Please share the link below with each of your chapter Board members an committee chairs as you and they are invited to participate in this important Council Meeting.
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The Pennsylvania Audubon Council
“WALT POMEROY CONSERVATION AWARD”
IS PRESENTED TO CINDY ADAMS DUNN
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Pictured above from the left, are John Booth, Executive Director of the Ned Smith Center, Heidi Shiver, PAAC Secretary and President of Bird Town Pennsylvania, Lin Pomeroy, Cindy Adams Dunn, and Leigh Altadonna, PAAC President. |
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The Pennsylvania Audubon Council (PAAC) “Walt Pomeroy Conservation Award” was presented to Cindy Adams Dunn, Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources (DCNR). The presentation took place on October 26, 2022, at the Rachel Carson Office Building in Harrisburg with a small audience of friends and staff. Lin Pomeroy made the presentation at the ceremony along with John Booth, Executive Director of the Ned Smith Center.
The Pennsylvania Audubon Council Executive Committee re-inaugurated its conservation award in honor of Walt Pomeroy, a great friend of Audubon. Cindy 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!
Secretary Dunn was presented with a Conservation Edition of “Deep Woods Drummer,” a Ruffed Grouse by noted artist, Ned Smith. The framed print included an engraved plate that documented the presentation of the award. Information about Walt Pomeroy, the award named in his honor, Ned Smith, and the print, was provided on the back of the framed print. The DCNR media office distributed a press release that highlighted the award presentation. The presentation of the award was covered by a number of media outlets including the Pennsylvania Environmental Digest at the link that follows: http://paenvironmentdaily.blogspot.com/2022/10/pa-audubon-council-recognizes-dcnr.html
A process to seek nominations for future awardees will be developed with the chapters in coordination of the Council’s Executive Committee . The tradition has been to present the award in an informal basis with one, sometimes two, recipient in any given year. The award has been presented in simple ceremonies and was never intended to be given as apart of a fundraising event. Past recipients have included policy makers, legislators, chapter leaders, and others.
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THE HARRISBURG PREMIERE OF “WINGS OVER WATER”
TAKES PLACE AT THE WHITAKER CENTER
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A great turnout took place on the evening of Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. This evening was for the premiere of the film “Wings Over Water,” an extraordinary film that featured bird migration and the prairie pothole region of North America. The film was produced by a partnership of the National Audubon Society and Ducks Unlimited. “Wings Over Water” featured Marshall Johnson, the Chief Conservation Officer of the National Audubon Society. Michael Walsh, Deputy Director at DCNR had been at the premier at the Carnegie in Pittsburgh earlier this year and became the spark to bring it to Harrisburg. One of the key goals in bringing “Wings Over Water” to the Whitaker Center is to make it available for school groups to experience, at no cost, over the coming year.
Key sponsors that lined up to bring the film to the Whitaker Center included the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, The Pennsylvania Game Commission, and the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art. Also sponsoring the film is the Appalachian Audubon Society! The spokesperson for the Whitaker Center used the premier to announce that they had signed on as the newest participant in “Lights Out Harrisburg” that is coordinated by Appalachian Audubon!
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THE VALLEY FORGE AUDUBON SOCIETY
ADOPTS BIRD TOWN AS A MAJOR INITIATIVE
The Valley Forge Audubon Society (VFAS) Program and Advocacy Committees seek to create a webinar about Bird Town and invite all VFAS municipal contacts (Municipal Boards, Environmental Advisory Councils, Parks & Recreation groups, etc.) to encourage their communities to apply and become designated as Bird Towns. The ideal content, as the Program Committee sees it, would be a mix of whatever kind of presentation Bird Town PA might already have to lend, or co-host with VFAS, with Advocacy Committee members hosting, leading, providing examples, answering questions, etc. Members of the VFAS Advocacy Committee have been instrumental in their municipalities becoming Bird Towns with two of their members serving on the Bird Town Pennsylvania Board.
Heidi Shiver, President of Bird Town Pennsylvania and Secretary of the Pennsylvania Audubon Council will assist VFAS in this initiative. Note that Bird Town Pennsylvania is an LLC under the corporate umbrella of the Pennsylvania Audubon Council. Tremendous potential exists for Audubon chapters to promote and work to establish Bird Towns. The Bird Town program is a means for chapters to partner and extend their reach into municipalities in the chapter territory. Tiadaughton Audubon Society was the lead in establishing the Bird Town in Wellsboro, Tioga County. Earlier this month, the Appalachian Audubon Society Board hosted a presentation about Bird Town and are exploring the prospect of adopting it as a program of their Bird Friendly Communities Committee. Any Pennsylvania Audubon chapter that would like to consider a Bird Town Pennsylvania presentation to their Board can contact Heidi Shiver at pabirdtown@gmail.com.
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On Thursday, November 10th Bird Town PA officially welcomed Nether Providence Township as the 36th designated Bird Town in Pennsylvania. The ceremony occurred at the regular meeting of the Township Commissioners, with the official presentation made by Bird Town PA Director Heidi Shiver. VFAS Advocacy Committee and Bird Town Board members Phil Witmer and Janet Krevenas also attended. Also in attendance were two members of Nether Providence Township’s new Bird Town committee as well as Krikor Panossian, who serves on the Township EAC, and Ralf Graves, a member of the Parks Commission and co-chair of the VFAS Advocacy Committee. |
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REPORT OF THE AUDUBON COUNCIL OF NEW YORK STATE FALL MEETING
The fall meeting of the Audubon Council of New York State took place in Rochester New York over the weekend of October 21st to 23rd. This was an “in-person” meeting that once again featured the model of cooperation between the National Audubon staff of the Audubon New York/Connecticut Regional Office, the Audubon Council of New York State, and the representatives of Audubon Chapters in Connecticut and New York. This model of cooperation is one I wish could be duplicated here with the Pennsylvania Audubon Council and our chapter network!
We heard presentations from Jill Deppe, Senior Director of Audubon’s Migratory Bird Initiative and David Raper, Audubon’s Strategic Planning Project Director. We also had the opportunity to interact with our newly appointed “Atlantic Flyway North Representative,” to the National Audubon Board, Shelly Cihan from the Northern New York Audubon chapter. Erin McGrath, Senior Policy Manager for Audubon New York, reported on an important victory for wetlands protection in New York State. She noted that the cooperation of the chapters, Council, and Regional Office. Were critical to this success. We also learned from Erin about a transition to managing the Council’s “Policy and Position Statements” on a two-year model in conjunction with the two-year legislative sessions.
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Pictured Above: Allegheny College Bird Club Representatives with Leigh Altadonna on a field trip to Braddock Bay Wildlife Management Area |
Another feature of the Fall Council Meeting was the participation of four representatives of the Allegheny College Bird Club of Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. Joshua Heiser, Dan Gonzalez, Ella Lunney, and Sofia Maass were active participants in the Council sessions. They noted interest in heading back to campus to connect with the Presque Isle Audubon Society and look to initiate a program to mitigate bird collisions with reflective surfaces/windows on campus and to explore participation in Audubon's Climate Watch in the upcoming winter cycle of that program.
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WE NEED YOUR UPDATED CHAPTER CONTACTS!
The Pennsylvania Audubon Council needs your most recent and updated contacts to add to our DRUMMER recipient list. Many chapters are working on or have submitted your “annual reports” to the National Audubon Society. PLEASE SEND A COPY OF THE LIST OF CHAPTER LEADERS THAT YOU FILE WITH YOUR REPORT. Many chapters have their elections for officers and directors on a calendar year schedule. Please share your updated list. We welcome requests for any names and contacts from your chapter to be added to the mailing list. Send any requests to: paauduboncouncil@gmail.com
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