July-August 2005 Delaware Audubon Society Newsletter

8/9/2019 July-August 2005 Delaware Audubon Society Newsletter

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Books of Interest ......................8

From the Conservation Chair ....6

Highlights 2004-2005 ..............4

Letter From the President ..........2

More than Just Birds..................5

News & Views ......................5, 7

Officers & Committees..............2

Site Seeing................................5

What You Can Do ....................3

Vol. XXV1I No.5July-August 2005

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPERc

DELAWARE AUDUBON SOCIETY, INC.

A State-wide Chapter of National Audubon

D e l a w a r eA u d u b o n JournalGOVERNORS TRIBUTE TO GRACE

PRESERVING OUR NATURAL STATE

It was a perfect day tocelebrate and recognize thelifelong dedication andaccomplishments of GraceBubbles Pierce-Beck inprotecting Delawares preciousenvironment.The spring sun wasshining brightly in a cloudless

blue sky and the air was freshand cool.Governor Minner paidtribute to the diminutive womanwho has been a powerhouse atthe center of every majorenvironmental issue facing thisstate over the past 30years. Former Governor RussPeterson spoke fondly of hisfriend and colleague and

recounted Graces contributions at the national level as well.Former DNREC Secretary Nick DiPasquale praised Grace for being an inspiration

to several members of Delaware Audubon,such as incoming President Mark Martell,and countless others who witnessed Grace in action.Ann Rydgren presented Gracewith a special Delaware Audubon designation by declaring her to be theorganizations Environmental Advocate, Forever.Til Purnell joked about how peopleused to refer to her and Grace as the Mutt and Jeff of the environmentalmovement as they lobbied elected officials at Legislative Hall in Dover.

In addition to several members (and generations) of Graces family, others inattendance included current DNREC Secretary John Hughes,who served as theunofficial MC for this informal gathering,Deputy Secretary David Small, long-timeenvironmental activists June MacArtor, John Flaherty, and Lorraine Fleming,as well asJune Peterson,Skip Purnell,and Molly Murray.

Grace continues her convalescence at Capitol Healthcare Services in Dover.NickDiPasquale provides periodic updates to her and

solicits her views and advice on currentenvironmental issues.When briefing her recentlyon the decision by the Coastal Zone IndustrialControl Board to uphold DNRECs denial of thestatus decision request on the BP LNG ImportFacility,Grace commented,They tried that backin the 1970s and got shot down.Youd think theydknow by now.

IN THIS ISSUE

Gathered around Grace Pierce-Beck are from left to

right: Lorraine Fleming; former Governor, Russell

Peterson; Secretary of DNREC, John Hughes;

Governor, Ruth Ann Minner; John Flaherty, Common

Cause; DASConservation Chair, Nicholas

DiPasquale; Til Purnell, Ann Rydgren, June MacArtor.

The H.B. du Pont Middle SchoolHonor Band performs the PipingPlover Suite. See story on page 3.


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1Delaware Audubon Society

Officers & Committees

2005-2006If there are any issues that you think Audubon shouldaddress that you feel strongly about, please writeIssues, P.O. Box 1713, Wilmington, DE 19899, or callthe office at 302-428-3959. Chairpersons can alwaysbe reached through the office answering machine,302-428-3959.

Honorary Chairman of the Board

......................... ...............Russell W. Peterson

President........................................Mark MartellVice President ......................Fred BreukelmanSecretary ........................ ................Ellen WrightTreasurer ........................... .................John Knox

Conservation Committees:Chairman & Environmental Advocate

..............................................Nick DiPasqualeEnvironmental Advocate

..........................................Grace Pierce-BeckDredging ............................ ............Leslie Savage

Nest Box Projects .......................... ..Peggy JahnArmchair Activists .......................... ..........OpenAdopt-a-Wetland

........................... .....Peggy Jahn,Kathy TidballImportant Bird Area Program

....................................................Ann Rydgren

Programs Committee ......................... .....OpenPublicity CommitteeInternet:..................................Fred Breukelmandasmail@delawareaudubon.orgMembership................................................Open

Records ............................ ............Dave BrannanEducation Committee ................Kathy TidballSocial CommitteeAnnual Dinner ......................Nancy FramptonField Trips Committee ....................Peggy JahnPublications Committee ............Ann Rydgren

Finance Committee ....................Mark MartellFundraising:Grants ......................Mark MartellFundraising:Bird Seed Sale

.......................... ........Tom and Tabitha ShueyFundraising: Birdathon

..................Maud Dayton and Ruth Holden

Fundraising: Silent Auction..............John KnoxFundraising:Wildlife Sanctuary ..............OpenFundraising:Piping Plover Suite ....Ann Rydgren

Directors for service until 2006:Dorothy MillerDirectors for service until 2007

John Knox Tom ShueyFred BreukelmanDirectors for service until 2008Nicholas DiPasquale Peggy JahnLeslie Savage

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w WEB SITE

http://www.delawareaudubon.org

w MAILING ADDRESS:

Delaware Audubon Society

P.O. Box 1713

Wilmington, DE 19899

w TELEPHONE:

302-428-3959

w DELAWARE AUDUBON SOCIETY E-MAIL:

[email protected]

We can receive contributions

through your United Way payroll

deduction designation. Our

United Way designation number

is 9017.

VISIT DELAWARE AUDUBON'S WEBSITE

http://www.delawareaudubon.org.

Sample educational, informative articles and features. Order books and other goodiesfrom the Marketplace. Search the archive of past articles. Visit our photo gallery.

Survey legislative updates and Action Alerts. Email policy makers.

The Audubon Journal is

published bi-monthly by the

Delaware Audubon Society.

Original articles may be

reprinted without permission.

Please give credit to the Delaware Audubon

Journal and the author.

Co-editor: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ann Rydgren

Co-editor and Contributing Writer:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mary Leah Christmas

Assistant Editor: . . . . . . . . . . . Barbara Roewe

Design & Layout : . . . . . . . . . .Maryellen F. Birk

Printing: . . . . . . . . .Sprint Quality Printing, Inc.

Delaware Audubon Society, incorporated in

1977, is a statewide chapter of the National

Audubon Society.

My name is Mark Martell and I am greatly honored tohave been chosen as the next President of the DelawareAudubon Society. I have served as the Treasurer on andoff since the mid 1980s, and have run the AnnualBirdseed Sale over that length of time. I came to theorganization as a result of my life-long love of Delawaresenvironment. I grew up just outside the city of New

Castle and can still remember the hot summer sunrisesover the Delaware River across from Battery Park where I often went to crabafter delivering the Morning News.

Fellow Board member and childhood friend John Knox and I would often huntfor toads and frogs,marveling at their abilities to snag the flies out of mid-airwhen we fed them in our window wells.We would hunt for box turtles, forpainters, for the elusive snapper.We would collect yellow jackets, bumblebees,wasps and praying mantises. It is often through misguided play and adventurethat a bond develops not just between young men, but between young menand the environment.One learns to care for the environment the more one isactive in it. Some of my fondest memories as a young man in New Castle have

to deal with discovery of those creatures that tried to co-exist in encroachingyoung developments to the tidal marsh The giant snapper we botheredthat crunched a broom handle in half.The time while I was delivering papersthat I literally crashed my ten speed bike into a raccoon that was merelyforaging through garbage cans looking for a quick meal.The time we captureda misshapen toad that had additional limbs.The time my dog had a run in witha skunk that took a few days to live through.

I relate these stories in that it is these memorable incidents and accidents thatframe us as young men and future environmentalists.Having two young boysnow, I am often frustrated with their innate ability to whole-heartedly ignoretheir local environment, to focus on the immediate gratification of a Game

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

President continued on page 8


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ATTENTION DELAWARE TEACHERS

Subscriptions to receive a free Audubon Adventures kit are stillbeing accepted.Elementary teachers of Grades 3-6 are invitedto renew their subscriptions for this years edition of thepopular environmental science newspapers.The kit includes 4sets of 32 newspapers each devoted to a specific topic.Thenewspapers are written on a 5th-grade level and include aresource-rich teachers guide.The following comments aboutlast years newspapers are from Delaware teachers:

Great newspaper! Valuable to the children and great for state standards. Fits well into the

curriculum, especially habitat studies.

Karen Autman,Hartly Elementary,Capital School District

These newspapers are great! I used them to create a science learning center in my 5thgrade. The kids loved reading them and doing the activities.

Linda Tonge, Showell Elementary,Indian River School District

Excellent non-fiction for applying non-fiction reading strategies.

Cheryl Mattern,Pulaski Elementary,Christina School District

The issue, Its Only Water, went well with our Land and Water Science kit. In fact, I

could tie them into all our science kits.

Edith Mahoney,Anna P.Mote Elementary,Red Clay School District

If you would like to renew your subscription to receive the 2005-2006 Audubon

Adventures program free of charge, our chapter will be delighted to sponsor you.Theonly thing we ask of you is the completion of an evaluation form to provide us withfeedback on this years program.Renewal forms and evaluations are being mailed in Mayto be turned in by August 31. For your convenience, you can fill in the evaluation andrenewal form on line! Just go to our website,, click onAudubon Adventures,then click on evaluation form and renewal form.

What You Can Do: Please share this information with new teachers in yourbuilding.Subscriptions will be filled as long as funding is available. Dont get left outcomplete the forms by August 31.

Preserve Our Natural State

W H A T Y O U C A N D O . . .

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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Nick DiPasquale needs a few more people to work on theConservation Committee. Please help!

Wildflower enthusiast for special area in Dover.

Fun loving, creative person needed to recruit and integrate new members.

Need someone with a Type A personality and marketing experience willing tohelp the environment in Delaware through member recruitment, targetedmarketing and advertising for our annual birdseed sale, general membersolicitation, and expanding our annual appeal.

What You Can Do: Call 302-428-3959 and leave a messageif you are interested in helping.

H. B. DU PONT BANDPERFORMS SONG ABOUTENDANGERED B IRD

The H.B. du Pont Middle SchoolHonor Band performed the PipingPlover Suite, a piece that incorporatesthe song of the endangered bird, attheir Spring Concert at DickinsonHigh School.

Band Director Pam Letts said her75-member band learned the piece inabout two months.They really

enjoyed learning it even though theydidnt have much time, she said.

Letts said pieces that incorporatemore than one subject are becomingmore common for composers ofeducational music.We also have apiece on the Curse of Tutankhamenthat ties into the sixth-grade socialstudies course.

Flute player Catherine Horstman,aneighth grader, said learning the PipingPlover Suite was a neat experience.

Its a really neat piece, she said.Itsdifferent than the other songs(performed by the band).

Classmate Shefali Kapadia, who playssaxophone, agreed.

The bird has a cool song, and thesong really sounds like the bird, shesaid.

The Piping Plover Suite and TeacherResource Packet can be downloadedFREE from the Delaware Audubonweb site,.

Excerpts from an article in Hockessin

Community News by Staff ReporterJesse Chadderdon


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Hig

hligh

ts

HIGHLIGHTS OF ACTIVITIES 2004-2005

Delaware Audubon Society is a statewide, volunteer organizationof over 1,500 members.

The mission of Delaware Audubon Society is to promote anappreciation and understanding of nature; to preserve andprotect our natural environment; and to affirm the necessity for

clean air and water and the stewardship of our natural resources.

All of our activities depend on the devotion of our members toconserving and preserving the health of our environment.

Our Audubon Adventures program was used by approximately3,300 students in 130 classrooms of 46 schools in 14 of 15school districts.This program provides curriculum enhancementmaterials to teach students about wildlife and their habitats andthe importance of conservation.

Auduboners participated in the Christmas Bird Count, Great

Backyard Bird Count, Spring Round-up, the White Clay CreekClean-up,Coast Day, Christina River Clean-up (White ClayCreek),Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research Open House, MiltonHorseshoe Crab Festival and picked up at our Adopt-a-Highwaylocation.

We presented or participated in a number of workshops, pressconferences, presentations to groups, and conferences all overthe state.Topics included Motiva Scrubbers, Sunoco,Metachemtask force, biodiversity, land use, birding, horseshoe crabs andshorebirds,and environmental regulations.

We testified and participated in public hearings in support of the

environment on various issues, such as water conservation, landacquisition, and the master plan for White Clay Creek State Park.

Delaware Audubon continues monitoring of the area around theGrass Dale Center in Fort DuPont State Park, Delaware City, inorder to document the changes in flora and fauna.The U.S.ArmyCorps of Engineers and Delawares Department of NaturalResources and Environmental Control have plans to modify andrestore this degraded tidal marsh area to a wetland area ofgreater biodiversity.

The Piping Plover Suite made its world debut at Coast Day,

October 3, 2004.The piece was presented by the Cape HenlopenCommunity Band under the direction of Barry Eli.A premierperformance of the Piping Plover Suite was presented in May2005 by the H.B. du Pont Middle School Honor Band under thedirection of Pam Letts. The H. B. du Pont Honor Band is the firstmiddle school band to perform this piece of music.The PipingPlover Suite has been downloaded from our website by peoplearound the world.

Commissioned by the Delaware Audubon Society, sponsored bythe Brandywiners, Ltd., Delaware State Parks,The DelawareCoastal Programs, Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife Natural

Heritage and Endangered Species Program,and Maryellen F. Birk Graphic DesignServices, and composed by Scott Roewe,this symphonic work is intended tostimulate an emotional response andestablish sensitivity to the preservation of

beach ecology in Delaware.Approximately1,100 audience members attended theseperformances.

Delaware Audubon was represented on thefollowing regional and statewide boards andcommittees: Greenwatch Institute Kent County Conservancy Center for the Inland Bays Capital

Campaign Advisory Committee Delaware City Eco-Tourism Project

Advisory Committee Bi-State Advisory Council forWhite Clay Creek Preserve

Coalition Opposed to Deepeningthe Delaware River

Water Resources AgencyCitizens Committee

Governors Water SupplyCoordinating Council

Coalition for Natural Stream Valleys Save Our Wetlands and Bays Delaware Partners in Flight Delaware Important Bird Area

Committee Christina Conservancy Christina River Clean-up Committee Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife

Refuge Advisory Committee White Clay Creek Watershed Wild and

Scenic River Management Committee Pea Patch Island

Special Area Management Plan Environmental sub-committee for the

Slaughter Beach Planning Committee

Delaware Audubon continues to operatetwo exceptionally successful nest boxprojects to re-establish the historical rangeof the Purple Martin and the EasternBluebird in New Castle County.

We offered field trips and environmentaleducation for members, elected officials, andthe general public.

Delaware Audubon maintains a web page at.


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SITE SEEING

This column suggests Internetwebsites that may be of interest toreaders. Call us at 302-428-3959 orsend the address to us at:,if you have a favorite site that you

think will interest others.

An estimated 85% of the RustyBlackbirds global population breedswithin the boreal forest of Canadaand Alaska and it is one of thefastest declining songbirds in NorthAmerica!

Learn about boreal birds at

MORE THAN JUST BIRDS ...

W. Barksdale Maynard

A BACKYARD WHIP-POOR-WILL

As birds fly north in spring, suburban yards provide oases for weary migrants. In ourlittle yard in a Brandywine Hundred development, former owners allowed theshrubs to grow big, for which I am grateful.Birds need cover and shun themanicured lawns of our neighbors. Last spring, the cover behind our house harboreda migrating Fox Sparrow, Parula and other warblers, and, to my completeastonishment, a Whip-poor-will that sang loudly two nights in a row.

Cover has another advantage: it can disguise leaf and compost piles that critters likeand that can absorb much of the homeowners annual yard waste.As our Delawarelandfills near overflowing, there has been much talk of banning yard wastewhichaccounts for some 15 percent of municipal solid waste in the state.And yet virtuallynone of my neighbors has a leaf-pile or compost heap in his or her miraculously tidyyard. I am all for tidiness, but every lot should have its back corners reserved forcover and mulching.

How to create backyard cover? One national environmental organization will helpfor a $15 processing fee.You can take an online course, buy their books and videos,or purchase a habitat kit for $150.Theyll even send you a handsome, personalizedCertificate of Achievement suitable for framing. But all this seems complex. Juststart by planting shrubs (especially ones with berries birds like), allow them to growbig and denseand then hope for a Whip-poor-will.

CONSERVATIONISTS

WORLDWIDE CELEBRATEREDISCOVERY OF IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER

April 28,2005 Little Rock,AR.Theconfirmed sightings of an Ivory-billedWoodpecker on an Audubondesignated Important Bird Area whichencompasses the Cache-Lower WhiteRivers National Wildlife Refuges is likefinding the Holy Grail ofOrnithology, said Ken Smith,Directorof Audubon Arkansas. Frank Gill, of the

U.S.National Audubon Society,added:This is huge, just huge. It is kind oflike finding Elvis.

INTRODUCTORY MEMBERSHIP OFFERFor $20.00 Receive Membership to

National Audubon Society and Delaware Audubon SocietyJoin NOW and receive a FREE navy blue backpack!

Name________________________________________________________________

Address ______________________________________________________________

City _________________________________ State ___________ Zip ___________

Phone ( ) __________________________________________________

Referred By__________________________Date ____________________________

Please make a l l checks payable to : National Audubon SocietySend this application and your check to:

Delaware Audubon Society

P.O. Box 1713, Wilmington, DE 198997XCH

D90

JOIN DELAWARE AUDUBON NOW!

Discovery continued on page 7

News & Views


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FROM THE CONSERVATION CHAIR

Nick DiPasquale

In a victory forDelawares CoastalZone Act,BP decided

recently not to pursue any furtherchallenge of the states denial of its statusdecision request for locating a pier anddocking operation to support theproposed Crown Landing LNG ImportFacility in Logan Township,New Jersey.Unfortunately, this does not end the

controversy.BP is evaluating a variety ofother options,including moving the pierand docking system landward,thusremoving it from Delaware waters andstate jurisdiction.

While Delaware Audubon supports theincreased use of natural gas over traditionalfossil fuels,such as coal and oil,we believethat clear criteria should be established forthe siting of these facilities away frompopulation centers and sensitive ecologicalareas.There are presently over 50

proposals for the siting of LNG importfacility in North America.Even the mostextreme demand scenarios would requirethe siting of only six to twelve of theseoperations.The federal government hasfailed to take any responsibility fordeveloping rational siting criteria.Instead,Congress has proposed the use of a federaloverride of state authority in pendingenergy legislation.

Delaware Audubon has also been active on

a number of other state issues.DelawareAudubon and the Delaware Nature Societysent a joint letter to Governor MinnersPolicy Advisor for Natural Resources,LeeAnn Walling,which articulates what webelieve to be the essential elements of aCurbside Recycling program.Thedevelopment of this set of essentialelements was guided by a desire tominimize cost increases to the generalpublic, to end the windfall to wholesalers(beverage distributors) who are allowed to

retain unclaimed bottle deposits(estimated to be as high as $5 million peryear),to rationalize and make moreefficient the collection of residential wastethrough the creation of trash districts,andthe use of economic incentives sohousehold will benefit economically fromgreater recycling through a pay as youthrow pricing system.The essentialelements are posted on our website.

We are also participating in thedevelopment of the stateComprehensive Wildlife

Conservation Strategy (CWCS).TheStrategy is a requirement enacted byCongress that states must meet to beeligible to receive State Wildlife Grantsfrom the U.S.Fish & Wildlife Service(USFWS).The Strategy must be submittedto a review committee by October of thisyear.The CWCS must identify and focuson species in greatest need of

conservation, while at the same timeaddress the full array of wildlife andwildlife-related issues.Conservationactions identified in the CWCS will striveto keep common species common andprevent species from becomingendangered.Please visit the state websiteat the following address and share yourcomments and suggestions.

Delaware Audubon is one of severalpartners working with Main StreetDelaware City, Inc.on the development ofan Eco-Tourism Program. ACommunity Environmental Project grantfor $112,000 was recommended by theCommunity Involvement AdvisoryCommittee and awarded by DNREC tosupport the program.Delaware Cityrecognizes the economic value andecological importance of the Pea PatchIsland Heronry,Dragon Run and Dragon

Run Marsh,Grass Dale Wetland,and theThousand Acre Marsh to the sustainabledevelopment of the community. In additionto conducting an ecological assessment ofthe area and identifying restorationpriorities,an advisory committee made upof the programs partners will design hikingand biking trail systems, interpretiveprograms,outdoor programming activities,such as kayaking and nature education andother passive recreation programs.Thisproject will position Delaware City to serveas the trailhead for access to the C&DRecreation Area being promoted byCongressman Castle.

Finally,Delaware Audubon and the NaturalResources Defense Council (NRDC) arecurrently reviewing the results of studiesidentified by a court appointed expert todetermine the impact of non-complying

water discharges by the Delaware CityRefinery on the health of the DelawareRiver. In 1988,NRDC and DelawareAudubon filed an action against the refineryin federal court under the Clean Water Actfor on-going violations of its NPDES (waterdischarge) permit.The Court found thatnumerous violations had occurred between1983 and 1991 and that the Refinery hadfailed to make any attempt to determinethe impact of the permit violations on theriver by conducting required monitoring

studies.NRDC and Delaware Audubonconsidered a monitoring plan developed bythe Refinery in 1993 inadequate.Theindependent expert appointed by theCourt outlined an appropriate series ofstudies to evaluate the impacts.The studieswere performed and the results compiled.We are now assessing our next course ofaction.

I welcome and appreciate your support and

active participation in these issues.

News & Views


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All of us who share this planet owe an enormous debt of gratitude tothe individuals and organizations,especially the Cornell Lab ofOrnithology and the Nature Conservancy, whose tireless efforts led tothe rediscovery of this bird, said John Flicker, president of the NationalAudubon Society.Thanks to their dedication, we all have a secondchance to save this magnificent woodpecker from extinction.As itinspires our hopes, this resilient Ivory-billed Woodpecker must alsoinspire our commitment to protect the habitat it needs for survival.

National Audubon Society, BirdLife International, and otherconservationists around the globe joined in celebration at theannouncement that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker has been found ineastern Arkansas.The last accepted sightings of an Ivory-billedWoodpecker were in Cuba in 1987 and 1988, and the last fullydocumented United States sighting occurred in Louisiana in 1944.While there have been a number of reports of possible Ivory-billedWoodpecker sightings since then, none have been confirmed.

A large, approximately 20-inch bird, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker isdependent on old-growth forests of very large trees, such as cypress,for its habitat. Destruction and fragmentation of virgin bottomland

forests throughout the southern United States, including floodplainforests along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, led to its declineand eventually to its believed extinction.

The discovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker will make this site anImportant Bird Area of global significance, said Flicker. Launched in1981 by BirdLife International, the Important Bird Areas (IBA) programis a global effort to identify and protect critical bird habitat.Audubonfosters the protection of more than 1,800 IBAs coast to coast byengaging individuals, communities, organizations, and agencies in thestewardship, restoration, and conservation of Important Bird Areas.

We must work to protect other remaining tracts of maturecontiguous forest, and the IBA program is an important tool in thisendeavor.Audubon pledges to work with state, local, and federalagencies and other conservation organizations involved with this effortto protect this bird and its habitat, Flicker continued.

Audubon and BirdLife International are urging members of the publicto ensure the safety of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker by respecting itsprivacy. Stress from human disturbance poses a threat to its survival.

More information from Audubon Arkansas

GLOBALLY S IGNIFICANT DISCOVERYOFFERS SECOND CHANCE TO PROTECTAMERICAS LARGEST WOODPECKER

With a distinctive white bill and a dramatic crest,the large woodpecker was thought to be globallyextinct with the last documented sighting in Cubain 1987.

Gene Sparling,of Hot Springs,Arkansas,made thediscovery on February 11, 2004, while kayaking in areserve in Big Woods. He saw an unusually largered-crested woodpecker fly towards him and landon a nearby tree. He said the creature did not lookquite like anything he had seen before, so hecontacted Cornell Universitys Living Bird

magazine.After a team of experts interviewed him,they felt they might be onto something special.

John Fitzpatrick, of Cornell University, headed thesearch party,which included Tim Gallagher, editorof Living Bird.Within a month,Dr. Gallagher hadseen the ivory-billed woodpecker for himself.Theteam finally went on to capture the bird on video,which allowed them to confirm its identity.

An American legend, sometimes called the LordGod bird because it is so spectacular peopleexclaim,Lord God! when they see it, the IvoryBill disappeared when the big bottomland forests ofNorth America were logged, and relentlesssearches have produced only false alarms.

AUDUBONS CACHE-LOWER WHITER IVERS IMPORTANT BIRD AREA ISHOME TO IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER

The Cache-Lower White Rivers Important BirdArea is described as a large contiguous stand ofbottomland hardwood forest that makes it one ofthe few prime locations in the Mississippi Alluvial

Valley capable of supporting populations of allforest breeding birds within breeding range.

Finding the Ivory-billed Woodpecker on anImportant Bird Area reinforces the urgency forconservation of such sites.While Important BirdAreas vary greatly in terms of land ownership,habitat type and bird usage, they all are critical forthe survival of birds significant not only to Arkansasbut, as we now know, to the world. said Dr. DanielScheiman, Director of Bird Conservation forAudubon Arkansas.

Discovery continued from page 5

News & Views


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BOOKSOF INTEREST

The Grail Birdby Tim Gallagher of theCornell Lab of Ornithology, 288 pages,Houghton Mifflin, 2005,goes behindrecent headlines to tell the story ofTim Gallaghers pursuit and discoveryof the bird.

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker . . . ghostbird of the swamp.Big, beautiful, iconic,and mysterious, the bird is a symbol ofeverything that has gone wrong withour relationship to the environment.First plundered by nineteenth-centurycollectors and then a victim of massivehabitat destruction, the bird has been

sought for decades by those trying todetermine whether the remarkablespecies still exists.Their findings havebeen met with ridicule and scorn; sincethe early twentieth century,most ofthe scientific world has believed thatthe Ivory-billed Woodpecker is extinct.

But when author Tim Gallagher set outto write The Grail Bird, he mounted hisown quest for the elusive bird anddiscovered the amazing truth:The Ivory-billed Woodpecker lives!

Boy, a PSP (Play Station Portable),theGame Cube, Cartoon Network,etc.Asparents, it is difficult to pass along toour children our love of theenvironment simply through outdoorplay and adventure.Clusteredcommunities and safeguarded children

have resulted in a generation of kidsthat are the most-watched children inmodern history.To think that at the ageof 11 a buddy of mine and I walked toBrandywine Creek from New Castleand camped on our own for a weekendwith no parental supervision (yetcomplete parental backing). If I evensuggest such a course of action for my12 and 10 year old sons today, my wifewould have me drawn and quartered.Child Services would be breathing

down my neck before the weekend wasout.The summers were our own to dowith as we pleased then, not to beplaced in Summer Camps and baby-satmost of the business day. It is thisgeneration that will bring the nextgroup of environmentalists.

So my tenure here will be marked byattempts to reach out to thegeneration(s) behind me.To somehowget them to understand the need forpersonal involvement.To motivate them

to take time to understand their localenvironment and the encroaching growthand commercial development underway.To show them how easy it is toparticipate in the public process ofholding government officials andcorporations to account forenvironmental actions.The only way toachieve this,in my estimation, is to focusand target our message to the youth ofthe State.While we currently provide ourwonderful youth program AudubonAdventures to middle-school agedchildren through the schools as a freeeducational tool, I personally feel that it isthe older kids, the graduating classes fromhigh school and local colleges, that needto be targeted.How we achieve this is achallenge, but a necessary one if

Delaware Audubon is to remain a viableforce in the environmental community ofthis State.

My future messages here will be tooutline actions taken in this regard, and tosuggest personal steps each and everyone of us can take in helping to protectthe environment. I further hope to bringsome commentary from those operatingin the environmental community from allsides of the environmental equation.

President continued from page 2

Documents

July-August 2005 Delaware Audubon Society Newsletter