President’s Message

Hello fellow birders. Has this been a great migratory season or what? I hope that you have been able to get out and enjoy your favorite spot. A great big thank you to all people who have posted their sightings on our Audubon Yahoo e-mail list. If you have access to the Internet and are not a member of the list, please consider joining. It is the modern way of keeping informed of fast changing events in our environment.

Speaking of the environment, I wish that each and every one of you could have been with Vice President Fairbanks and me at the Audubon Assembly last week. To be in the company of 400 people who are all concerned about preserving our environment in general, and habitat for birds in particular, was truly inspiring. To get to meet the people from other chapters, from National Audubon and Audubon of Florida who up until now have just been names on paper was worth the trip alone. We were addressed by John Flicker, President, NAS; Stuart Strahl, President, AOF; Congresswoman Carrie P. Meek; John Ellis Bush, Governor; Bill McBride, Candidate; and many renowned scientists and leaders in the environmental movement.

This Assembly, the third after the merger of Florida Audubon Society and the National Audubon Society, centered around establishing conservation resolutions for 2003. Under the old organizational plan, prior to three years ago, there were rumblings that National Audubon Society and Audubon of Florida had lost its contact with its grass roots strength. To reestablish in everyone’s minds that Audubon is what the individual members in chapters make it, a process was set in motion three years ago where chapters propose resolutions. These resolutions determine where we will expend our energies in the coming year. You cannot get any more grass roots than that. The resolutions then go to Regional Committees for comment, improvement, and modification. When the Regional Committees and the proposing chapter agree on the final wording, the resolutions are presented and voted on at the annual Assembly. Thus, the 2003 plan for Audubon of Florida was set last week. If I counted correctly, there were 29 resolutions which came to a vote. They cover a wide range of environmental problems, all of which will effect the future of birds in our state. I feel privileged to have been a part of the process.