President's Message

President’s Message

By Tom Atkinson

Greetings. My hope is that you are getting out of doors a lot and that you are taking advantage of all the wonderful opportunities that our beautiful county affords. I can assure you that your local Audubon group is up and running full blast in this new program year. The tone was set on July 12 when a bus load of members and friends went to Maitland to see the movie, “Winged Migration.” Long-time activist Susan Bird organized this excursion.

Our appreciation and gratitude go out to all those people who take the time to post their bird sightings to the Audubon Yahoo e-mail list. Special thanks go to Bill and Shirley Hills for their detailed accounts of the warbler migration at Turkey Creek. We also want to show appreciation to Sarah Linney and Jason Frederick for recording birds seen on our many field trips.

I am happy to report that the pillar of our chapter, Mr. Carroll Holland, continues to make satisfactory progress toward rehabilitation following a mild stroke. As of this writing he is at Health South Sea Pines in Melbourne, room 117B. The IRAS board members are still picking up the pieces of the many services Carroll contributed to the welfare of our group. One example: our Education Committee that Carroll chaired is committed to a full day teacher-training program at the zoo on February 7, 2004. Other members of the committee will have to carry the load of this program. A second example: The Education Committee is committed to making introductory birding presentations to county elementary school classrooms. We are still looking for help in covering these commitments. If you would like to help make a presentation to an elementary class, give me a call.

One of the methods we use to achieve our mission (to create an environmental ethic in all of our citizens) is to have our display and brochures available at various functions throughout the county. On September 4 we had our display at the Brevard Zoo for “Teacher Open House.” Our regular display was augmented by a special display provided by Laurilee Thompson. Members participating were Laurilee, Jason Frederick, Barb Venuto, and Tom Atkinson. Reportedly there were 600 teachers in attendance. I know that there were a lot of people there because our brochures were all gone in the first hour. Our next opportunities will be at the Cracker Fest, Erna Nixon Park, Saturday, October 4 and Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival, November 12 to 16 in Titusville. If you would like to put in a couple of hours manning our display, let me know. As Susan Bird said at our September meeting, “You don’t have to be a bird expert. You just have to be there and greet people, pass out brochures, and tell people how to join Audubon.” I can tell that the program year is well underway because your Board has already met three times, July 26, August 5 and September 2. Most of the chapter’s business is running smoothly. We are, however, still looking for a membership committee chairperson. If you are interested, let me know. I would like to thank Jennifer Therrien who chaired this committee for two and a half years.

The Board is very serious about changing the name of our group from Indian River Audubon Society (IRAS) to Space Coast Audubon Society (SCAS). This is a very complicated issue and demands a lot of attention to detail. I can assure you that we are handling all of the governance procedures in an orderly fashion (such as changing the bylaws) so that all of our membership has an opportunity to participate. The Board is unanimous in supporting the change.

I would like to thank all the people who supported our activities to protect the eagle’s nest in the center part of the county. The developer of Sawgrass South, a proposed subdivision at the end of St. Andrews Boulevard and east of I95, had received permission for an “incidental take” concerning an eagle’s nest on the proposed development site. The Fish and Wildlife Service that issued the biological opinion that included the “incidental take” based their opinion on the fact that the bald eagle population in Florida as a whole is increasing. Therefore, if this particular nest were disturbed, it would not have a detrimental effect on the species in Florida. IRAS and a large group of other environmentally minded friends took exception to this opinion and staged a “gathering” at the eagle nest. We were adamant about protecting bald eagle nests in Brevard County. Through the efforts of Jason Frederick, we had a television reporter and camera there to record the event. On September 16 the developer’s final plot plan came before the County Commission. Present in the chamber was a large group of “eagle protectors” many of them members of Audubon. On a vote of three to one (Commissioner Scarbrough was absent) the plot plan was denied. The eagles won at least for this nesting season. I would truly like to say that our efforts helped persuade the commissioners to vote to protect the eagles. I know that our efforts did not hurt the issue. But the real credit goes to two very courageous and discerning Commissioners who stuck up for the County Comprehensive Plan where it says it is suppose to protect species of concern.

Our September potluck meeting was a fabulous success. There were 37 people in attendance and a lot of great food. Thanks to all the people who helped set up and return the room to its original appearance. Special thanks to Bill and Pat Meyer who helped organize and clean up. And thanks to Polly Atkinson for handling the name tags at the meeting. We did not have any member bird slides to show, however. Some members suggested that maybe digital cameras are making slides obsolete. We’ll have to look into this.

If you are looking for a gift to give this coming holiday season, may I suggest a new book by the founder of Earth Day in 1970, Gaylord Nelson, et al, Beyond Earth Day, Fulfilling the Promise, University of Wisconsin Press, 2002. I have no financial interest in the book but I firmly agree with his appeal that we have to move the national environmental dialogue toward a sustainable future. If you agree with this position, this book makes a great gift.