Audubon Advisory
June 9, 2010
Vol 2010 Issue 6

Brown Pelicans are among the birds affected by the oil spill. Photo: Mozart Mark Dedeaux    Audubon Launches National Volunteer Response Center A new national Volunteer Response Center is gearing up to channel the energies of a growing force of volunteers seeking to help birds, wildlife, and habitat weather the assault of the Gulf oil spill. The National Audubon Society opened the new facility in Moss Point, Mississippi on Monday, and organizers are being deployed to affected areas in three other coastal states to contact, coordinate and mobilize more than 22,000 volunteers who have signed up with Audubon. That number continues to grow. If you would like to receive updates on Audubon's response efforts and be notified when volunteer opportunities arise, please fill out our volunteer registration form. Early in the crisis, Audubon teams responded to urgent requests from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Louisiana, recruiting and scheduling scores of volunteers to work dockside shifts to assist federal and state wildlife agencies in their recovery and transport of oiled and injured birds. Volunteers are now serving as "Wildlife Transport Facilitators" 7 days/week at four sites. Across the Gulf Coast, volunteers screened for special skills are helping to identify and mark fragile coastal areas to protect habitats and nesting areas from damage as clean-up operations become necessary. This remains an important part of our spill response. Please take a moment to vote for Audubon in the Members Project to support our continued response. As Audubon ramps up, anticipated volunteer activities will include: Volunteer Response Center Staff — scheduling volunteers, identifying and coordinating engagement with new projects, logistical support, arranging training, office management, etc. Coastal Bird Survey — collecting data and photos on bird resources and impacts across the coast according to specific scientific protocols. Wildlife Transport Facilitator —assisting USFWS and Tri-State Bird Rescue with volunteers scheduled in daily shifts in key locations for injured/oiled wildlife recovery and transport operations throughout the coastal region. Bird Capture and Rescue Materials — making nets, cages, and other materials to assist trained professionals in oiled bird rescue efforts. Citizen Science Monitoring — submitting electronic information on birds sightings at Important Bird Areas, refuges, or sanctuaries to assess population impacts, numbers of target species, or species of concern. Bird Hotline Operators — providing on-site bird expertise for our Volunteer Response Center as well as possibly in field offices of BP, Tri-State Bird Rescue and others involved in response efforts to address issues related to bird sightings, handling, species identification, etc. If you want to hear the latest on Audubon's response to the oil spill, join our next webcast, June 23, 1:30 PM Eastern Time/10:30 AM Pacific Time. You can also find out more from the archive of Audubon Senior Government Relations Director Mike Daulton appearance on CSPAN’s Washington Journal last Sunday, which highlighted the oil spill’s grim impacts on birds and habitat, Audubon's volunteer response, and the importance of sound conservation policy to protect vulnerable wildlife.     The Murkowski Dirty Air Act would tie EPA's hands, allow polluters to keep polluting and keep us tied to fossil fuels.    Audubon Needs Your Help to Defeat the Dirty Air Act The Clean Air Act is under attack and we need your help today! The Senate is expected to vote Thursday on a bill that would dismantle one of America's most important environmental laws, the Clean Air Act. As hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil continue to gush into the Gulf Coast, threatening birds, wildlife and our coasts, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski has sponsored a bill that will let oil companies and big polluters off the hook and keep America addicted to oil. We must stop the Murkowski Dirty Air Act now! We don't often ask for action in these pages, but this is too important and the vote is very close. Please send a quick email to your senators and ask them to vote NO on the Dirty Air Act.     Recent print ad thanking President Obama and Secretary Salazar for the decision to delay drilling in the Arctic Ocean.   Good News for the Arctic Ocean! In late May, the Obama administration announced a victory for the birds and wildlife in Alaska when it placed Shell Oil’s exploratory drilling in the Arctic Ocean, scheduled to start in July, on hold pending further investigation of the BP blowout and oil spill disaster in the Gulf. This decision reflects the concerns of millions of Americans (like you!) who took action to ensure Shell would not begin drilling in the sensitive Arctic Ocean. Audubon commends President Obama’s decision to place the Shell project “on hold,” but it only delays drilling in the Arctic Ocean for one year — the leases are not cancelled. This announcement is a hopeful development, but there is still enormous work ahead to achieve the important objectives of ensuring a sound scientific understanding of the Arctic Ocean ecosystem, adequate analysis of potential environmental impacts in the event of oil spills, and a demonstration of credible and reliable oil spill prevention and response capability in the icy Arctic Ocean. Thanks to all who wrote or called in response to our recent Alert to stop this ill-conceived drilling project. To learn more about the Arctic Ocean, check out Audubon Alaska’s Arctic Atlas.   Briefly Noted The Interior Department Holds Listening Sessions on Conservation This summer and fall, the Department of Interior is conducting a series of "listening sessions" about President Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative, to hear from concerned citizens on America's great landscapes and how we can reconnect with our outdoor heritage The first set of listening sessions just took place in Montana with others to follow in New York (June 19-20), Annapolis, MD (June 25), Los Angeles (July 8), and Seattle (July 15-18). We'll keep you posted with more details as they become available. These events — which range from BBQs to town hall meetings — are made to order for Audubon chapters who wish to connect their projects and goals for bird conservation to an exciting Presidential initiative to develop a 21st century conservation agenda for America. We hope you'll speak out for the birds and habitat you love at a session near you. Join Hands for Clean Energy Earlier this winter in Florida, thousands of Floridians representing 60 communities and over 90 beaches joined hands to protest the efforts by the Florida Legislator and the U.S. Congress to lift the ban on oil drilling off the shores of Florida. Now the effort is going national and Hands Across the Sand is organizing small groups and large to join hands for 15 minutes at noon, June 26. Not limited to coastal communities or sandy beaches, folks are encouraged to stand witness at any local body of water. Round up your chapter members, your neighbors, friends and family and organize or join an event. For more details, go to www.handsacrossthesand.org.   June Mystery Bird Congratulations to Stanley J. of Washougal, WA, whose entry was randomly chosen from the 160 entries that correctly identified last month's Black Skimmer (at right). Good luck with this month's challenge (below)! HINT: Money raised through this year's Pennies for the Planet campaign will fund habitat restoration at Panther Island, home to this species. The winner will receive a plush Audubon singing bird and will be chosen at random from all entries received that correctly identify the species (NAS employees can play but not win). One entry per person please! Please email us your entry, being sure the words "Mystery Bird" appear in the subject line. Deadline for entering is Sunday, July 11. Photo credits: Black Skimmer - Bill Stripling, Mystery Bird - USFWS