The Board reassessed our sponsorship of the recurring Nisqually Wednesday bird walks. The official walks are suspended during the pandemic but have been happening an informal basis. When field trips are again being sponsored by the chapter, we will have protocols which will limit group size and require a signature on a liability form. Since these measures do not fit with the current structure of the Nisqually walks, BHAS will drop its sponsorship and turn it over to the Nisqually refuge itself.
The Board approved a new field trip liability form which will spell out COVID-19 safety protocols. Pre-registration for field trips will be necessary to limit participation to 12 people total. Registration will be through the field trip leader who will require signatures at the start of each trip. The new form will be available on the BHAS website. Our first field trip with be in July with Sam Merrill as leader.
The Finance Committee reported on their meeting in which the annual dinner was discussed. Due to decreased participation over the past two years, the committee recommended that alternate events be explored by the Annual Dinner Committee. Also, our dinner committee chair will be stepping down after the 2022 event so a co-chair is needed to take over after that.
The Puget Sound Bird Observatory will be taking over the MAPS program at Glacial Heritage Preserve. BHAS would like to grant scholarships to their bird banding workshop this summer.
The Board recommended that we let our South Sound Meet Up account expire in July. We will re-start it when we are again having in-person events.
We have a new volunteer to take over the website updates. Kyle Elfman is already doing a beautiful job on this.
A second Barn Owl nesting box should be installed at Mima Mounds Preserve this month.
The Conservation Committee was happy to report that the Beaver Creek warehouse rezone request has been placed at the bottom of the 2020-21 county docket list. It is now unlikely to come under study until late this year or early next year.
