- Four Black Hills members attended the recent Audubon Council of Washington conference, and they gave a report on both the conservation and the general meetings. Maria Ruth gave a well-received presentation on how BHAS met with the management of RES America’s wind energy project near Chehalis to implement changes to benefit birds. Although not everything that BHAS wanted was adopted, some of our recommendations were taken and will make a positive difference.
- The biggest news from the conference was that National Audubon would soon be releasing a new, expanded and more comprehensive report on the effects of climate change on North American birds. Four board members volunteered to work on a committee to publicize the findings of this report.
- BHAS hosted an informational table at the Nisqually Watershed Festival in August, and we realized it would be beneficial to have a more attractive presence to appeal to children. We will explore the possibility of acquiring bird mounts.
- The National Audubon convention will take place in July of 2021 in Tacoma. We expect that BHAS will assist in planning and helping at this prestigious event.
- The Education Committee is purchasing the contents of the last four library backpacks. After these are distributed, every library in the Timberland Library system will have at least one birding backpack available for check out.
- The Conservation Committee continues to work with the Friends of Rocky Prairie to prevent a mammoth warehouse being built next to Millersylvania State Park. Current efforts center on pressuring the County Commissioners to reject the developer’s rezone request.
