Still Seeking Garden Tour Sites
December 10 is the deadline for suggesting gardens for inclusion in the Third Annual Wildlife & Native Plant Garden Tour next July, co-sponsored by RRAS and the California Native Plant Society.
If you are a garden owner who has selected plants to attract birds, bees, and butterflies or have focused on including natives in your landscaping, we would like to hear from you about participating in this fundraising and community education effort. All the garden owners on the first two tours told us that they had a positive experience and would do it again. It’s a great motivator for getting yardwork done!!
Please let us know of your interest by sending an e-mail to tomleskiw@aol.com or calling 442-5444 by December 10. Also, if you know of someone else with a candidate garden, we are willing to contact them if you provide information.
Godwit Days 10th Anniversary
The theme of the 2005 Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival – to be held April 15-17 at the Arcata Community Center -- is “Accomplishments in Citizen Science.” Evening lectures and special events are planned to showcase how average people can get involved in research and activities to benefit birds in particular and our planet in general. It is expected that one such major local citizen science project, the Humboldt County Breeding Bird Atlas, will be unveiled at the Festival. This 5-year data collection effort involved nearly 100 individuals – both resource professionals and interested laypersons – who surveyed for bird behavior in every corner of our county.
As usual, Godwit Days will feature field trips, workshops, lectures, exhibits, vendors, an art show, and family activities. The registration website is scheduled to launch in mid-November at www.godwitdays.com.
Conservation Notes
Waterfront Drive: Sue Leskiw compiled the coments from several of us, and delivered them to Lisa Shikany on the City of Eureka’s notice of preparation on the Waterfront Drive Extension (WDE) plan. Besides the procedural aspects dealing with severely bending of laws and statutes, the project will disrupt and divide a wetland ecosystem and its associated wildlife. Eureka will hold a series of consensus meetings on this project. Besides a waterfront hiking and biking path, another traffic alternative needs to be explored for a Broadway bypass. See San Francisco Chronicle, October 20, 2004, for a similar project and their solution. City of Eureka will be holding a public workshop, place, date, and time to be announced. Humboldt Bay Watershed Stewards will be holding an Economic Forum November 15, 2004, at the Wharfinger Building at 6 p.m. Eureka City Manager Dave Tyson will bring his 12-foot long maps of the project and attempt to muster support for the economic aspects of the WDE project. Dan Ihara will present some of the economic benefits of a wetland.
Gulches and Greenways: Eureka Gulches and Greenways committee submitted their report to the Planning Commission in October. Apparently key people were not notified of this meeting.
Aleutian Goose recovery plan: HSU wildlife professor Jeff Black is seeking help developing a recovery plan for the Aleutian Cackling Goose. Humboldt County hosts 40,000 Aleutian geese: 20,000 are found in the Eel River bottoms, another 20,000 in the Arcata bottoms. Another 20 to 40,000 Aleutian geese are found in Del Norte County, California, and Curry County, Oregon. They night roost on freshwater and brackish ponds and offshore islands but compete for forage with cattle on the agricultural fields during the day. A combination of land trusts, easements, refuges, and compensation programs may be needed.
Next Conservation Committee meeting will be Nov 18, noon, at the Golden Harvest Restaurant in Arcata.
Research/Travel Grant Funding Available
RRAS is offering up to $350 to Humboldt State students to conduct a research project or attend and present research results at a scientific meeting. The research or presentation should focus on bird ecology, conservation, or evolutionary biology, with preference given to research conducted on birds in northern California.
Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to apply; up to two proposals may be selected. Awards will be presented at the RRAS annual banquet in February. Winners are expected to give a 45‑minute presentation of his/her research, geared to the informed layperson, at the May 13, 2005, RRAS general meeting.
To receive an application form, contact Louise Bacon‑Ogden, Scholarship Chair, 2337 B Street, Eureka, CA 95501; phone 445‑8304; e‑mail sftb@juno.com. The following materials should be attached to the application form:
A 1-page synopsis of the research project or abstract of the scientific presentation
A budget of expected project or travel expenses
A resumé
A letter of recommendation from your advisor
Applications must be received by Wednesday, February 2, 2005. The awards will be presented at the RRAS annual banquet in February.
Keep Up to Date via RRAS Listserv
Be reminded about field trips and programs and learn about upcoming meetings, public hearings, and symposia of interest to RRAS members and other concerned nature lovers. Subscribe in one of two ways: 1) through a Webpage at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rras or 2) via e-mail at rras-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. All posts should give complete information on the event, sponsor (limited to nonprofit groups and governmental agencies), location, date/time, and contact. This site is NOT for reporting bird sightings; other venues exist for that purpose.
Thinking of Joining the National Audubon Society?
If so, please use the coupon on our Membership page (www.rras.org/chmember.htm). By sending in your membership on this form, rather than replying to solicitations from National Audubon, $20 is sent directly to RRAS. This is how NAS rewards local chapters for recruiting national members. (Otherwise, the RRAS dues share per new member is only a couple of dollars.) Thank you.
Redwood Region Audubon Society Local Membership Category
Local membership in R.R.A.S. is available for our supporters who want to receive The Sandpiper, but not be members of National Audubon. The cost of this service is $15. Please make checks payable to R.R.A.S. and send to P.O. Box 1054, Eureka, CA 95502. Write LOCAL MEMBERSHIP on your check.