President’s Column

Hello everyone. This is the time I get to reflect on my term as president of our local chapter. It has been a great experience, but I am ready to move on to other things. I have had to make some personal sacrifices at the expense of my family, so I owe them some time.

My first column was on the theme of “Connections.” I feel we have been able to do that. In some respects, we were able to connect with our community in ways I had not anticipated two years ago. I saw many of our members at the Humboldt County Plan Update meetings helping to shape our community into what we want for the future. Recently, the County has been updating its beach and recreation regulations to bring it in compliance with Snowy Plover conservation policy.

Jim Clark has been active with the Humboldt Bay Management Plan Task Force, acting as a voice for the conservation community. Mel McKinney has been keeping the Harbor Commission and the City of Eureka on their toes, helping them recognize policies they have on their books.

Most of these activities have been coordinated by our Conservation Committee, which meets the third Friday each month at noon at the Golden Harvest Restaurant. Any Audubon member is welcome to attend. A lot of our policy is initiated here.

A big THANKS goes out to all our members who helped out with donations to the Northcoast Environmental Center helping them rebuild after the fire. They are still rebuilding their library. If you have good source books not being used consider donating to their library.

Election time is coming up. About the time you receive this Sandpiper, you should also be receiving a ballot for our upcoming election. Please fill these in and return them promptly! We still have space available for various committee chair positions. We need committee members for these positions. If you have the time we would like to have you join us. Phone numbers for the various committee chairs are in the Chapter Leaders box.

I would like to thank everyone for the response to our plea for new members. THANK YOU! We were down to just over 400 members a few months ago, but we are well over 600 members now.