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photo
by R.L. Kenyon |
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Mission
Statement:
Sea
& Sage Audubon Society is an Orange County chapter of National
Audubon Society, dedicated to the protection and appreciation
of birds, other wildlife, and their habitats through, education,
conservation, scientific research, and volunteer opportunities.
Through the Conservation Committee, we promote responsible participation
in public policy, support of open spaces, parks, and natural
resource management, in order to achieve balanced and environmentally
sound eco-systems and communities. |
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| 1.
Activist involvement with government entities and private business
to protect, improve and maintain natural ecosystems. This may
include involvement in reviewing public documents, petitioning
public officials and speaking out on environmental issues. |
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| 2.
Labor equity involvement with members and other concerned citizens
to physically work on projects that protect, improve and maintain
natural ecosystems. This may include park cleanups, revegetating
a critical area, or monitoring wildlife activity. These
activities require a committee that is knowledgeable about environmental
issues and should have the ability to investigate and study
issues dealing with degradation, enhancement and perpetuation
of natural ecosystems and wildlife. The committee should
interface with experts in the field to improve the ability to
assess the long-term impact of natural resource degradation;
formulate and direct programs and specific projects that might
mitigate these issues and work with other conservation groups
to achieve these goals. |
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Conservation
Committee meetings:
The
Conservation Committee meetings are held the first Tuesday evening
of the month at 6:30 pm in the Blue House. The next meeting
will be on June 1st. New members are always welcome. For
more information on the Conservation Committee, contact Barry
Berhus at
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Conservation
Awards presented at the 2010 Annual Dinner:
Trish
Smith received the 2010 Fern Zimmerman Conservation Award for
her efforts to ensure the long term existence of the Coastal
Cactus Wren in southern California. Trish is the Senior Ecologist
with Newport Beach Office of The Nature Conservancy. |
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| Following the 1993
Laguna Beach wildfire, scientists with the Nature Reserve of
Orange County (NROC) began to identify a steady decline in Cactus
Wren breeding territories, even in areas that had not burned.
Trish, along with many others began to pay close attention to
this seemingly local trend. But by the mid 2000s it had become
clear that Cactus Wren populations were shrinking in most habitats
in southern California habitats, and the Laguna Beach population
was all but gone. |
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| Trish decided that
a coordinated effort was needed to begin to identify the rate
of decline, search for causes, and begin to develop a response
to reverse the decline. As Trish was planning in 2007 for the
first Coastal Cactus Wren Symposium to take place in spring
2008, the extraordinary 2007 wildfires decimated Cactus Wren
habitats all though the birds’ range in Los Angeles, Orange,
and San Diego Counties. The majority of known Coastal Cactus
Wren habitats were all toasted in less than a week and real
concern about Cactus Wrens and other CSS birds began to spread
and Trish's conviction to bringing all interested parties together
increased. |
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| Nearly 100 wildlife
researchers, ornithologists, wildlife agency representatives,
and conservation organization representatives have joined the
statewide Coastal Cactus Wren Conservation Network because of
Trish's vision and persistence. These highly interested and
dedicated individuals meet regularly to forge a collaborative
approach to Cactus Wren conservation efforts. In fact these
meetings prompted leaders of Sea and Sage Audubon and Starr
Ranch to join forces with TNC and the NROC to form the Orange
County Cactus Wren Team. Similar efforts were launched by Audubon
leaders in Los Angeles County and the US Fish and Wildlife Service
began conducting targeted surveys in San Diego. |
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| Trish is well known
for her dedication to conservation and habitat protection in
Orange County through her role with The Nature Conservancy.
We believe she has gone way beyond the call of duty in her work
with Cactus Wrens and we are very pleased to recognize her efforts
with the 2010 Conservation Award. |
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Environmental
Volunteer Opportunities
A
list of environmental
opportunities for volunteers in Orange County
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| Local
Conservation Projects |
| Tree
Trimming Packet |
| Coastal
Cactus Wren Survey Team - volunteers needed |
| Native
Plant Nurseries & Websites &
Native Plants Gardening
Workshop |
| Bolsa
Chica |
| Coyote
Hills |
| Rancho
Mission Viejo Settlement |
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| 4th
Tuesday Conservation Lecture Series - |
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| Bird
Research Projects |
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| State
Conservation Projects |
| Wind
Turbines, Green Energy or Avian Enemy? |
| Salton
Sea Campaign - (updated 4/14/07) |
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| Contacting
Your Legislators |
| Find
your Orange County officials |
| Find
your State officials |
| Find
your Federal officials |
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| Links
to Other Conservation Organizations |
| Endangered
Habitats League |
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