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Bird Conservation Through Education
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Issue #2 - July 30, 2008
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The Bird Education Network (BEN) was
created following the February 2007 National Gathering, hosted by CEE.
BEN is a new CEE initiative that seeks to connect and support the
community of bird education professionals. Over 475 individuals
representing 290 organizations receive communications
and engage in professional dialogue through the BEN-run Bird Education Listserv.
A BEN Committee has been established to provide
advice and guidance for this important initiative, to advance
"bird conservation through education. |
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 SAVE THE DATE!
The Second National Gathering: Bird Conservation through Education
22-26 February 2009
Jekyll Island, Georgia
The
very first National Gathering for bird educators, held in February 2007
in Austin, Texas, was such a great success that a follow-up event is
planned for 2009.
The second conference will be held at
the Jekyll Island Club Hotel on Jekyll Island and located along the
Georgia's Colonial Coast Birding Trail. It will start on the evening of
Sunday, 22 February and end on the morning of Thursday, 26
February. The conference is open to anyone with an interest in
bird education and conservation efforts.
Throughout
the conference there will be a diverse group of guest speakers. Kenn
and Kim Kaufman, Audrey Peterman, David Waller, and Donald and Lillian
Stokes have all expressed enthusiasm for our BEN work and have been
invited to present at Jekyll Island.
An assortment of
special topics such as "Engaging Diverse Audiences" and "Federal
Agencies and Bird Education Efforts" will be included in program
offerings. Individual and group participants will have the opportunity
to share ideas and showcase their project results at the scheduled Bird
Education Round-Robin and during the Bird Education Share Fair.
There will also be NGO and vendor displays at the Gathering.
The
conference site will provide several opportunities each morning for
guided bird walks; there will also be scheduled two half-day field
trips, intended to build skills and field experience. The variety of
birds on Jekyll Island and surrounding habitats is impressive.
For more details on location, hotel rates, field trips, and developing conference specifics, see the BEN website.
Registration
forms and calls for proposals and for the poster session will be
distributed and posted on the Bird Education Network website shortly
and will be announced in a future issues of this BEN Bulletin.
The Jekyll Island Club Hotel is now accepting reservations for the National Gathering. To make your reservation please call the Jekyll Island Club Hotel at
(800) 535-9547.
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New Draft National Bird
Education Strategy Available
The First National Gathering: Birding
Conservation through Education event in
February 2007 proposed the development
of a National Bird Education Strategy to
address present-day opportunities and
the problems facing bird education.
Ideally,
a comprehensive bird education strategy should remind bird educators
where we have come from and help indicate where we need to go, with a
specific plan, a roadmap, to arrive at a desired collective destination.
Such
a draft strategy has been composed and assembled from the suggestions
of hundreds of bird educators. It has been posted on the Bird
Education Network site as new elements have been collected and
incorporated.
The most recent version of the
strategy, combining the comments and corrections to the draft strategy
circulated last year, is now posted as "Version 2.4" HERE.
An
important task at the Second National Gathering in February will be to
agree upon a strategic approach and then to concentrate on essential
steps at implementation.
Please send your comments and
suggestions to improve this version of the draft so that the next - and
"final" - version can be presented before the Second National Gathering
in February at Jekyll Island, Georgia.
You can send your comments on Version 2.4 of the strategy by November 10th to:
BENstrategy@BirdEducation.org.
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 Buy Your Migratory
Bird Stamp
One of the most important, yet
least-understood, bird-
conservation tools in this country
is the Migratory Bird Hunting and
Conservation Stamp. If you're
a waterfowl
hunter in the U.S, buying this "Duck Stamp" each year is required
by law. If you're a bird- educator, birdwatcher, wildlife photographer,
or conservation-minded citizen, you should simply go out and buy a
Stamp.
Fully 98 cents out of every dollar collected from the
sale of these Stamps goes to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund
(MBCF) to purchase wetlands and grasslands for inclusion into the
National Wildlife Refuge System.
The annual Stamp costing $15 is
available at most U.S. Post Offices. Bird educators can emphasize that
purchasing a Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp is simple,
and it will give the holder the satisfaction of knowing that she or he
is contributing directly to the protection of America's bird habitats.
The 2008-2009 stamp, illustrated here, was released just a month ago.
For more Stamp background, CLICK HERE and HERE.
For information on the related and highly popular Junior Duck Stamp and the Junior Duck Stamp contest for youngsters, CLICK HERE.
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BEN: Connecting Bird Educators |
 For More Information visit:
Newsletter
maintained by: Jennifer Paschke, Publications Manager, Geoffrey
Castro, Manager, Operations and Marketing and Lanese Bush, Business
Administrator.
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