Audubon New Mexico Summer 2007

New Endowments Help Ensure a Strong Future for Kids and Birds
Kim Straus, Director of Development
Two new significant endowment funds at Audubon New Mexico (ANM) will provide income far into the future for education and conservation in our beautiful state. In December 2006, Audubon New Mexico received its largest financial donation to date from long-time benefactor Martha Ann Healy. The M A. Healy Environmental Education Endowment will support our programs for children and training workshops for teachers across the state. Ms. Healy has been a most generous supporter of education at the Randall Davey Audubon Center for many years, prompting the Audubon New Mexico board to name the education building at the center for her in 2003.

Also at the end of 2006 the ANM board approved the creation of the David Jay Henderson Conservation and Education Endowment to honor our executive director of 22 years. Income from this fund will support bird conservation in New Mexico and opportunities to link our education programs with conservation, habitat restoration and advocacy for wildlife. Tom Jervis, president of the board, said, “David’s efforts on behalf of wildlife in our state have been remarkable and the board believes this endowment is the best way we can perpetuate that legacy” In May, the fund exceeded $220,000 thanks to generous friends and a wonderful grant from Messengers of Healing Winds Foundation

The Audubon New Mexico board hopes both of these funds will grow over the years through contributions in honor of Martha Ann Healy and David Henderson from friends and family. Audubon New Mexico’s endowment and reserve funds are invested by the National Audubon Society along with similar funds benefiting other Audubon state offices, centers and sanctuaries. For more information, please contact Kim Straus, Director of Development, at (505) 983-4609 X29 or kmstraus@audubon.org.

Audubon’s First NoWaste Camp
Eileen Everett, Education Manager
One of the greatest lessons I have learned in my experiences working with children is that I can only expect of others that which I can expect of myself. I try to live by Gandhi’s words of ”Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

I can’t think of a greater change we need to see in our world than to live more sustainably. This year, the Randall Davey Audubon Center and Audubon New Mexico will set the example of making sustainable decisions through our popular summer camp program. Our first step was to use an online registration system, which allowed us to greatly reduce our use of paper and to nearly eliminate carbon emissions of individuals driving from home or work to the Audubon Center to register their children for camp. Perhaps most exciting, this summer we’ve already filled Audubon’s first “no-waste” camp, which has the goal of eliminating all trash produced by camp and the Randall Davey center during the week of July 9-13, and emphasizing reducing, reusing, recycling, and composting. Additionally, all campers and camp staff will now be required to pack “waste-free” lunches (please see www.wastefreelunches.org for more information). This small step we expect will reduce trash by 450 pounds this summer! Lastly, Audubon staff are plan- fling a day during that week to eliminate all carbon emissions in the transportation of staff from home to work by biking, walking, or taking public transportation to work.

I know what it is like to think that there is not enough time in the day to make sustainable choices that can take more time, but it is important that we set the example for our youth. If we can’t make the extra effort to recycle a can rather than throw it in the trash, how can we expect our youth to recycle? If we can’t rearrange our schedules to ride a bus rather than drive our cars, how can we expect other people will make decisions to reduce carbon emissions? I encourage all of you make the effort and walk the walk!

From the Director
Lynn Tennefoss, Vice President, State Programs and Chapter Services
As Acting Executive Director, I am pleased to report on behalf of the dedicated staff and board at Audubon New Mexico. We are busy preparing for a summer of campers at the Randall Davey Audubon Center, while working in partnership with members statewide on important conservation projects. Below, I highlight just a few of Audubon’s recent activities on behalf of birds, habitats, and nature education.

This magnificent state’s diversity of habitats provides for more than 500 species of birds, and New Mexico has a critical role to play in keeping healthy bird populations for the region, country and continent. In coming weeks, you will be hearing some sobering information about the health of some of our most beloved birds. Audubon’s latest State of the Birds Report will be highlighted in the July/August issue of AUDUBON magazine, and I urge each of you to read it carefully. This landmark report, “Common Birds in Decline,” represents the first time that Audubon Christmas Bird Count and Breeding Bird Survey data have been combined for an estimate of bird populations and it serves as an important wake up call. Figures demonstrating declines in a number of New Mexico’s common birds are particularly alarming. Audubon New Mexico will be contacting all members in coming months to offer additional information about specific threats and their impacts on state birds, and to detail ways you can get involved in stemming those threats.

New Mexico’s Important Bird Areas (IBA) program is key to keeping common birds common, as well as to supporting rare or declining species. Please see the article in this issue on recognition of three New Mexico IBAs, and stay tuned for more in- formation from Betsy Daub, Audubon New Mexico’s Director of Bird Conservation, on how you can help use one or more of the IBAs in your area as tools for conservation. Betsy also is representing Audubon in global warming discussions around the state, urging New Mexico’s policy makers to choose solutions that will positively impact our wildlife and our citizens.

The month of May heralded an extraordinary series of events benefiting Audubon New Mexico, including a successful Birdathon, a party honoring retiring executive director David Henderson, and the unveiling of a restored mural by Randall Davey at the state capital. Activities culminated with a visit to Santa Fe by noted author and conservation activist Terry Tempest Williams as part of the Lannan Readings and Conversations. Along with a spirited and impassioned reading, Terry and author Christopher Merrill treated the sold-out audience to a wonderful dialogue that explored a sense of place, politics, the challenges of writing, and creating family from the unexpected in life. In addition, Terry and her husband Brooke led an inspired workshop at the Randall Davey Audubon Center for New Mexico leaders in nature education, helping to solidify our key role as conveners of and contributors to the local educational community. We extend our sincere gratitude to the Lannan Foundation, Brooke and Terry Tempest Williams, and Christopher Merrill for their contributions to Audubon New Mexico!

Finally, we bid a sad and very fond farewell to Eva Rambo, Manager of the Randall Davey Center, who will use her considerable financial management talents on behalf of the United Way of Santa Fe. We are grateful to have experienced Eva’s diligence, intelligence and humor, and glad that she won’t be far away. And we are delighted to

Welcome Jennifer Kleinrichert who joins our staff as Education Specialist.

Audubon Designates Three New Mexico State Parks as Important Bird Areas
Betsy Daub, Director of Bird Conservation and Public Policy
On a warm February day this past winter, I stopped at Percha Dam State Park while traveling south with my family. At 80 acres, Percha is not a large state park, but its towering cottonwoods provide a beautiful shady spot for picnicking. The Rio Grande flows through the park, and at that time of year, its gentle current proved irresistible to my children. They instantly threw off their shoes, rolled up their jeans, and waded into the river.

Looking up from our play, I noticed two bald eagles in a nearby tree — a New Mexico and federally listed threatened species. Then came the rattle call of a belted kingfisher — a New Mexico Species of Special Concern. Two wetland- dependent northern shovelers flew just over our heads. And finally, my eyes were drawn even higher by the unmistakable trumpeting of sandhill cranes as they followed the Rio Grande on their return trip north.

On April 20th this year, in conjunction with New Mexico State Park’s Migration Sensation event, Audubon officially recognized Percha Dam State Park, Elephant Butte Lake State Park, and Caballo Lake State Park as Important Bird Areas (IBAs). IBAs are places that play a vital role in providing high quality habitat for healthy bird populations. Speakers at the ceremony were Dave Simon, Director of New Mexico State Parks, Mayor Lori Montgomery from Truth or Consequences, and Sierra County Commissioner Gary Whitehead. Also present were scores of school children from local elementary schools. It was a beautiful celebration, on a gorgeous spring day, that highlighted for the communities around these parks what special places they are and how important it is to preserve them.

As Important Bird Areas, these parks find themselves in good company as part of a global network of identified IBAs. Within the United States, Audubon has identified more than 2000 IBAs. In New Mexico, we have identified 62 sites to date.

The foundation of the IBA program is its emphasis on science-based identification, monitoring of bird populations, and conservation of birds and the habitats they need to survive. Caballo Lake, Elephant Butte Lake, and Percha Dam State Parks were nominated by concerned citizens of New Mexico who understood their unique qualities and need for on-going conservation. The nominations were then reviewed by a committee of bird experts within the state, who assessed them against a set of established criteria.

Sites may qualify for IBA designation if they meet one or more of the following criteria:
1. If they are sites that regularly support significant densities of rare species
2. If they contain habitats that are rare or unique in the state
3. If they regularly hold significant numbers of species, such as congregating waterfowl or wading birds
4. And if they are sites where long-term research is occurring that contributes significantly to our understanding of birds and bird conservation.

These state parks qualified because they regularly contain a variety of rare species as well as large numbers of congregating cranes, grebes, shorebirds and gulls.

The IBA designation is an honor and testament to excellent stewardship. It is a non-regulatory, voluntary effort designed to increase awareness of these special places, and then to forge conservation partnerships to ensure their long- term well-being. Audubon looks forward to on-going cooperation with state parks as we explore management that will continue to provide excellent wildlife habitat. We are excited about engaging the communities around these areas to form partnerships to care for and monitor the birds within them. And Audubon will seek to work ever more closely with the legislature to ensure adequate funding to care for these and other IBAs and their birds.

If you would like to know more about the IBA program, would like to nominate a site, or to help monitor bird populations within identified IBAs, please contact Betsy Daub at Audubon New Mexico.

8/27/07