Wetland tours help chapters build relationships with their local community, business leaders, the media, elected representatives, and potential or current funders and supporters. These first-hand experiences of wetland wildlife, clean water, and open-space values help generate long-term support. Along with directly engaging people in local wetlands, tours often generate media coverage, raising the visibility and effectiveness of conservation efforts. As you read this, many chapters are leading Fall Flyaway tours to celebrate fall migrants. Others plan wetland tours to celebrate Audubon's Wings of Spring and Wetlands Month in May, 1999. Some incorporate tours into their Council meetings. Two examples of wetland tours follow:

Advocacy -- Joe Morin, Mattabeseck AS (CT), led tours of vernal pools that were slated to be destroyed. The community came to understand that although small and seemingly insignificant, these pools are critical habitat to amphibians and birds. His chapter thus gained community support to have the proposed development re-designed to protect the vernal pools.

Citizen Science -- Many chapters use wetland tours to introduce citizen-science projects, such as creating a bird list for a wetland site or monitoring its water levels throughout the year. Some chapters kick off their Important Bird Area (IBA) programs with wetland tours, since more than half of the IBA's identified to date are wetlands.

For More Info, Contact: the Wetlands Campaign, for a "Get Wet" packet to help you plan a wetland tour in your community. Call 1-800/659-2622, or call Lea Mitchell: ph: 360/709-9695; e-mail: lmitchell@audubon.org.