Massachusetts Audubon is an inspiration to all of us in the larger Audubon family. The organization owns over 25,000 acres in the midst of 75 cities and towns, and holds more than 3,000 acres in easements; this includes 18 nature education centers and another 34 wildlife sanctuaries. The state-wide membership is 64,000 households, more than doubled since 1980, and they have 190 full-time staff, an annual budget of almost $12 million and an endowment of over $90 million. Most of this growth has occurred in the past 20 years. Imagine that model replicated in each of our states!

The vision of the National Audubon Society for the next 20 years is to extend a similar kind of conservation presence throughout the rest of the United States. As an NAS Board member and an Audubon member, I look at Massachusetts Audubon and see that this vision is achievable. Our NAS staff of state directors also spent an extensive amount of time on a larger and more in-depth tour of these facilities with local staff, and they, too, came away charged to take this inspiration back to their own states.

Tour participants met initially in Newton, MA, and also visited Drumlin Farm, Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary, the Boston Nature Center and finally the Blue Hills Trailside Museum. Drumlin Farm is a working organic farm, as well as a Massachusetts Audubon Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary. With 18 full-time staff, an annual budget of $1.5 million, an endowment of $350,000, and a farm/sanctuary of 232 acres, this is one of the many jewels of the Massachusetts Audubon collection of sanctuaries and nature education centers. Working with a variety of local and community groups, the Drumlin Farm staff has been instrumental in creating a network of protected lands of more than 4,000 acres in their one community.

Our next stop was Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Natick, a bit outside of Boston. An education center, consisting of 624 acres with over 9 miles of trails among ponds, marsh and streams, is complemented by a solar-heated, energy-efficient, environmentally advanced demonstration facility. It is extremely impressive.

Continuing on to inner city Boston, we visited the Boston Nature Center located on a former hospital facility, which was abandoned some time back. The hospital buildings have been removed due to asbestos contamination and part of the property is being developed for low income housing, but 66 acres have been transferred by the state to Massachusetts Audubon for an urban nature education center. The grounds are located in the midst of a population of 27,000 school children; plans have been completed for the center facility and an outdoor classroom accessible to 40 nearby schools, and two miles of paths and boardwalks are planned to complement a 25-acre freshwater wetland on-site. Our final visit of the day was to the Blue Hills facility in Milton, a very large public property on which Massachusetts Audubon operates a bird-banding and research facility and holds education programs utilizing the public lands. Enough for one day!

The following morning with Hurricane Floyd bearing down upon us, we went to the Mildred Morse Allen Wildlife Sanctuary. I was not surprised to see another 138-acre sanctuary with an extensive trail system, but I did not expect to see a Visual Arts Center on-site. The sanctuary includes the former private studio of an artist who left her property to Massachusetts Audubon; the facility now houses an outstanding collection of wildlife art based upon an original set of Audubon's work, along with individual prints and paintings. The studio has revolving wildlife art exhibits and works directly with schools and art students, as well as the public. Not something we anticipate in every state perhaps, but an indication of another possible dimension to nature education and outreach. Wildlife art is very popular, and it was John James Audubon's artwork that launched the bird and wildlife conservation movement.

From there we headed to the board meeting at Brewster, skipping a planned visit to the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary because of the torrential rain. At the end of the meeting, Massachusetts Audubon hosted us at their Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. This is again an exceptional facility on a sanctuary of over 1,000 acres with marsh, woods, tidal flats, forests, beach, and birds, including Merlin, Peregrine, and Kestrel seen by my wife and me. The site features a great environmentally sound building hosting an array of education programs, field trips, etc.

During the NAS Board meeting we welcomed Russ Sewell, the new state executive director for Missouri, the 22nd state office. We heard the announcement of a gift of $450,000 to start an office in Arkansas. John Flicker and the chair of the Development Committee announced that, since our June Board meeting, $14,680,750 has been raised in grants for Audubon Centers. Again, it is apparent that this vision is achievable.

A lot of our time, especially in the States and Centers Committee, was spent focused on the future of the Centers. Under the leadership of Tamar Chotzen, our still relatively new Senior Vice President for Centers, we now have draft guidance documents indicating what the key components of Centers will be, and noting that state offices will take the lead in planning for Centers, state by state. One of the accomplishments of this NAS Board meeting was to demonstrate that Audubon Centers can help fulfill the NAS mission: "to conserve natural ecosystems focusing on birds, wildlife and habitat." Centers will not simply teach about the natural world, but will be an integral part of Audubon's efforts to conserve the natural world.

Dave Pardoe
Mid-Atlantic Regional Director
National Audubon Board