NAS Board Meeting Notes
Islamorada, FL
12/5/96 - 12/8/96

ALL;

All of the Board of Directors' meetings are open to the membership except for Executive Sessions (none at this meeting). I am on the Ed/Com Committee so those are more detailed notes; the other committees reported to the Board on Sunday.

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Regional Issues Meeting 12/5/96

3a: Bernie Yokel suggested we markup the draft goals and turn it in for redistribution at the end of this weekend. George Ellman agreed and suggested no firm action until the next meeting. Ruth Russell agreed - we need it before the whole group.

Hardy Eshbaugh says we should let chapters know what we are doing about what is significant for them (losing regional ofcs, for instance). Bernie Yokel - this is the prime time to reaffirm the grassroots. George Ellman & Bernie Yokel will produce the second draft.

Suggestions: Ruth Russell does not like the "Regional Issues" title; Walt Pomeroy suggests a line showing the committee's responsibility to the chapters as well as to the board.

3b & 3c: John Flicker - we will be changing staff duties to accommodate regions without representation. Chapters should call Glenn Olson to find out who their new person is. Joyce Wolf - what about states w/o offices, and how to build their abilities? John Flicker - feels confident, given we can raise the money and enthusiasm, which he believes. Ruth Russell - current ofcs have a lot of expertise to share. Joyce Wolf - need opportunities for them to get together and network with neighboring states. John Flicker - the Minnesota director is ranging far afield to help other states. Norm Shapiro then handed out copies of one of the draft protocols for New York state.

John Flicker - our commitment is to not reduce resources available to chapters in the transition period.

Pat Heidenreich - Glen Olson should be commended for his work - positive attitude and good working relationships with chapters.

(at end of meeting) Helen Engle asked what is going on in Michigan? Hardy Eshbaugh - Detroit and the rest of Michigan are the two chapters; lot of tension there.

4a: Ted Eubanks (not present) raises the problems in his region - it's gone badly in TX and NE; member's inexperience; need more guidance. John Flicker - yes it was painful, but sometimes it has to be. Pat Heidenreich - it's just Texas. Hardy Eshbaugh agrees. Joyce Wolf - the NE facilitator resigned! NE thought the solution would be imposed (wrong). The facilitator was part of the problem. They are now on the road to success. Chuck Bragg - we don't know why successes work either. Walt Pomeroy - agrees with Hardy Eshbaugh that each state can and should be done uniquely; the process will evolve. Ruth Russell - Jack Dempsey's how-to document will be reviewed in the Field Committee; a key is the delivery of the guide - not just mailed, but face to face delivery, with help. Hardy Eshbaugh refused to discuss Oregon (conflict of interest) (grins all round)..

4b: John Flicker - our Watchlist phone number is too close to Mass Audubon, causing the wires to cross; further commented that we want to imitate them, not compete with them. Norm Shapiro - will we ever be able to do joint ventures with them? John Flicker - definitely. Hardy Eshbaugh raised the issue of Caribbean opportunities for membership. John Flicker - Mexico meeting will be heavy on the issue of foreign involvement.

Announcements:

Next meeting: 3/6 San Miguel de Allende

Helen Engle - how are things in Florida? Bernie Yokel - Until John Flicker came along, things were OK but with NAS NY not really involved. Today things have never been better.

Pat Heidenreich - concerned that we might run out of money and drop some of the poor states that are coming slowly. Suggest budget help for lesser states next year. John Flicker - agrees. Joyce Wolf - how about adding a regional status for Alaska for a director? Hardy Eshbaugh - where do we stop? Norm Shapiro - they need something extra, but what? Cindy Dunn - some states have decided to wait on the state ofc, but did want a project. One chose to have a chapter formation campaign. Then they will have a better identity when the money is more likely to be available. Hardy Eshbaugh - money (in the mind) is the big block on forming state ofcs. Walt Pomeroy - chapters thought they would have to generate money internally.

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Friday, 12/6/96

8:00 a.m.

Thursday morning began with the Finance Committee. Of interest to you who see this on the Internet: a capital budget request for money to buy 70 Dell PCs, 23 IBM Thinkpads and 19 HP printers. While these machines will be stationed throughout the organization, they will mainly be concentrated in state offices, the development department and the membership department. MAC equipment is not being dropped, but the new relational database and other software is Windows-based and MACs are not able to use it.

A question was asked about getting Dell and/or IBM to barter the price down in return for some kind of publicity. A second questioner asked if any such event occurred, could the chapters be included in any hardware/software discounts?

Next, several speakers told us about the Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Campaign (EERC). It is one of the largest and most comprehensive restoration efforts ever, and seemingly everyone is involved. Cornerstones of the program are education, science, public policy, and constituency-building. This last part is fascinating - everyone from the Cuban-American community to the chambers of commerce to the inner city of Miami are getting together to push this program. There is hope!

Finally, Dr. Donald Kennedy spoke about Science Education Reform and its implications for NAS. NAS is already educating, and the "inquiry" method is our method. Many questions were asked about countering fundamentalism in education, scientist elitism, and just what the Reform movement is about.

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Education & Communications Committee

12/6/96

1:10 p.m.

The first agenda item was an expansion of the discussion by Dr. Donald Kennedy during the Board Forum: What is the role of Audubon in the Science Education Reform movement? The movement itself is a rejection of the all-encompassing, hodge-podge of rote memory in favor of an inquiry method. Fewer "facts" but more integration and understanding.

There were several comments and general agreement that Audubon people are "amateurs" in science and education, and that such people are looked down on from the ivory towers. Dr. Kennedy agreed, but said that extended citizen participation can really turn things around. He used the example of how written records kept by English parsons of the first flowers to bloom were now valuable data in the study of global climate change. He also commented that 20 years ago he could do his birdwalks nearly alone, but today he is constantly accosted on the same trails by all those "amateurs" with binoculars.

John Flicker asked, given our limited resources, where can we do the most good? Dr. Kennedy said we all have limited resources so he preferred to think of assets and opportunities. Our assets are our birder-members. How can we deploy them in education? One way is to form funding partnerships with corporate partners like Hewlett-Packard. Fundraising program by program is very hard, but the resources are out there. The NSF is also looking for good ideas; they've even looked at educational games. We (NAS) don't need a board game; what we do is already interactive and worth a look.

A suggestion was made to expand Audubon Adventures, and then to add AA programs for higher grades, creating an educational pathway instead of a one-year experience.

Peter Rauch commented that our largest resource is our older members who have more time and money to contribute than younger members do. Glenn Olson added that the Central Coast Birding Trail in California is being created by this kind of people.

A comment was made that we could only use the schools to get students interested in conservation - the general public is shut out. Other venues were discussed. Dr. Kennedy said that if we use TV then we have a lot of competition. There are electronic field trips like the recent WildWings programs, and there is citizen science, but he felt that schools were still the biggest opportunity. Education frequently goes from children to parents (e.g. the Vietnam war). The question changes slightly to how can NAS make parents interested in what the kids are learning? Several comments were made about getting the class outdoors. Connecting with nature can be as simple as a bird feeder in the schoolyard.

Audrey Peterman said that one outlet for our written material would be the black media; she found they were hungry for information.

Peter Rauch suggested promoting a tour of inspirational teachers, noting that we all remember a favorite teacher that had a special talent for encouraging students. Dr. Kennedy had reservations about any lectures - the audience has to be pre-sold for them to be effective.

Question: how do we retrain older-style teachers to use the inquiry method? Dr. Kennedy said that even at the Academy of Science the movement is not yet the highest priority, in spite of several passionate advocates. The process will take a while.

Our current beginning partnership with the Girl Scouts was mentioned; other possible partners suggested: travel industry, equipment manufacturers, eco-tourism industry. Captain Ed (last name?) said the eco-tourism group was too fragmented to be approached as a whole.

Vicky Shaw proposed a viewing of excerpts of the WildWings broadcasts for Dr. Kennedy. Katie Carpenter told us that PBS wrote her a letter expressing both surprise and gratification that we had pulled this multiple live-TV show off so successfully. Over 1000 schools participated and the PBS web site set an activity record. Vicky Shaw said that every day they had 7 local kids and their parents out to the location at Bosque for the three daytime shows. The kids lived very near the refuge but our birder's-eye view was new to them; we found, however, that the kids knew a lot about the refuge just as part of their daily experience.

Dr. Kennedy liked the pseudo-action game, "Techno-Swan", that was part of the broadcast. Further actual games on this model might be worth investigating, he said. He pointed out that programs like WildWings give us an opportunity to establish longer relationships with the schools.

Katie Carpenter said that considering the time frame NAS had to get WildWings produced and promoted she was happy with the results.

Final comments by Dr. Kennedy: (1) Hewlett Packard is spending an enormous amount of staff and funding on their web site. What is Audubon doing? (2) Should we be getting our people involved in textbook adoption? It's a real carnival but the more good people are involved, the better. (3) Teacher training and professional development is another way to improve life for the students.

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John Bianchi reported on the WatchList PR campaign. His handout was very complete so few notes were taken (see handout). He showed us videos of some of the TV coverage of the story. He also mentioned the time constraints behind this campaign and referred us to the Lessons Learned section at the back of the handout.

Ben Olewine said that this was the first time for a PR effort of this magnitude and complimented John on the results. He asked that we try and do the next one with more lead time and with more focused goals.

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Roger Cohn (Executive Editor) gave a short report on Audubon Magazine. He said that past cost constraints had us using the minimum possible paper quality for a magazine like Audubon. Fortunately, the paper market is getting softer and he is investigating a step up in quality very soon.

He said that although Audubon was not the only voice in the Swainson's Hawk poison controversy, the cover article we ran had, he felt, a sharp impact on Ciba-Geigy, the manufacturer of the pesticide. Shortly after the article appeared, Ciba withdrew all current supplies, changed the package instructions, and consulted with Argentina on new methods of application.

Ben Olewine expressed satisfaction with the progress and growth of the magazine. A small voice was heard asking for an increased share of magazine space that focused on birds. Both Roger and Jim Fishman (publisher) mounted a spirited defense and said their feedback had been very positive on the magazine's content. They said that membership renewals were trending up and offered to bring some supporting statistics to the next board meeting.

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Ben Olewine gave a short progress report on the Electronic Communications Plan. It was approved in September and is now being implemented. The Intranet portion is running and growing; the webmaster job offer will be made this week, and the other staff position offer within the next two weeks or so. Work by the two subcommittees of members on the Internet (Technical and Educational) continues. He commended these members and thanked one of them attending the board meeting, Peter Rauch.

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NAS Board Meeting
Members' Meeting and official Board Meeting
Sunday, December 8, 1996
8:00 a.m.

Since new board members were taking office at this meeting, the Audubon Conflict of Interest Policy statement was distributed. It states that if a director or his immediate family or any organization to which he has allegiance has any interest which may be seen as competing with the interests or concerns of the National Audubon Society, the director must disclose this to the rest of the board. If any conflict of interest is relevant to a matter requiring action by the board, the director must not vote on this matter and must retire from the room while the matter is under discussion.

The board adopted resolutions (1) formalizing the non-discrimination policy of NAS; (2) forming a Compensation Committee (mainly to avoid problems such as happened to the United Fund a couple of years ago).

Donal O'Brien thanked George Ellman for his six years on the board. Among other things he said George had been the voice of reason in the best Audubon tradition. He also said that Audubon had gotten two for the price of one because of Phyllis Ellman. There was then a standing ovation for George from the entire board.

George gave us some final remarks which I hope he will put on the lists here. If he does not, I'll steal them and do it myself. They were very much to the point about the importance of the chapters and grassroots to NAS.

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The first committee report was Communication/Education which was dealt with above.

FIELD OPERATIONS COMMITTEE:

The San Emidio Ranch plan has been put on hold at this time because the Wildlands Conservancy is considering giving it to a government agency. Audubon-California will pursue the matter.

A resolution was passed to incorporate the Alaska state office as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. The rationale was that the office would be seeking funding from residents of all 50 states and this would make that much easier.

Walt Pomeroy is considering a new angle on chapter leadership: train some tutors and have them travel to chapters; one-day leadership workshops; chapter visits by NAS staff; conference calls with whomever.

Since this meeting was held right on the edge of Everglades National Park, the Everglades Restoration Campaign was ever-present. The action taken by the board was to endorse a Statement of Principles that builds on the cooperation between NAS and Florida Audubon in the recent past. It lays out exactly how this cooperation will continue. If anyone wants a copy, please let me know.

A resolution was passed that authorizes Audubon-California to proceed with a proposed "purchase" of the Nature Conservancy's Kern River Reserve for a trial period during which both Audubon and TNC will make sure everybody is happy. If the transfer is eventually completed, the cost of maintenance is estimated at $70 to $80 thousand per year. Although this represents a significant amount of funding, Dan Taylor believes that the potential of this property to advance the Audubon cause AND its ability to attract an endowment that would make it self-sufficient are extremely high. The board concurred and passed the resolution unanimously.

The next board meeting will be in Mexico and will feature all parts of our Latin American programs. All chapters south of our border have expressed a desire to send delegates to the meeting, but some will have difficulty getting money for transportation. All those interested in making a special donation for this purpose should send it to Walt Pomeroy. The total needed is about $4,000.

PUBLIC POLICY COMMITTEE:

The five national campaign priorities as set by a vote of the membership are: endangered species, population, forest issues, wetlands, and wildlife refuges. Since these campaigns are not "ranked" and should, all other things being equal, be given equal effort and expense by NAS, I asked the Policy Committee to try and come up with some way to demonstrate to the membership that each issue does, in fact, get a proper proportion of our efforts. It is understood that situations arise where one issue has to be given special treatment (i.e., all things are not always equal), but my point was that if the members do not have a clear view of the Big Picture, they *will* feel that their issue is being given the short end. (comment: and sometimes they will be right. More open discussions and explanations will help to prevent this from happening.) Helen Engle added that she would like to see policy issues where board action will be required be written up and given to directors who are *not* on the appropriate committees, giving them enough lead time so that they do not have to vote "cold" in the meeting. At this time board members are only allowed to serve on one program committee, so they do not see all issues in which they are interested.

Wildlife Refuges: a 7-year campaign is envisioned. It will: include the ARK program reaching out to involve local members and chapters; identify 50,000 advocates for Alaska refuges in the lower 48 states; reach out to college students for the ARK program; publicize citizen guides for strategy; promote organic legislation for refuges; campaign to make ANWR designated as Wilderness.

Dan Beard predicted what the 105th Congress will do: probably be much slower and more deliberate, which gives us a chance. ESA will be the first major issue to come up, and it will be very difficult. Clean Water Act is on the radar screen; we have a white paper in progress for the Mexico meeting of the board. Refuge legislation will be a great opportunity for us. Forestry "health" legislation will threaten us again. There will be follow-up on farm legislation amendments that we liked last time through. The Garrison Diversion is back, long after we thought it was dead. Teaming with Wildlife is moving forward. Platte River progress coming. The National Park finance (sponsors) bill will return. Superfund. Clean Air.

It's never easy, but this time we have an opportunity to play on offense!

Finally, a comment that we need to integrate the recreational industry into our fold. 8 of the top 10 of the fastest growing recreational activities (survey due out in January) are perfectly compatible with our goals.

SCIENCE COMMITTEE:

A long discussion was held in committee about how proactive should science be in the Audubon agenda? Although sooner is sometimes better, there is a thin line between credibility and proactivity. If we overstep, we can be accused of promoting an agenda instead of relying on science, and we lose credibility.

WatchList: there was a very short timeline to introduce the WatchList. Where do we go next? Media events fade quickly. Internally the WL is a drumbeat for us: should we ask Birdathon contributors for more money for WL birds that we find? Should we pay special attention in feeder watches to WL birds? Should Audubon Magazine promote the WL?

BirdSource: a database for population trends that we are co-sponsoring with Cornell. 1st generation software is nearly done; testing with 500 submitters will begin soon. One of the problems not yet solved is how to bring in established databases already out there with valuable data.

Frank Gill presented a resolution for an exploration of the possibility of joint publication of Field Notes with the ABA. Ted Eubanks expressed grave concern that this might prove to be an abdication of NAS' responsibilities with birds and birding. He said that he would vote for the exploration, but that as always, the devil would be in the details. Ben Olewine expressed similar concerns. The resolution passed.

Respectfully submitted,

Y'r O'b't Servant,

Chuck Bragg