The recent meeting of the NAS Board was another very positive and
encouraging experience. It is an exciting time to be a part of Audubon
and to see the exceptional progress which is being made in so many
areas. At this meeting it was Birds, Birds, Birds!

We met with our sister Audubon's from Latin America and our own Latin
America and Caribbean Program director, Alejandro Grajal, and got a
first hand appreciation of the extent of the Latin American Audubons'
efforts in bird conservation and the promotion of the Important Bird
Area program in Latin America. Representatives were there from the
Audubons of Belize, Panama, Ecuador, and Venezuela. The announcement was
made of a gift of $460,000, which will be matched, to promote IBA
programs in 10 separate countries in Latin America--a major effort in
bird and habitat conservation with substantial implications for our
migratory birds.

We also met with Michael Rands, the Director of BirdLife International,
and a variety of Latin American BirdLife members, and the NAS Board
agreed to become the U. S. Partner Designate of BirdLife International
subject to approval by the Board of BirdLife. This is a cooperative
group of partners working throughout the world in more than 100
countries for the conservation of birds and their habitat. For Audubon
to become the partner for the U.S. is a major indication that Audubon is
THE U.S. bird conservation organization.

BirdSource, our cooperative effort with the Cornell Laboratory of
Ornithology, is continuing to make history. The participation in the Big
Backyard Bird Count jumped from 30,000 last year to over 67,000 this
year. It has doubled each of the 3 years. BirdCast is a new BirdSource
program to be launched this year as a pilot in the Washington,
Baltimore, Philadelphia area tracking migration. The use of pesticides
will be a major issue in this program. The classroom component of
BirdSource also continues to expand.

The Policy Committee established a position for Audubon priorities
involving litigation to place the primary focus on issues relating to
IBA's. Birds will be the primary concern in determining whether or not
we enter into litigation. The committee also agreed that the priority
for Audubon's efforts should be Audubon's Mission, and we should be
restrained about signing on to litigation initiated by other groups.
There has been a history of all or most major conservation organization
joining together on the same litigation. The committee supported the
Policy Department's position that this does not make a lot of sense. Our
most recent successes to stop a planned major killing of Blackbirds by
the Department of Agriculture and the destruction of Caspian tern
colonies by the Corps of Engineers are good indications of Audubon's
focus.

The decision was also made to award the Audubon Medal to Chandler
Robbins, whom some of us consider to be the foremost bird
conservationist in America today. Considering his continued efforts on
behalf of bird and habitat conservation in Latin America, it was fitting
that the decision was made there.

On other fronts we now have 24 staffed state offices with plans under
way for Arkansas to become number 25. The Greening of America campaign
to raise $30 million to complete the process of establishing state
offices across the country has been launched. Audubon Centers are being
developed at Debs Park in Los Angeles, Arrowhead Marsh in Oakland,
Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY, Spring Creek in Nebraska, Strawberry
Plains in Mississippi, the Shehan Center in Maryland, and a major new
building is planned at Greenwich, CT with the fundraising going very
well. Potential additional Centers are being explored virtually all over
the country. On the development front, NAS Board members have donated
$700,000 so far this fiscal year.

You will receive a separate up date on the Membership Task Force, so I
will not belabor that here. The response and participation has been
extensive which is encouraging. The responses have reinforced the
concern that the NAS chapter requirements need to be re-examined. The
Membership Task Force recommended the creation of a separate task force
to examine "The Essential Elements of a Chapter," which the Board agreed
to. The task force has been appointed. The Membership Task Force also
recommended the establishment of a separate task force to analyze the
issues which have been raised concerning the magazine and its
relationship to membership and the communication of Audubon program
activities. This is beyond the scope, and capability, of the Membership
Task Force. The Board agreed to the appointment of this task force. I
believe that these three activities addressing Audubon's membership, the
essential elements of a chapter, and the combination of magazine,
membership, and communication will go a long way to help us create a far
more effective Audubon. This is also very responsive to what the
Membership Task Force has been hearing from our Chapters and state
Councils. The  Convention in California last weekend had three open
discussions on the membership proposals, and the task Force will shortly
send out an update to clarify where we are at this point.

A separate Board task force completed an extensive examination of
Audubon's various award programs, some of which have been dormant for a
while. The award program has been revised and updated, outdated awards
have been dropped and a new Hazel Wolfe Lifetime Achievement--Great
Egret Award has been created to honor individuals who have made
significant long-term contributions to the National Audubon Society and
conservation in pursuit of the Audubon Cause.

At the recent convention awards were announced for Richmond Audubon
Society and Fairfax Audubon Society in the newsletter contest and Cape
Henry Audubon Society in the Web site contest. The Mid-Atlantic did
well!

Dave Pardoe
Mid-Atlantic Regional Director
National Audubon Society Board of Directors