INTRODUCTION:
The mission statement of the Francis M. Weston Audubon Society (FMWAS) is “the conservation of birds and the habitat that supports them”.  All chapter activities have the goal of supporting this mission; nevertheless, this document will address those activities directly involved in conservation, including, but not limited to, habitat enhancement, monitoring wildlife population trends, commenting on state and federal agency resource management plans, and public position statements on important conservation issues in our area.  The chapter serves Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, Florida, but many of our conservation activities extend statewide and nationally.

This plan is broadly framed to guide a long-term approach.  It does not address every nuance of an issue, nor is it meant to preclude action on unexpected threats or opportunities.  Every member of the chapter is herein offered a pathway to participate in meaningful conservation activities.  There are at least three components to this plan which will be discussed in the following paragraphs:
a.) Promoting bird-friendly communities
b.) Encouraging citizen science and environmental stewardship
c.) Engaging in policy advocacy and effective communication with governmental officials

PROMOTING BIRD-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES:
Over the past century, urbanization has fragmented and transformed contiguous, ecologically productive lands into sterile lawns edged by exotic landscape plants.  Humans have introduced walls of glass, toxic chemicals, and domestic predators into formerly natural landscapes. 

The human-dominated landscape no longer supports naturally functioning ecosystems nor provides healthy places for birds. How can we restore even a small portion of the unfriendly altered landscape into hospitable, welcoming places for birds and other wildlife?

Conservation begins at home.  FMWAS is committed to transforming our community into places where birds flourish one yard at a time.  This should be the focus of all our conservation activities.  There are simple actions we can all take to provide essential, safe habitat for birds, including:

Native plants for birds
By choosing native plants when we landscape our yards, neighborhood parks, and public spaces, we help restore vital habitats for birds in our communities.  We will encourage the use of native plants in our home yards, as well as in public projects. A list of native plants appropriate to the NW Florida climate is posted at the Longleaf Pine Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society website: longleafpine.fnpschapters.org

Lights out: Creating safe passage
Cities across the North American flyway have begun turning off the lights in large buildings at night during migration, reducing the disorienting effect of light pollution and collision with windows in buildings in urban areas, especially on foggy nights. 

The architects of the recently completed Baptist Hospital in Pensacola have incorporated into all the large windows of the buildings an etching that is visible to birds and will reduce or eliminate bird strikes on that multi-story building.  Whether at home or on small buildings, both cryptic and bird-figure decals, and bird tape applied to windows can reduce bird collisions, especially when bird feeders are placed nearby.   

Providing homes for cavity-nesting birds
Many species of birds can be given a better chance to survive and thrive through the availability of cavities and spaces in trees, in surrogate nest boxes, on nesting platforms and roosting towers, and in artificial burrows.  Such human-provided spaces can tip the scales in favor of birds that have lost the natural places they once used. 

We can also leave dead snags standing for birds like woodpeckers unless they represent a hazard to humans.  We have proposed to the City of Pensacola that the chapter installs at Corrine Jones Park, a recently constructed water treatment pond, a set of Eastern Bluebird houses, bat nesting boxes, chimney swift towers, and Purple Martin gourd clusters similar to those installed by Apalachee AS in Tallahassee. 

Keep cats indoors
Predation of birds by domestic cats is the number-one threat to native birds in the United States and Canada.  In the US alone, outdoor cats kill approximately 2.4 billion birds every year.  The best way to protect birds and other native wildlife is to keep cats indoors.

Buy Bird-friendly coffee
Purchasing bird-friendly coffee supports coffee growers in Central and South America who maintain traditional growing practices and provide critical winter habitat for neotropical migrants.  www.audubon.org/coffee

Avoid or reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers
Water defines many of our natural ecosystems.  What we put on/in the ground either sinks into an aquifer that provides us with drinking water or drains into our rivers and estuaries through runoff.  Pesticides and fertilizers follow the path of water to contaminate those water resources, where the pollutants can accumulate and create toxic levels.  Reducing this source of pollution improves the health of all living systems. Fortunately, planting native plants in our yards reduces water requirements.  This leads to our next topic…

Practice water conservation
While our two counties are blessed with adequate water resources, reduced water use for irrigation or other human uses is a prudent practice to develop in many of our activities.  For example, the use of native plants in landscaping our yards can take advantage of the natural feature of those plants to require less water than exotic, non-native plants.

Collecting rainwater in rain barrels and using that fresh water to irrigate both indoor and outdoor plants reduces the need to use chlorinated drinking water for that purpose, and can be easier on ornamental plants than chlorinated water from the tap. Check out local hardware stores for the availability of rain barrels. 

ENCOURAGING CITIZEN SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
FMWAS offers its members the opportunity to contribute to scientific observations and conservation policy development through Citizen Science projects.  Long-term avian population monitoring is important for detecting species population declines, range changes, and effects of landscape-level habitat alterations.  FMWAS members have volunteered for years for a number of such efforts, including the Blackwater River State Forest 3-year bird survey, Eagle Watch, Beach-nesting Shorebird Monitoring, and eBird reporting. 

Bird Christmas Count
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a long-standing conservation program of the National Audubon Society, with over 100 years of citizen involvement.  We join thousands of volunteers across the United States, Canada, and many other countries in the Western Hemisphere in conducting a bird count within 24 hours in December.  The data collected by CBC participants over the decades has created one of the largest data pools of bird population information available to scientists in the US.

Each year, dozens of FMWAS volunteers take part in the CBC in our area.  The local count covers a 15-mile-in-diameter circle in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties; the circle is divided into 13 sections of varying sizes.  On the third Saturday of December, thirteen teams of at least two team members each take a section to cover at least from dawn to dusk, often ending for a group dinner to consolidate results. For the past few years, the count has been coordinated by Daniel Stangland.  In the past, some of our members have also participated in two CBC counts in adjacent counties to the east and west.

Great Backyard Bird Count
Since its inception a quarter of a century ago, FMWAS members have participated in this annual birding event, which is held over four days on the third weekend in February.  A program initiated and sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, and BirdsCanada, this inventory assesses the status of birdlife in North America during the heart of northern hemisphere winter, compared to many bird breeding surveys that are conducted during the summer breeding season. GBBC is featured in activities of both the Field Trip and Outreach Committees.   

Shorebird Stewardship Program
The Shorebird Stewardship Program engages volunteer stewards to help with all sorts of work related to shorebird conservation and research. Imperiled beach-nesting species include Least Tern, Black Skimmer, Snowy Plover, Wilson’s Plover, and American Oystercatcher. One way to help Florida’s beach-nesting birds is to become a bird steward at a beach or rooftop site.

At beach-nesting sites, stewards who volunteer help ensure beachgoers do not enter fragile nesting areas and help educate visitors about the remarkable species that rely on Florida’s shores for survival. Audubon will train you on the bird protection and biology you will need to be successful.

Interested individuals should like spending time on the beach and interacting with the public. Volunteers also help install symbolic fencing to rope off critical beach-nesting bird habitats, assist biologists with shorebird surveys, participate in beach cleanups, and other volunteer opportunities that emerge throughout the year.

During the non-breeding season, wintering shorebird species, including the federally protected Piping Plover and Red Knot, are closely monitored with a focus on collecting data on their movement and habitat utilization to better protect them.

Audubon Florida POC is Brian Cammarano, Senior Coordinator, Shorebird Stewardship Florida Panhandle cell: (954) 263-4329.  Chapter members interested in becoming a shorebird steward or participating in any coastal conservation volunteer activity, please follow this link: Audubon Florida Coastal Stewardship Volunteer Interest

Eagle Watch
Audubon Florida has assumed from the Federal government and Florida FWS responsibility for monitoring the Bald Eagles which nest and breed in Florida.  Volunteers are educated in general eagle biology, applicable laws, nest monitoring techniques, and reporting of nest monitoring and nesting success to a central office located at the Center for Birds of Prey (CBOP) in Maitland, FL.  FMWAS members monitor approximately 12 Bald Eagle nests in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, and report their observations to CBOP attention Shawnlei Breeding, the Audubon Eagle Watch Coordinator.  Jim Brady and his CLI mentees monitor the Bald Eagle nest on the University of West Florida campus.

Other inventories
FMWAS members have also participated in other inventories of local bird life, both formal and informal.  Several of our chapter members, led by the late Peggy Baker, conducted a three-year study of the birdlife of Blackwater River State Forest. Other members, led by Jan Lloyd, have regularly conducted a nighttime census of breeding Caprimulgids, called Nightjar Survey, in a designated area of Santa Rosa County during the full moon in mid-summer. See www.nightjars.org

Northwest Florida Regional Conservation Committee (RCC)
FMWAS is a member of the four-chapter RCC serving Northwest Florida (Apalachee AS, Bay County AS, and Choctawhatchee AS are the other members).  The RCC meets quarterly to discuss progress on common goals and emerging conservation issues in the region. 

Membership in the RCC consists of the President and the Conservation Chair of each chapter, and other chapter members are welcome to attend meetings.  Annually, in September, the RCC sets goals for the following calendar year and submits those goals to Audubon Florida at the annual Audubon Assembly for incorporation into the state conservation plan.  Quarterly meetings are often held in locations where a field trip can be incorporated into the meeting schedule. A staff member from Audubon Florida supports the RCC, and activities of the RCC are reported to the Chapters Committee of Audubon Florida. 

POLICY ADVOCACY AND COMMUNICATIONS WITH STATE OFFICIALS
Background
We live in one of the most beautiful, least developed, and biodiverse regions of the state of Florida. Nevertheless, threats to this natural beauty are seemingly endless.  Examples of constant threats include:

– new development as NW Florida continues to attract human migrants from both out of state as well as from the lower peninsula, creating new large subdivisions on previously undeveloped forests and former cotton fields. 
– oil exploration along our coast,
– bureaucratic indifference at both state and county levels, and
– consideration of inappropriate activities in our state parks and forests. 

To meet these and other threats, we will work with Audubon Florida and other conservation allies to:

-Actively support state and local laws and programs that protect conservation lands and provide management of those lands to restore and maintain water, habitat, and wildlife.
– Support the use of Florida Forever funds to acquire, restore, and manage properties of special interest throughout the state.
– Focus on sites and projects that yield the greatest benefits for wildlife, especially birds.

Important Bird Areas
Important Bird Areas (IBA) are sites that provide essential habitat for one or more species of birds.  There are currently over 100 IBAs within Florida and Audubon Florida has historically made their protection one of its top priorities. There are several recognized IBAs encompassing hundreds of acres of conservation land in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, many of which support populations of species of conservation concern, including Bachman’s Sparrow, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, several species of shorebirds, etc. 

The view of Audubon Florida is that IBAs have lost much of their importance in terms of manpower and bureaucratic tracking.  FMWAS may still develop projects in an IBA, similar to our 3-year study in Blackwater River State Forest
Important Bird Areas (IBA) are sites that provide essential habitat for one or more species of birds.  There are currently over 100 IBAs within Florida and Audubon Florida has historically made their protection one of its top priorities. There are several recognized IBAs encompassing hundreds of acres of conservation land in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, many of which support populations of species of conservation concern, including Bachman’s Sparrow, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, several species of shorebirds, etc.  The view of Audubon Florida is that IBAs have lost much of their importance in terms of manpower and bureaucratic tracking.  FMWAS may still develop projects in an IBA, similar to our 3-year study in Blackwater River State Forest

Land Acquisition and ARC procedures
The Florida Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC), a governing body appointed by the Governor, meets irregularly to review proposed land acquisition issues, and quarterly to consider formal land management reviews, final acquisition decisions, and other issues of state land management.  FMWAS members have and will continue to, attend meetings of ARC when properties in NW Florida are being considered for purchase by the Florida Forever funds.

Management of State conservation lands
Of equal importance to land acquisition is the wise management of our conservation lands. Many of these lands require significant restoration, all need sound management.  In many cases, prescribed burn is critically important to the maintenance of longleaf pine ecosystems on these state properties.

Every state conservation property has a resource management plan which is reviewed at regular intervals (5 and 10-year intervals) with opportunities for public participation and comment.  FMWAS has regularly been invited to participate in the formal review of these management plans for properties in NW Florida, which are ultimately reviewed and approved by the Acquisition and Restoration Council. 

As an invited member of the review team, FMWAS can bring a unique perspective by focusing on actions proposed or being proposed that can have an impact on bird populations, especially species of concern, on the state property.  Our chapter has a wealth of scientific and resource management expertise within our membership. 

We will actively enlist such members to participate in reviewing resource management plans, as well as conducting bird surveys to support management plans on these state properties.   FMWAS has also been invited to attend quarterly meetings of the Blackwater River State Forest management review. 

FMWAS CONSERVATION COMMITTEE CHAIR JOB DESCRIPTION
Management of State conservation lands
Of equal importance to land acquisition is the wise management of our conservation lands. Many of these lands require significant restoration, all need sound management.  In many cases, prescribed burn is critically important to the maintenance of longleaf pine ecosystems on these state properties.

Every state conservation property has a resource management plan which is reviewed at regular intervals (5 and 10-year intervals) with opportunities for public participation and comment.  FMWAS has regularly been invited to participate in the formal review of these management plans for properties in NW Florida, which are ultimately reviewed and approved by the Acquisition and Restoration Council. 

As an invited member of the review team, FMWAS can bring a unique perspective by focusing on actions proposed or being proposed that can have an impact on bird populations, especially species of concern, on the state property.  Our chapter has a wealth of scientific and resource management expertise within our membership. 

We will actively enlist such members to participate in reviewing resource management plans, as well as conducting bird surveys to support management plans on these state properties.   FMWAS has also been invited to attend quarterly meetings of the Blackwater River State Forest management review. 

FMWAS CONSERVATION COMMITTEE CHAIR JOB DESCRIPTION
The Conservation Committee Chair (Conservation Chair) is responsible for planning, organizing, and directing all aspects of all Board sanctioned citizen science/conservation projects including coordinating sites and locations of the citizen science/conservation efforts, setting up citizen science/conservation itineraries including collaborations, rendezvous, scheduling, and logistics. The conservation chair, as a member of the Board per the by-laws, has equal fiduciary obligations.
1. Personally recruits, trains, and qualifies an Assistant Conservation Committee Chair as a designated successor when or if the need arises.
2. Prepares annual budget submissions to ensure effective conservation committee operations.
3. Regularly consults, coordinates, proposes, and achieves approval during a board of directors’ meetings on policy, planning, and delivery of avian-based citizen science/conservation projects on a near- and long-term basis.
4. Coordinates with the publications committee chair and website committee chair in writing/electronic messages regarding upcoming and ongoing avian-based citizen science/conservation projects to ensure coverage in “The Skimmer,” “Mailchimp®,” FMWAS website, FMWAS Facebook, and social and local media outlets.
5. Recruit and train ample conservation committee members to enable a larger profile for FMWAS avian-based citizen science/conservation project contributions and ensure the conservation committee workload is fairly distributed.
6. Maintains a conservation committee checklist including the steps required to ensure any FMWAS avian-based citizen science/conservation project enjoys a high potential for success.
7. Ensures that every FMWAS avian-based citizen science/conservation project includes a protocol, weather go-no-go, and safety briefing including, but not limited to: sun, insects, noxious plants, snakes, and risks to optics by sprays and repellents/sunscreen.
8. Ensures that every FMWAS avian-based citizen science/conservation project participant provides individually signed Release and Indemnification Forms or that they have an up-to-date form on file. Un-emancipated minor Release and Indemnification forms must be co-signed by a parent or legal guardian.
9. Closely coordinates with recording secretary for retention of all original, signed Release and Indemnification Forms.
10. Closely coordinates with the recording secretary to regularly share the Master List of all signed Release and Indemnification Forms. This Master List shall be made available to all FMWAS avian-based citizen science/conservation project team leaders.
11. Advises the board of directors on pertinent conservation issues.
12. Recommends to the board of directors FMWAS conservation strategies.
13. Prepares the president or any other designated spokesperson(s) to speak to the media and government regarding national, regional, and local conservation issues including FMWAS avian-based citizen science/conservation projects.
14. Speaks to the monthly membership meetings on national, regional, and local conservation issues including FMWAS avian-based citizen science/conservation projects.
15. Closely coordinates with the University of West Florida, Pensacola State College, governmental agencies, and like-minded not-for-profit organizations to achieve alliance opportunities for FMWAS avian-based citizen science/conservation projects including UWF Waterfowl Survey, Audubon Florida Shorebird Survey et.al.
16. Serves as a member of the FMWAS delegation to the Audubon Florida Regional Conservation Committee.
17. Prepares an annual conservation committee report and delivers the report at the annual planning meeting.
18. Completes other duties as the president might assign from time to time.