Travis Audubon Society
3710 Cedar St.
Box 5
Austin, Texas 78705
512.300.BIRD (2473)
info@travisaudubon.org
3710 Cedar St.
Box 5
Austin, Texas 78705
512.300.BIRD (2473)
info@travisaudubon.org
- TRAVIS AUDUBON SOCIETY COMMITTEES
Travis Audubon Society carries out a rich array of programs and
activities thanks to the expertise and hard work of a dedicated
cadre of volunteers. Volunteers may serve on one or more
committees, for a season, a year, or many years running. Our
current committee structure follows below.
Please contact the Committee leader to find out how to volunteer
with that committee. You do not need special training or
expertise to serve on a committee, but we hope you will be a
chapter member of Travis Audubon Society.
Urban Habitat Development Committee:
Chair: Jane Tillman, 794.0058 or EMAIL
This Committee works with home owners and schools providing
information and education on good stewardship for wildlife,
emphasizing the impact of our activities on wildlife habitat.
This committee provides training to those interested in
becoming a habitat steward. The next training will take place in
September, 2007. Watch our website and your email for dates.
The Urban Habitat Development Committee is spearheading
TAS efforts to qualify Austin as a Certified Wildlife Community.
Program Committee:
Chair: Ann Gardner, EMAIL or 306.0737
The program committee provides a wide variety of speakers for
our monthly general membership meeting. They are always
open to new ideas and suggestions on topics that you may want
to learn about. Join this committee and help to make our
meetings the place to be each third Thursday of each month 8
months out of the year!
The fall lineup is in the developing stages – get involved!
Hornsby Bend Committee:
Chair: Priscilla Murr, EMAIL priscillamurr (at) sbcglobal.net
The Hornsby Bend Committee meets quarterly to discuss
improving the birding experience at Hornsby Bend and also to
support the activities of both the Center for Environmental
Research at Hornsby Bend and the Hornsby Bend
Bio-solids Treatment Facility. Hornsby Bend is, of course, the
best place to observe birds in the Austin area. We want to
ensure this continues to be the case, especially as recent
development around Hornsby Bend threatens this important
habitat.
The Hornsby Bend Committee sponsors the Hawk Watch each
year. This year's Hornsby Bend Hawk Watch starts on Saturday,
August 18, 2007. It will run until October 28, 2007. Both Gary
Newgord and Peg Wallace will be leading the watch this year.
Current plans call for the watch station to be open on Fridays,
Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays from around 9 a.m. till 5 p.m.
This schedule may vary somewhat in order to catch mass
movements in the wake of cold fronts. Check the Hornsby Bend
Bird Observatory web site for hawk watch results from past
years.
Visitor’s to this year’s Hawkwatch will see some big
improvements. We’ve added chairs to allow for a more
comfortable viewing experience and we’ve acquired a new,
stable tripod for the spotting scope. We have also bought a
portable weather station to correlate hawk movements with
meteorological conditions.
Education Committee:
Chair: Byron Stone, 451-3380; EMAIL
Co-Chair:
The Education Committee is dedicated to providing high-quality
educational opportunities geared toward environmental
conservation, bird identification, and bird-friendly habitat
awareness for all ages. We focus on topics related to birds but
also offer other nature topics as appropriate, and suggestions
for new courses are welcomed.
The Education Committee oversees the development and
implementation of Travis Audubon's popular series of classes
(see the "classes" webpage for a listing of TAS classes). If you
are interested in conservation, natural history, and education,
you should consider joining the Education Committee.
Publication Committee:
Chair: Tess Sherman, EMAIL
The Publication Committee oversees the bi-monthly publication
of the Travis Audubon newsletter, Signal Smoke. Additionally,
the committee creates other TAS –related flyers, logos,
announcements as needed. We’re always looking for good
writers with a strong interest in developing articles covering a
range of topics including birding, conservation issues, and
broader nature themes. If you can provide photos or other
graphics for your article, even better! Our readership spans from
beginning birders to very advanced enthusiasts and
professionals working in the biological and environmental
sciences.
Field Trip Committee:
Chair: Stan VanSandt
Meeting Info: The Field Trip committee meets 30 minutes before
each TAS general membership meeting
Contact Info: EMAIL
The Field Trips Committee is dedicated to providing diverse and
interesting field trips every weekend of the year except for holiday
weekends. In addition we offer some mid-week field trips as well
as multi-day excursions to more remote locations. It is unique
among Audubon societies to offer field trips every weekend. In
fact, it is not uncommon to have more than one field trip to
choose from on a given weekend.
This committee is exploring opportunities that can broaden the
knowledge base of birders to include grassland tours, butterfly /
dragonfly / damselfly ID walks, and bat emergence viewing.
These varied opportunities in addition to our focus on the birds
also provides outreach to the communities we serve while not
losing site of our primary purpose to "inspire conservation
through birding".
The Field Trip Committee maintains an active email
conversation during the month where we share ideas and
handle scheduling for future field trips. This committee is made
up of TAS members who are passionate about the diversity of
nature and “inspiring conservation through birding.” We always
welcome new committee members and we would love to hear
from you if you have a field trip that you want to lead or would like
to suggest a place to go.
Habitat Conservation:
Chair: Valarie Bristol, EMAIL
The mission of the Habitat Conservation Committee is to provide
the Travis Audubon chapter with opportunities to preserve bird
habitats in the chapter’s service area. The committee will gather
and compile information on bird habitats in prairies, riparian
forests, hill country areas, and any other important bird areas.
The Committee will look for partnerships to support protecting
important habitats identified by the Committee and make
recommendations to the chapter for action.
Recently, the Habitat Conservation Committee working in
cooperation with other environmental groups in Hays County,
helped ensure passage of a $30 million bond package for land
and water conservation as well as for parks. The voters of Hays
County approved the bond package on May 12, 2007 by 68% of
the vote.
The Hays County Commissioners will now form an oversight
committee to make recommendations for projects. One
possible project is for Golden-checked Warbler habitat in Hays
County.
Sanctuary Committee:
Chair: Terri Siegenthaler
Meets quarterly.
Contact Info: EMAIL
The Sanctuary Committee oversees the management of the
sanctuaries, facilitates sanctuary management by the stewards
and determines the best management practices. The
Committee also offers direction and support to the sanctuary
stewards. The calendars for the sanctuaries are established
during the Committee’s quarterly meetings.
The Sanctuary Committee hosts periodic work days at the
sanctuaries. Watch for these work days in the Signal Smoke.
Hospitality Committee:
Chair: Susan Moak, EMAIL
You can thank Susan Moak for that yummy food at each of our
general membership meetings.
Latin America Committee:
Chair: Bob Warneke, EMAIL
In recognition of the fact that many of our central Texas birds,
including the Golden- cheeked Warbler and the Black-capped
Vireo, live a significant portion of their lives in Latin America, the
Latin America Committee seeks to help preserve Latin American
habitat so that we in can continue to enjoy these birds in Central
Texas. To that end, this Committee has established the
following goals:
1. Partner with other environmental organizations in projects
that will preserve and enhance the environment for birds in Latin
America.
2. Find projects that TAS can accomplish on our own that will
preserve and enhance the environment for birds in Latin America.
3. Encourage travel to Latin America by TAS members in
order to increase interest in and commitment to preserving the
environment in LA.
4. Partner with Birders Exchange to help collect equipment
and ensure TAS groups visiting Latin America serve as couriers
when needed.
Property and Finance Committee:
Chair: Vacant
The Property and Finance Committee safeguards the assets
and investments of TAS. This Committee provides information
and recommendations to the Board for the best use of our
assets and investments. The Board, after receiving the
information and recommendations, provides direction to the
Committee for the use and management of our assets and
investments.
Bird Records Committee:
Chair: Ethel Kutac
Co-Chair: Lawrence Buford
Generally meets the 4th Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m.
Contact Info: Ethel Kutac, 346-7659; Lawrence Buford: 452.6344
This Committee compiles and records bird records received
from birders in a 60 mile radius of Austin, Texas. The purpose of
the committee is to develop and compose a checklist providing
where specific birds can be located, their abundance, their
breeding status, etc. These checklists are published in 5 year
intervals.
This web site Bird Records was developed for entering bird
records and was set up in 2005 for your convenience. One
objective was to compile accurate records for the next check list.
If you do not have a computer, please send records to Ethel
Kutac, c/o Travis Audubon Society, 3710 Cedar St., Box 5, Austin,
TX 78705
Advocacy Committee:
Chair: Jeff Mundy
The Advocacy Committee pursues the most fundamental aspect
of TAS' mission. Historically, Audubon members have been the
voice for bird conservation speaking for the birds who cannot
speak for themselves. This committee works on very targeted
issues to advise the Board of Directors on issues in our area of
particular importance to bird conservation. If the Board of
Directors decides that TAS should undertake advocacy on an
issue, this committee then becomes the voice of TAS, appearing
before the appropriate governmental entities to advance the
position authorized by TAS.
Contact the TAS office at 300-BIRD if you have any issues you
feel might be appropriate for the Advocacy Committee to review.
Membership Committee
Chair: Nancy Manning, EMAIL
The Membership Committee is tasked with identifying the
interests of the current membership to ensure adequate benefits
of membership, recruits new members, and institutes
membership drives.
Fundraising Committee:
Chair: Nancy Manning, EMAIL
This committee spearheads development plans for the chapter,
develops and implements fundraising plan.
| Volunteer? |
Would you like to
volunteer your time
and talents to Travis
Audubon? We could
not function without
volunteers. Please
contact the office for
current needs.
volunteer your time
and talents to Travis
Audubon? We could
not function without
volunteers. Please
contact the office for
current needs.
Travis Audubon Committees
| Crested Caracara (Jim G. deVries) |
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