Stewardship News A PUBLICATION OF AUDUBON INTERNATIONAL
VOLUME 15, ISSUE 1 • WINTER 2012
Refining Our Approach RON DODSON
T
he highest grossing film in 1985 was a science fiction adventure movie that featured Michael J. Fox traipsing through time in a flying Delorean. The film was so popular that it was followed by two additional versions. It is hard to believe that it has been nearly 30 years since the film hit the big screen. It is also difficult for me to believe that it has been 25 years since a small group of individuals who were interested in conservation re-started The Audubon Society of New York State, which later became known as Audubon International. Many things have changed over the past 25 years, some positive and some just the opposite. However, one thing that hasn’t changed is the commitment that the staff of Audubon International has to helping people help the environment where they live, work and play. We continue to be committed to doing whatever we can to protect
and enhance the quality of the environment, with a focus on wildlife and water as our “litmus” test of the effectiveness of our efforts on the environment. Over the past 25 years, it has been interesting to see many other organizations create similar approaches to working positively with people and businesses as opposed to their previously negative, anti-everything approach to defending the environment. We were the first environmental organization to take such an approach and in the early years we were regularly beat up for our actions of advocating conservation. To a degree it is somewhat pleasing to see some of our early detractors now promoting similar approaches to what we created a quarter century ago. It has also been interesting to see the development of the “buzz word of the year” approach to advocating for environmental action. Certification
of one type or another is being hyped by hundreds, if not thousands of groups. Sustainability is thrown around so much and with so many different meanings that it has nearly become meaningless. Green, in one form or another has been used so much that many people have started complaining of “Green Fatigue.” Through all of this, Audubon International has worked diligently to stay true to our mission and our focus. There were years when it must have seemed like I was leading us to become involved in various activities that may have sounded well off the mission. However, I was advocating for energy efficiency and appropriate waste management because we knew that the exploration, production and transmission of power often adversely impacts wildlife habitat and water quality. We know that the most elegant way to continued on page 3