Connecting People and Nature Inspire. Preserve. Enjoy. Our Campaign
Connecting People and Nature Inspire. Preserve. Enjoy. assachusetts is beautiful. With our bogs and bays, mountains and marshes, rivers and rocky shores, we boast a natural diversity unique among our 50 states. But this very diversity, and a desire to align conservation efforts to the needs and aspirations of the state’s citizens, demands a concerted and integrated effort if we’re to conserve the Commonwealth for future generations.
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We need to understand and protect our most important connections to nature—the air, water, and land upon which people and wildlife depend. Changes to the landscape are happening all around us: sometimes obvious, often more subtle.The threats of climate change make it even more important to understand our choices and how they may affect the future. But there are many things we know today. The opportunity to preserve land in our state is rapidly diminishing. Children and adults are less connected to nature. And seeing a beaver swim across a pond, an osprey glide to its nest, or hearing the welcome sound of spring peepers every year are experiences that can never be replaced by television, text messaging, or the Internet. Many of you share these concerns––and a sense of urgency––but may not know how to help make a difference. Mass Audubon provides the unique opportunity for all of us to participate in protecting the nature of Massachusetts.
“The work that Mass Audubon does in the next several years is likely to be seen 100 years from now as critical in the effort to protect New England’s biodiversity and natural beauty.” E.O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Pellegrino University Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
Whether you are an active birder, care deeply about preserving undeveloped land, want to ensure that all children in the Commonwealth develop a curiosity about the natural world, share concern about broad environmental threats, or simply enjoy a quiet walk in the woods—Mass Audubon can help you connect to, and protect, what’s important to you. We know that there is not one easy solution to the multiple challenges we face. This is why Mass Audubon’s interlocking strategies of conservation, education, and advocacy––combined with the necessary research and planning for successful execution––are essential to achieving our shared goals. But environmental challenges in our state and throughout the world are not static, and there is much more to do: we need to adjust and expand our approach if we’re going to continue to succeed. Mass Audubon’s campaign––Connecting People and Nature––aims to do just that: establish, enhance, and extend connections between people and nature, and people and people. It’s an ambitious agenda, a big job that we can’t do alone. As we work together, our expertise, resources, and passion are magnified––and young imaginations inspired. With your support, we can preserve the beauty and unique diversity of the place we call home. •
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24, 500, 000 a nc t ua r yPos i t i ons 2, 500, 000 EndowedS 7, 376, 000
7, 800, 000 2, 500, 000
2, 080, 000 S t a t ewi deBi r dCons er v a t i onPr og r a ms 1, 300, 000
6, 944, 000
“Healing the broken bond between our young and nature is in our self-interest, not only because aesthetics or justice demands it, but also because our mental, physical, and spiritual health depend upon it. The health of the earth is at stake as well. How the young respond to nature, and how they raise their own children, will shape the configuration and conditions of our cities, homes––our daily lives.” Richard Louv Author, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
ass Audubon builds bonds between people and their natural environment. In doing so, we are carrying out our founders’ most enduring legacy— to inspire adults and children alike to form positive, personal connections to nature. This is the best way to ensure a vibrant future for the Commonwealth.
M Finding wonder, taking action Building Conservation Communities
Each year, more than 600,000 people come to our wildlife sanctuaries and nature centers to experience the wonders of nature. Our role is to “open doors” to further exploration and a desire to protect the natural world. That first evening owl prowl, or afternoon spent volunteering to help collect data for a butterfly census, or brief inspirational conversation with a Mass Audubon staff person about winter tracking can spark a lifetime of curiosity—and often transform a casual visitor into an essential member of the Mass Audubon community. If our wildlife sanctuaries are the hubs, our staff, volunteers, and visitors are the spokes that radiate outward into the communities. The measure of Mass Audubon’s impact is more than what happens in our centers; it is what happens as a result of our centers—within our boundaries and for miles around. Through our myriad interactions with children and adults every day, we foster that critical sense of wonder that keeps people in touch with nature. Connecting people and nature is our way of ensuring that Massachusetts will never be the scene of the “last child in the woods.” We need your help as we continue to innovate, educate, and motivate.
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Julie Brandlen, Director, Boston Nature
A P L A C E TO C A L L H O M E Community Education and Citizen Science
People long for a place to call home, a place where they can be part of a community and have deep, lasting ties. Mass Audubon’s sanctuaries have become that home for many—a community with a space and place to come together, across all ages, and all walks of life, where children, teens, and adults become connected to the natural world and are inspired to protect the nature of Massachusetts.
Teaching in Massachusetts’ best classrooms— outdoors, anywhere
Because the Housatonic River is a central feature of the area’s ecology, a key objective of our Berkshire Sanctuaries is to engage the community in protecting imperiled rivers and watersheds. One of the ways we do this is to offer “On the Water” educational programs to thousands of schoolchildren. Our educators make these classes so much fun that the students barely recognize they are learning math and science, too. An exciting canoe trip supplements and underscores the classroom lessons, and for many youngsters, this is their first time in a canoe—a guaranteed memorable experience—and an inoculation against “nature deficit disorder”!
More than 3,000 Mass Audubon volunteers
and citizen scientists commit over 75,000
hours a year to help us meet our mission.
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At our Oak Knoll Wildlife Sanctuary in Attleboro, our Head Start partnership works with even younger children to help them develop a sense of wonder and curiosity. They love to discover new things, and the “Creepy Crawlies” program, which involves turning over rocks to find slugs, salamanders, worms, and spiders, seems to be the most popular. Through programs like these, preschoolers learn that nature is all around them, even in their own backyards. Although a relatively new sanctuary, Oak Knoll has strong ties to the community, providing positive experiences for adults and children.
Reaching underserved communities
In towns like Hudson, Lowell, Billerica, and Waltham, staff from our Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary work with community members who realize that their relationship with nature can begin in a school yard or in a neighborhood park. By customizing the activities to meet the needs of each town, we build connections with nature that can be nurtured and sustained. Many of the programs are school based, while other activities include partnering with libraries, collaborating with local conservation groups, and participating in community events. This model for reaching out to new audiences needs to be extended to other cities and towns in the Commonwealth.
Learning by doing
Center
“ When
the principal
of John D. Philbrick Elementary School in Roslindale asked us to create an after-school program, we saw an opportunity to energize the entire student body. The kids––third, fourth, and fifth graders, most of whom are eligible for food assistance––chose recycling as a theme. They really got into it, creating a model ‘landfill’ to see what kinds of trash would still be in the soil two months later, and they began recycling at home. At school, they set up a paper recycling program and a classroom worm bin. When they tried to get neighbors involved and found them less supportive, the kids wrote to the local newspaper asking people to help. We didn’t expect to create lots of scientists, although that would be good, but we wanted to get kids involved in environmental issues by doing. If at age 8 you learn that you can influence change for the good, you’ll carry that all through your life.
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From among 151 schools, the students were awarded the Northeastern Massachusetts Green Team grand prize.
Abigail Ohemeng, age 10, Roslindale, Massachusetts
“ When
we started a recycling program
at school, some kids weren’t interested. But the school and people from Mass Audubon helped us. Every classroom now has bins for newspapers, colored paper, and white paper. They’re collected every two weeks. We showed the other students how to sort for recycling and told them that our paper is taken to a factory where they make new paper out of it––without cutting down more trees. Soon everybody wanted to do it. My sister, Barbara, is 8––she’s in the program too. At [Boston Nature Center] camp we made invitations that said ‘Can you try?’ and asked people to help recycle paper. We gave them to our parents, aunts, uncles, and friends. It’s really fun and it’s working really well.
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Our Boston Nature Center (BNC) in Mattapan restored an abandoned site and created a 67-acre wildlife sanctuary. There are two ways to build a conservation community—either bring people to nature or bring nature to people. In a city neighborhood that has more limited access to nature, we knew we had to do both to be successful. A variety of engaging experiences, in schools and at the sanctuary, help young people bond with nature in a safe environment that fosters excitement about learning. The BNC is also a haven for “out-of-school” time, providing summer day camps, weeklong vacation programs, after-school enrichment programs, and even funding scholarships for urban youth to go to Wildwood, Mass Audubon’s overnight summer camp in New Hampshire.
Volunteering and learning through service
To many, the mere mention of sea turtles usually conjures up images of warm tropical isles and sunny beaches. But at our Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, the image is more likely to be of bonechilling winds and icy salt spray. That’s because our sea turtle rescue volunteers spend the dark, cold evenings of the winter months searching for cold-stunned leatherbacks, loggerheads, endangered Kemp’s ridleys, and other sea turtles that wash up on the beaches. Struggling to carry them (some weigh over 100 pounds) to shelter at the sanctuary before they go to the New England Aquarium for further care, our volunteers ensure that as many sea turtles as possible eventually complete their migration—the longest in the reptile world—to warmer tropical shores. Our Habitat Intergenerational Program (HIP) is a volunteer community service and learning program that began in 1997 at our Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary in Belmont. It brings together people of all ages by having them work cooperatively on environmental service projects. Students teach senior citizens and vice versa; all work together to bring enthusiasm and fresh ideas to our stewardship projects. The HIP has received the Fran Pratt Award, given to honor a program that best exemplifies vision, leadership, and service to the intergenerational movement.
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O U R L E A D E R S A R E N AT U R E ’ S C H A M P I O N S
An honest job description for a Mass Audubon Sanctuary Director would read like an advertisement for a classic overachiever. The successful candidate must be a leader and expert in environmental studies, excellent manager, and a passionate educator who can mentor children and adults. Must be able to create and facilitate complex partnerships with community leaders, government officials, funders, developers, and owners. Budget management experience, love of nature, excellent listening skills, and visionary thinking a must. A Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuary is so much more than acres of protected land. And what a sanctuary means to its community comes from the vision of its leadership. The good news is that we have attracted so many talented professionals who fit the formidable job description. Our 20 Sanctuary Directors are professionals who are committed to the mission of our organization and possess the personal skills to motivate others: helping them to progress from caring to knowledge to action.
Our sanctuary directors average 20 years
of experience in the conservation field, and two-thirds of them have advanced degrees.
Two dedicated, committed, skilled, and caring directors literally put their sanctuaries on the map. Bill Gette at Joppa Flats Education Center in Newburyport and Deb Cary at Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester, in their own inimitable styles, built their sanctuaries from the ground up. Before there was a nature center in either town, there were these dynamic Mass Audubon leaders who rallied the community to care about and support efforts to protect the region’s land and wildlife. Whether teaching birders, preserving land, advocating for protection of the Merrimack or the Blackstone watersheds, or raising funds, both of these leaders have created and sustained a sense of community that goes far beyond the stewardship of their own location. They, and all of the other directors in the Mass Audubon family, inspire and transform our staff, our members, and our visitors with their personal love of nature, their passion for protecting it, and their infectious enthusiasm. Because our directors play such pivotal roles, we’ve created, as part of this campaign, an initiative to endow specific Sanctuary Directorships. These are not tenured positions in the academic sense, but an important way to recognize the special talents of our directors—and to ensure that our sanctuaries will always attract new leaders to inspire future generations.
Barbara Fargo, Council Member and Honorary Director, Mass Audubon
Making a vision a reality
Endowing sanctuary directorships
Deborah Cary, Director, Central Massachusetts Sanctuaries
“ Some
people don’t understand
the idea of funding an endowment. It’s not something physical, or easy to put your finger on. The best argument for an endowment is to think of a person like Deb Cary of Broad Meadow Brook. She’s this incredible person who set herself up in a little storefront on Main Street years ago and has worked tirelessly to build the Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary. Deb just puts a smile on everything she touches. She’s a natural leader––smart, committed, and charming. She’s built a community around the sanctuary; she’s the one who gets things off the ground and knows how to collaborate with everyone and with all the organizations around. Deb never complains when she’s raising money for this piece of land or that project, or how she has to juggle to meet her budget, but I wish she didn’t have to devote so much of her time and energy to doing it. I know it’s hard work to raise money out here in the Blackstone Valley. We don’t have a lot of people or companies with deep pockets, but we do have a lot of wildlife that’s worth protecting. If I had a million dollars to give, I’d endow the position myself.
“ In
”
the sixties, half of the land
within the Worcester city limits was still rural. In 1985, when I opened Mass Audubon’s office, development had left only 10 percent for wildlife and recreation. When I arrived, people were already working hard to protect what remained of Worcester’s natural landscape. Some were afraid we’d try to take over; instead, we joined forces. Mass Audubon Sanctuary Directors work as cheerleaders, catalysts, and change agents. We partner with city, state, and federal agencies; local organizations; businesses; and private individuals. Because we collaborated with the city administration and the Greater Worcester Land Trust, it took only fifteen years for an initial 15-acre purchase to become a 400-acre sanctuary––Broad Meadow Brook––the largest urban wildlife sanctuary in New England. Within the city limits, hikers cross paths with 160 species of birds and 78 varieties of butterflies. More than 12,000 people a year snowshoe or walk on over six miles of well-marked trails. Partnerships have added 1,000 acres to Worcester’s park and conservation lands. In 1996, our record of successful teamwork convinced the National Park Service to reauthorize the status of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor as a cultural and environmental resource. We’re proud to be a part of the regional Campaign for a Fishable/Swimable Blackstone River by 2015. It’s remarkable progress.
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Judge George Ellison, Volunteer,
BUILDING THE ENVIRONMENT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Mass Audubon is committed to making each of our public buildings—many originally built as private homes, outbuildings, and barns—a space that offers a warm welcome to our visitors and inspires learning throughout their stay. With each capital project––a repair, a retrofit, a new building or addition—we carefully consider how each visitor will use the building, making sure it is as functional as it is pleasing, that it works well for children and adults, for groups, for people of all abilities, and for anyone and everyone who looks to Mass Audubon as an entry point to nature. Furthermore, our capital project enhancements focus on incorporating green building features at all our nature centers and facilities.
Using capital sense
While we’ve been the beneficiaries of many wonderful former houses, barns, and garages, few easily adapt to being education centers, accessible to all. Who imagined that a family farm would become our Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln and welcome more than 85,000 children and adults every year? Current renovation projects for Drumlin Farm’s buildings and exhibits will enhance people’s understanding of the link between food production and nature ––while also offering the necessary level of administrative function for our staff and comfort for our visitors. To create the spaces we need requires capital, and our plans run from the small and manageable to larger projects that require complex, long-term planning. Boston Nature Center’s needs include a
new entryway and parking area to provide a true gateway to this unique urban site. Our Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary seeks an infusion of capital to reconfigure and enhance its visitor center, and provide expanded classroom space, parking areas, and an improved workspace for its sanctuary staff.
LEEDing by example
Our green building initiative not only inspires imitation by others, it also ensures that each Mass Audubon capital plant upgrade reduces our dependence on nonrenewable sources of energy, and that over time our buildings will live even more lightly on the land. If we are to set an example for future generations of conservationists, let it begin with our own homes. We are not new to this pursuit. More than 25 years ago, Mass Audubon created a sustainable building design at Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary. This initiative gave us a model for buildings that provide pleasant indoor environments while using less water and less energy, and producing less waste. The Saltonstall Nature Center, which relies on sunlight and heat retaining elements to keep it warm, carefully placed window shades and air vents to keep it cool, and water-saving elements that reduce consumption by 100,000 gallons a year, shows there can be a balance of human use with natural systems that sustain us. Every element of this building (formerly a lovely old barn) had become a teaching tool long before many of us had heard of sustainable energy and green buildings. Fast forward to summer 2006 when we held the grand opening of our newly renovated nature center at our Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary— our most ambitious green project to date. We were able to incorporate such a high level of sustainable design that it will qualify as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) facility with a gold (or maybe even platinum) rating—among the highest ratings of the LEED system. Green design and construction are now possible for both commercial and residential structures, and our building will inspire others to get onboard through exhibits and tours.
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Massachusetts
It’s easy being green
Renovating our public spaces
Truro,
“ At
my stage of life
––I’m 80––it’s reassuring to meet young people who will perpetuate your values and carry forward work you believe in. People of all ages ask me about the new ‘green’ nature center at Wellfleet. They want to know how they can include elements of the building in their own homes and projects, like floors made from recycled tires, insulation made from old newspapers, and outdoor storage tanks that capture rainwater for our butterfly garden. Mass Audubon’s green building is an important model for the construction industry and for the community. After 23 years as a trial judge in Vermont, I retired to Cape Cod. All kinds of opportunities opened up for volunteering, but I made a conscious decision to be deeply involved at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, where, as birders, my family has come every year since 1963. But I’ve learned that Mass Audubon’s scope is far wider than birds; I know Mass Audubon will keep alive the values I cherish, like teaching young people and whole communities how to respect and better take care of our environment.
Bob Prescott, Director, Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
“ From
”
the first hot summer days,
we noticed that visitors got out of their air-conditioned cars, walked into our newly renovated nature center, and marveled at how good the air-conditioning was. There is none! The building was designed to keep fresh air flowing through, and it’s so effective that our staff and volunteers keep sweaters handy. Many visitors are surprised that Mass Audubon is not ‘just nature,’ thinking we’re only birds and trails. When they learn about the building, they’re blown away. You can hear ‘gee whiz’ in their voices when we answer their questions about the indoor, waterless, composting toilets; and how low-emission paint, walls, insulation, and carpeting improve air quality and smell better. I see it in their faces when they realize our building is more than beautiful––it is efficient with our members’ dollars and teaches visitors about conservation and smart design. For the next generation, this new nature center shows where we’re headed, what we can do, and what we need to do.
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How you can help There are so many ways to foster a conservation community. And we have lots of ideas of how to keep cultivating them. We need your help to ensure that we can always respond to those who want to be part of our conservation communities.To nourish and build on the interests of budding young naturalists, newly interested adults, and seasoned conservationists, we must have the staff to engage them and the facilities to house and showcase our programs. If we are to safeguard the nature of Massachusetts for future generations to enjoy, we must be able to inspire today’s generation to join us now. Your support will help us: so we can do even more to encourage learning, a love of nature, and a commitment to making a positive difference among people of all ages.
so that we can attract and retain our exceptional leaders and encourage the bright lights of the next generation to consider leadership careers at Mass Audubon.
• FUND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
• ENDOW OUR SANCTUARY DIRECTORSHIPS
• REACH OUT TO UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES
• IMPROVE OUR FACILITIES
so every child in the Commonwealth can experience the wonder of seeing turtles in a pond or looking to the sky to watch the effortless glide of a hawk.
so that every visitor to a Mass Audubon nature center or sanctuary will continue to have a welcoming, enriching experience.
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ENABLE GREEN BUILDING AND RENOVATIONS
at our sanctuaries to reduce energy consumption and to model sustainable construction for others who are looking for ways to conserve the planet’s resources.
“In wildness is the preservation of the world.” Henry David Thoreau
and is a curious thing. Simultaneously the most concrete thing in the world––rocks, sand, soil––and the most abstract. We make deep spiritual connections to the land we know well, from pine forest to salt marsh, from grassland to sandy beach, from hilltop to coastline, from our own backyard to the distant horizon. While we may not often visit the wide variety of Massachusetts landscapes, we take comfort in knowing that the land exists and all the plants and animals that call our Commonwealth home will endure for the enjoyment of our children and grandchildren.
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Every day an area nearly the size of the Boston Common is lost to development in Massachusetts. At this rate we have a rapidly closing window of opportunity to have a meaningful impact on protecting ecologically significant landscapes across the state. With the remaining land up for grabs, what we choose to do––or not to do––will be our lasting legacy.
Our irreplaceable asset Protecting land and habitat
Since we established Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary nearly a century ago, Mass Audubon has been focused on identifying, acquiring, protecting, and managing land that is home to both common and rare species and a haven for each of us to take a walk in the woods. Mass Audubon now protects 63 properties across the state, totaling 32,000 acres of conservation land—in rural, suburban, and urban communities. We own more conserved land than any other private conservation organization in the state. And, through our network of 43 public wildlife sanctuaries, we welcome more than 600,000 adults and children each year. Historically, we have been the leading private protector of our state’s native habitats and species. Protecting the nature of Massachusetts for people and wildlife—a daunting yet essential task. We can’t afford to stop now. Ensuring that future generations have a chance to experience the wonders of nature is the reason why Mass Audubon remains steadfast, committed to our vision of securing and managing land for the long-term. Land is far more than real estate.The time remaining to protect land will go by in a flash—our challenge is to make the most of it. We need your help to protect our most irreplaceable asset.
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Sarah Werthan
PLANNING FOR ACTION Science and strategy come together
Our land protection strategy has two primary objectives: protecting, expanding, and enhancing our existing sanctuary system, and protecting and preserving other habitats of statewide significance. At Mass Audubon, we are pragmatists. We don’t plan to protect every open acre of land in the state. Nor should we. What we are doing is using our scientific and land management expertise to identify and preserve land that is most important to the diversity of nature in Massachusetts. Employing sophisticated analytic tools, we have identified areas of greatest importance for conservation. Within these priority sites, we focus in on the next level of detail—locating specific properties. We operate with urgency, aware that, if we delay, the opportunity for protecting open land in Massachusetts will be lost.
We are good neighbors and good partners
As an organization, Mass Audubon owns an impressive amount of conservation land––and has plans to acquire more priority lands located throughout Massachusetts. But as much as we care about owning and stewarding land, we invest equal energy in being good neighbors–– and partners––to the owners of open land that is adjacent or near to our own. We are active players with state, local, and private land trusts across the Commonwealth, working with them to craft
Let the numbers speak for our success at
leveraging our dollars and our expertise: over
the last five years, for every $1 we have invested, we have protected $8 worth of land in the
state––a great return on a sage investment.
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ownership agreements that facilitate a shared goal: safeguarding critically important and beautiful areas, now and for the future. But there are few easy deals left involving significant land in Massachusetts. Which is why we need to be highly creative practitioners, good at responding to a wide range of people, situations, and opportunities. Mass Audubon is often the “first responder” to an opportunity to acquire additional conservation land, or to counter a threat to land already under our control, but the process of protecting land unfolds many ways. Sometimes, we find ourselves working with a large group––as we did when a broad community came together to protect O’Neil Hill at the Graves Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Williamsburg. In other cases, such as at Allens Pond in Dartmouth, our original partner was an individual with a strong clear vision.
Baking dog biscuits brings hope
Buttenwieser, Northampton, Massachusetts
Mary ShanleyKoeber, Director, Connecticut River Valley Sanctuaries
“ Protecting
O’Neil Hill,
26 acres of land connecting two sections of Graves Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, struck me as a project kids could get involved with.They could see the land, fundraising could be completed before the school year ended, and the reasons were as simple as saving animals and as complex as protecting waterways.The idea resonated with my son Lucien’s second-grade teacher. As a community-service project, the class baked and sold over 1,000 dog biscuits; another class held a read-a-thon; and together the 40 children raised nearly $2,000 to help Mass Audubon finish this land campaign. On a morning in May, we all piled on a school bus to see the place we had helped save. At first sight, they shrieked, cheering, ‘We did this!’ Then we stood still by the edge of a meadow.When we heard birdsong, these children felt the significance of their gift. As an adult who fears the effects of climate change, I felt a new calm, new hope, as the children around me began to appreciate the world around them.They understood: we can all help save the planet.
“ Despair
”
came before hope
when I saw that O’Neil Hill in Williamsburg was about to be auctioned for development. Moose, bobcats, deer, black bears, and smaller creatures need that land. Development of O’Neil Hill could have blocked wildlife movement between the two properties and caused polluted runoff to flow directly into Joe Wright Brook.The Commonwealth, however, had declared it surplus property, for sale to the highest bidder in just six weeks.The town was given neither time nor opportunity to respond. After the auction, Mass Audubon was given a one-year option to rescue the land by a generous bidder. If we could raise $200,000, we could purchase the land from its new owner. Hope arrived a second time when Mass Audubon members across the state read about what we were trying to do. Many had grown up near forested areas that now are shopping malls and offices.They, along with people in this community, put us over the top. Even elementary-school students contributed. Everyone knew this was the final chance.
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The chain of events that led to the creation of Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary began with Angelica Lloyd Russell, who in 1971 donated development rights on 150 acres of her shorefront farm to Mass Audubon—one of the first conservation restrictions ever executed by Mass Audubon. At the time, it was a novel land protection tool. Today, we hold conservation restrictions on more than 4,000 acres of land across the state. Angelica’s vision of her family
land as a wildlife preserve provided the foundation for a cascade of conservation momentum that has over time, with the help and support of many partners, grown to our 800-acre Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary: a natural jewel in Dartmouth. Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester represents yet another example of the creative approach needed to make land deals work. Our strategy called for protecting lands in urban environments and expanding our presence in the Blackstone River Valley, one of our Important Bird Areas. We began with a 15-acre site 15 years ago. Over time, we brokered a unique three-way partnership with the city of Worcester
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and with National Grid. Together, we have a mosaic of ownership but a unified commitment to conservation of more than 400 acres of land. We have plans to link several additional properties in the region, giving the public greater access to the recreational joys and natural diversity of the Blackstone River Valley corridor. As we continue to focus on the land we love––and the land we need––we must reach out to owners of important lands, using a range of land protection tools, and remain poised to take action on conservation opportunities—from the tip of Provincetown to the hills of the Berkshires.
S T E WA R D I N G F O R T H E F U T U R E Land is for the long-term
Every homeowner knows that land doesn’t just take care of itself. Whether you mow it, rake it, clear it, or plant it, land requires constant attention and constant upkeep. Conservation land is no different. We can’t just acquire a large expanse of grassland, and let the brush take over. We can’t rest easy as invasive plants displace the natural flora. Nor can we feel good about our land and boundaries if we do not mark them and prevent encroachment. Owning land isn’t just about holding the title, it’s about preserving or restoring its natural values—forever. We must have sophisticated land-management strategies that enable us to protect and sustain the natural habitats that are critical to our birds and other wildlife and provide public access and enjoyment of our land for the long haul.
It’s a daily commitment
Sometimes stewardship looks dramatic, such as when we emulate natural processes by burning heathlands on Nantucket. Or, when we respond to an environmental catastrophe like an oil spill or a major storm, or restore wetlands that have been degraded. But stewardship requires persistence, too. Think of the ongoing effort to keep invasive plants from overtaking native ones at places such as our Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield.
It’s labor-intensive, unrelenting work, as we pluck each stem, making sure to grab it root and all so that the stubborn plant has no chance to return. As we acquire additional land, we must also develop thoughtful strategies for preparing some of these sites for public visitation. For us, this may mean planning and building new trails and parking lots to provide safe access to the property and at the same time minimize disruption to the wildlife that lives there. Once property is open for public use, stewardship of trails, facilities, and wildlife habitat is a long-term endeavor. Jim and Patricia Poitras understood the importance of stewardship when they agreed to donate 250-acres of land, known as Broad Hill Farm in Holliston. Their gift included a generous endowment, ensuring that this land, and our adjacent Waseeka Wildlife Sanctuary, are cared for and enjoyed, indefinitely. They love the land, as do we, and as landowners they know that ongoing land management comes at a price. Stewardship is forever—constant, daily, and crucial. Without vigilant care our wildlife sanctuaries will not prosper as places of beauty and refuges for wildlife and people.
Eight hundred acres of wildland in Otis and Sandisfield
in the Berkshires are slated to become Mass Audubon’s Cold Brook Wildlife Sanctuary. But we’re not finished:
we have our sights on 900 more acres, including a 100-acre
pond, old-growth hemlocks, ravines, and cold-water streams.
Righting the past; preserving the future
Gil Fernandez,
“I
owned a dairy farm business
in Dartmouth, started by my father in the 1890s. By midlife, I had 400 acres and dairy cattle. When stores began to sell gallon jugs of milk, I could foresee the end of home delivery, a big part of our business. When I had an opportunity to sell my business and retire early, I didn’t realize I was also jeopardizing the farmland itself. The growing popularity of gallon jugs meant the new owner couldn’t earn a living either, forcing him to sell it for real estate development. That lost land has troubled me ever since.
Dartmouth, Massachusetts (1912-2007)
At retirement, my wife and I began working to reestablish nesting ospreys in the region. I love the birds not only because they’re wild but also because of the way ospreys live––mating for life, staying in the same territory, taking care of and protecting one another. Saving the osprey was a chance to make up for my earlier mistake. Another chance came when I decided to conserve my land next to Allens Pond. Mass Audubon and the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust handled all the logistics and made it easy. This time I sold my land and preserved it for all time. Protecting this property has given me peace of mind.
Gina Purtell,
“ For
Director, Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary
16 •
decades,
Gil Fernandez and his family loved their 104 acres of salt marsh, coastal oak woodlands, forested wetlands, and pastures in Dartmouth. The Fernandez property is a gem wedged between conservation lands, including a quarter-mile of shoreline on Allens Pond. Gil and his wife, Josephine, will always be remembered as the people who brought ospreys back to Buzzards Bay. He appreciated better than anyone why this property has been deemed ecologically significant by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and Mass Audubon. A strong public-private partnership, involving federal and state agencies, negotiated the arrangements, and Mass Audubon is entrusted with the future of this spectacular array of rich habitats. Perhaps we’ll encounter some of the rarities Gil Fernandez knew there. It is up to us to keep and steward this land today so that it remains unspoiled tomorrow.
”
How you can help We have a short window to respond to the challenge of identifying, protecting, and planning for our state’s land. The economic realities of development—particularly to provide housing—are very real. As pragmatists, we must choose where we can be most effective, becoming ever more focused and sophisticated about our strategies for acquiring, protecting, and managing conservation land. We hold these lands now––for the future, for our children, and for their children. We need your support—so we can continue to respond quickly to challenges and opportunities, and to execute carefully considered land protection plans.
We ask you to help accomplish the following: • ENSURE THAT WE HAVE THE ESSENTIAL FINAN-
to act when a key parcel of land becomes available, is endangered, or needs restoration. We must be able to take action while the window of opportunity remains open.
CIAL RESOURCES
of the land by funding and supporting plans and programs developed by our scientists, naturalists, and sanctuary staff.
• IMPROVE STEWARDSHIP
•
”
needed to creatively complete deals and partnerships across the state.
• SUPPORT THE EXPERTISE
to identify specific land and watershed areas most in need of protection and where we can best leverage our resources and partnerships.
• INCREASE OUR RESEARCH EFFORTS
efforts so that federal, state, and local government can continue to be essential partners for land conservation. In the last few years, dollars for land have been cut at every level of government, and this trend must be reversed.
• FUND ADVOCACY
“Over increasingly large areas of the United States, spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song.” Rachel Carson Silent Spring, 1962
W
hen birds disappear, it signals a worrisome shift. Historically, the loss of birds from our landscape has been a clear signal that “life is not in balance.”
Birds bring joy. What other creature so effortlessly attracts us, children and adults alike, from all walks of life? Maybe you already belong to the enthusiastic fellowship of birders, making frequent additions to your “life list.” Or perhaps you are a more casual—but not less appreciative—birder looking for birds with your family and friends on early-morning walks, or you favor the seat by the kitchen window facing the tree where cardinals and blue jays often pay a visit? Birds bring us joy, but unless we protect their habitat many will fade away.
Help us answer the call Preserving a common wealth of birds
People passionate about birds founded Mass Audubon more than 110 years ago. Today’s Mass Audubon supporters haven’t changed: we are still people who care ardently about birds—those graceful, fascinating, and often vulnerable creatures that add beauty and song to our world. But we are also aware of birds as bellwethers of environmental change and core components of a healthy ecosystem. Each time we note the loss of another bird species, we know that nature itself is threatened. Mass Audubon is a diverse community of people who dedicate time and talent to advocating for birds and their habitats, and for conservation in general. Protecting the birds in our Commonwealth requires an ongoing and meticulous assessment of the health of bird species and of their natural habitat. We must devise, fund, and implement protection strategies that are customized for each species, habitat, and threat. It’s a worthy but complex challenge. To be successful, we need you.
•
19 •
Mass Audubon has been protecting Massachusetts’ birds and their habitats for over a century—with much success. There is good news to report: our recent surveys indicate that the populations of some grassland bird species are now stabilized and even increasing. Mass Audubon scientists noted the declining populations of grassland birds; grassland restorations at Arcadia and Allens Pond wildlife sanctuaries now provide additional habitat for these birds. The population of piping plovers that nest and raise their young on our busy beaches has increased fourfold as a result of our efforts to protect nests from off-road vehicles and from predators. But, sustaining this momentum requires ongoing support and commitment.
K N O W I N G W H AT T O P R O T E C T
At Mass Audubon, we believe the first step in deciding how to protect our birds requires knowing what to protect. Our statewide assessment programs—the Breeding Bird Atlas and Birds to Watch—are broad-based datagathering initiatives that allow us to consolidate information on the health of each bird species and its native habitat. Are some species in decline? Others on the increase? With careful, compiled data—much of it gathered by our citizen scientists—we structure plans to invest our limited resources most efficiently, and assign priority to the species and habitats vital to the health and future of our natural world, or susceptible to the greatest threat.
The State of the Birds
Assessment is an ongoing, time-consuming, ever evolving process for Mass Audubon—but, by careful tracking of bird sightings over time, we develop effective measures that help us evaluate what is working and what is not. The Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas was the first of its kind in the United States. The original Atlas project relied on more than 650 volunteers who collected data over a six-year survey period, 1974–1979.
In the years since our initial survey, the condition of our native bird population has changed significantly. So have our measurement and reporting techniques. Atlas II uses the latest computer technology to record these changes and will help scientists identify species in greatest need of conservation action.
Our pilot study, the Oriole Project, asks citizens to tally sightings of the Baltimore oriole, one of our easily identifiable and most popular birds (the males’ unmistakable orange and black feathers are among the brightest signs of spring in New England). One measure of the excitement generated is the number of people joining in, many of them first-time birders. In 2006 alone, more than one thousand participants reported seeing 2,035 Baltimore orioles during the birds’ sixmonth stay in our region.
Massachusetts is an essential site for birds––in state
and beyond. For example, our Sampsons Island Wildlife
Sanctuary is one of the most important tern and piping plover sites on the Eastern Seaboard.
In 2001, we launched the Massachusetts Important Bird Areas (IBA) program to identify and designate the 79 most significant bird habitats in the Commonwealth. Our scientists and staff are developing nuanced and site-specific strategies for protecting each individual IBA, a process that requires great sensitivity to the many public and private constituencies involved. Our state-based IBA program is a key component of a coordinated, international effort to protect bird habitats around the globe.
Birds to Watch is one of Mass Audubon’s newest programs, developed in 2004. It transforms casual observers into citizen ornithologists simply by asking them to report sightings of birds that we think may be in decline. With Birds to Watch, Mass Audubon is developing an effective, accessible way to share the fun of birding with children, teens, and adults across the state, ensuring a future for birding, and for birds.
Nancy Lutts,
Engaging citizen scientists
Assessing and protecting birds and bird habitats
Important Bird Areas
Oriole Project participant, Salem, Massachusetts
David Larson, PhD, Education Coordinator, Joppa Flats Wildlife Sanctuary
“I
hear the birds
while tending my garden—among all the lovely tall trees and in the undergrowth. At planting time, the calls and singing of splendid Baltimore orioles are irresistible. I read about the Oriole Project and began to find nests of these fine, bright, orange-andblack birds––and to watch them more closely, and to report. One nest is 50 feet up in an oak tree, one in a weeping willow, and the third in a maple. All are gray, hanging ‘sacklike.’ At one nest I could hear baby birds. I’ve been reporting for three years, and this year, I’m happy to say, there are more orioles. My enthusiasm must be contagious; now my nearby family and neighbors are all watching.
“ We
often take for granted
the existence of birds that are not rare—and the joy they give to us. Three years ago we launched the Oriole Project to study the distribution, populations, and breeding activities of Baltimore orioles. The reports of our citizen scientists contribute to a database that will be used to track the breeding status of these fairly common, magnificent birds. We could never do this count ourselves. So far, 1,354 citizen scientists have been recruited. And people are taking a proprietary interest in ‘their’ orioles. Once you grab someone’s attention with something like the Oriole Project, or Bird-a-thon, a tradition for more than 20 years, that individual becomes connected to the environment. And after that, maybe each person will make conservation-minded choices elsewhere, like selecting water-saving, energy-efficient appliances or carpooling.
”
•
20 •
”
•
21 •
Kaylan Kemink, summer intern
Coastal Waterbird Program
If you’ve been beachcombing recently on one of our state’s breathtaking beaches––and noticed teams of students and adults, busily monitoring shorebird nesting areas and taking notes on the status of the coastline—you’ve seen our Coastal Waterbird Program (CWP) in action. It may look like a typical group outing, but these volunteers are engaged in a structured data-gathering effort that is a core component of our CWP, a hallmark program that has been protecting coastal birds and barrier beaches in Massachusetts for more than 20 years. Our ability to form close, working partnerships with federal, state, and local government and with private landowners to protect and advocate for the entire Massachusetts coastal ecosystem continues to be one of our strengths. We monitor 100 sites on the South Shore, Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod, and the Islands. The CWP is now considered a national model for conservation for its sophisticated combination of hands-on science and stewardship, informed by our long tradition of environmental education and intelligent advocacy.
Mass Audubon protects salt marshes and other tidelands that serve as habitats for 49 species
of breeding birds and 112 species of migratory
or wintering birds.
Preserving birds and conserving their habitats for the future is an effort that goes far beyond pinpointing a single species or a parcel of land. Today’s conservation challenges require big, systemic solutions that consider simultaneously how the birds, the land, human use, and local climate conditions all factor into the mix. Mass Audubon’s CWP is an acclaimed exemplar of integrated, proactive, conservation thinking.
Love at first sight
H A N D S - O N C O N S E R VA -
Becky Harris, PhD, Director, Mass Audubon Coastal Program
first time I saw piping ploverchicks
in a nest, all my hard work seemed worthwhile. The chicks were tiny balls of fuzz, smaller than golf balls, blending in perfectly with the sand. Unless they’re moving, you can’t see them. We were working in Chatham, on South Beach, locating nests, keeping track of adults and eggs, waiting for the hatch date. I simply fell in love with the birds. Every evening we’d ask things like ‘how’s your oystercatcher doing today?’ and get upset when someone’s birds couldn’t be found. I’m an undergraduate student at Cornell with a major in wildlife biology. After my summer with Mass Audubon, I now plan to get a Master’s degree in ornithology. Can you imagine having experiences like these every day of your career?
“ It’s
Waterbird
We are proud that our work is recognized as a major factor in reversing the decline of certain Massachusetts shorebird populations. But our work is not yet complete. Shorebirds nesting areas are routinely threatened by off-road vehicles, human intervention, erosion-control practices, overharvesting of horseshoe crabs, and natural predators. Keeping the birds nesting and the beaches beautiful requires financial support.
“ The
about being captivated by the birds:
your first glimpse of a plover chick, downy and awkward on spindly legs; stumbling upon a perfectly adorned oystercatcher nest, its delicate eggs ringed by iridescent mussel shell; or the first time you step into a tern colony, surrounded by the cacophony and intensity of birdlife. These are the signs of life that we must ensure are around for all time. There are now four times more piping plovers nesting in Massachusetts than there were in the mid-1980s and two to three times more least terns. American oystercatchers number close to 200 pairs while 40 years ago there were few breeding oystercatchers in the state. These species all came perilously close to disappearing here. Our program has become a model for other states and other countries, and its reach goes way beyond the hundred beaches that we monitor and protect. But just because we can point to successes doesn’t mean we can sit back and let the birds take care of themselves. We’ve reached a tipping point, especially with coastal habitat, and we have to continually work hard to balance human and wildlife uses.
”
How you can help In the late 1800s, you might have joined Mass Audubon’s Founding Mothers when they rallied others to help put an end to killing birds for their plumage. Or you might have been familiar with the American bittern, then a common summer resident, and heard its remarkable sound—the hollow oonk-ka-choonk of males during courtship, reminiscent of priming an old pump. In Massachusetts today, American bitterns are endangered, along with many other birds that our founding mothers worked so hard to save. We are working to reverse their declining numbers and save other species that otherwise might be added to the endangered list. Your support will help us: to improve the scientific basis of our bird conservation programs. Sound science enables us to better protect birds by adapting our actions to the changing threats confronting birds.
• INCREASE OUR RESEARCH EFFORTS
and increase active management of important bird habitat. Many bird species, such as those inhabiting grasslands and shrublands, require habitats that must be actively maintained.
• ENHANCE STEWARDSHIP
to provide timely and much-needed information on trends in bird populations. Citizen science programs engage people of all ages and birding experience and increase support for bird conservation.
• RECRUIT CITIZEN SCIENTISTS
•
22 •
”
to collect and analyze data and to better connect to our citizen scientists.
• BUILD THE TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES
of birds and the need to protect bird habitat. Birds are highly visible and appealing. Protecting birds protects other wildlife.
• EDUCATE AND BUILD AWARENESS
of birds and areas important to birds.We can build on increased public awareness to increase state funding for bird conservation and to ensure that their habitats are truly protected.
• ADVOCATE FOR PROTECTION
“Mass Audubon’s great strengths have always been innovation and organization: gathering all the strands––education, science, public policy––and knitting them together for positive conservation outcomes. This unique approach keeps our work relevant in today’s ever-changing world.” Laura Johnson President, Mass Audubon
ike many great social-change movements, Mass Audubon’s role as an advocate for nature started simply enough. Over a century ago, two concerned Boston women responded to threats to bird populations and led the charge to protect them. In the process, they became leaders, educators, and catalysts in the field of conservation. With the benefit of time, we can now clearly see that their influence was far greater than their original vision.
L
Innovation, collaboration, action Fund for Nature
Today, our charge is to build on our heritage and to maintain and strengthen our ability to anticipate and respond to threats to our natural world. They are complex and come from many arenas––excessive energy consumption, land-use pressures, wildlife disruption, accidents, and natural phenomena. Our world moves very fast, and Mass Audubon must be prepared to respond quickly and creatively, strategically and tactically. While speed and nimbleness matter, we also cultivate the long view. Looking ten, even twenty, years ahead, we must continue to come up with new ideas and programs––and do so without jeopardizing current priorities and projects. Fortunately, we are not alone. In addition to setting our own agenda, we maintain vital partnerships and collaborations with other organizations that are active in Massachusetts’ conservation efforts. When we harness the will and wisdom of others, the impact and efficacy of our own efforts expand and nature gets a bigger win. The Fund for Nature recognizes the critical importance of unrestricted operating support that allows us to continue our role as the Commonwealth’s most devoted innovators, stewards, leaders, and advocates for protecting the nature of Massachusetts. Our founders would expect no less from us. •
25 •
Leading the challenge in the Commonwealth
Every single day in our Commonwealth nature faces threats. Whether it’s the loss of a vulnerable species or a rare habitat, a land sale that converts more open space to suburban sprawl, a decision to make large-scale water withdrawals from a threatened watershed, an industrial accident, or perhaps more subtle but no less regrettable––a child graduating from elementary school without having developed any connection to the natural world. Mass Audubon must be ready to respond to as many of these threats as possible and be the engine that ensures the health of our state’s habitats, plants, and animals––and the well-being of our citizens.
Leadership and innovation
Mass Audubon is an incubator of innovative approaches and programs that protect our environment and foster our individual connection to it. Many of our most successful programs were funded initially through the kind of unrestricted support we seek for the Fund for Nature. Our Boston Nature Center (BNC) is a stellar example of our innovative out-of-the-box thinking—one of the first urban environmental education centers in the country. Today, the BNC has become a true community resource, providing school-based, after school, camp, and youth development programs.
Research and advocacy
Our review of the proposed Cape Wind project demonstrates the respect Mass Audubon has earned for nonpartisan and thorough analysis.
Drawing on our scientific research and diverse expertise across the organization, Mass Audubon examined the proposed wind farm project in depth and made recommendations to the project’s developer and permitting agencies for reducing risks to birds and other wildlife. Protecting rivers and other large ecosystems requires the development, enactment, and implementation of statutes, regulation, and policies, and the need to engage and collaborate with others. Mass Audubon has been a key partner in the effort to protect the 40-mile-long Ipswich River—one of America’s most endangered rivers. Connecting advocacy and science is key if we’re to develop and implement creative, muchneeded solutions.
Flexibility and responsiveness
When an environmental crisis occurs, such as the 2003 massive oil spill in Buzzards Bay, we don’t have time to go out and raise needed funds. We must respond immediately, or live with the aftereffects for decades. When the oil spill hit our shores, we were able to mobilize hundreds of volunteers and our staff of trained ornithologists. All were onsite quickly and able to assist with clean-up efforts–– significantly limiting the ecological impact of the spill. At times like these, our flexibility and ability to respond are a function of our unrestricted support. With the necessary funds, we are extremely efficient.
We’re in it together
S H A P I N G T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N , S E T T I N G T H E
Maggie Geist,
“ We
Executive Director, Association to Preserve Cape Cod
relied on Mass Audubon’s
advocacy efforts when the statewide Community Preservation Act (CPA) provided a way for the Cape’s 15 towns to receive matching funds—as well as raise and earmark portions of local property tax for investment in affordable housing, land protection, historic preservation, and recreation. We’re a 5,000-member organization with limited resources, so we can’t be on Beacon Hill. There were roadblocks to local approval: towns had made prior agreements that prevented them from taking CPA to their voters. Mass Audubon wrote new legislation and backed its passage on Beacon Hill; it was signed by the Governor and the CPA was approved by every town on the Cape.
”
Sharing a vision
Today, Mass Audubon’s challenge is to remain firm in our convictions, yet welcome others into the conversation. We work with land trusts, developers, local and state legislators, nonprofits, community officials and commissions, and many other groups to advance our goals. It was collaboration and perseverance that led to passage in 2000 of the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act (CPA). But that was not the final chapter of the story. Continued efforts in partnership with other CPA advocates have ensured ongoing successes—119 cities and towns in the Commonwealth have now adopted the legislation.
As a conservation organization, we see our task broadly––protecting the nature of Massachusetts, leading and supporting smart growth, engaging citizen scientists in our efforts, and providing the research, commentary, and resources to deliver both short- and long-term results.
How you can help Since the beginning, we have been influential in the conservation conversation—shaping the agenda, piloting new projects, creating partnerships, and making a difference. By supporting the Fund For Nature, you’ll help to provide the flexibility we need to remain at the forefront of environmental protection and preservation. Mass Audubon is well known as a venerable conservation organization—and with your help, it will remain a vital one. Your support will enable us to: responsible planning, protective legislation, and environmentally beneficial projects.
• COLLABORATE WITH OUR CURRENT PARTNERS
to unanticipated environmental challenges, whether caused by an act of nature or an accident.
• MAKE IMPORTANT RESOURCES AVAILABLE
• ADVOCATE FOR
Last year alone, Mass Audubon’s legislative staff
reviewed 7,000 pieces of legislation and had 4,200 hours of contact with legislators, aides, and state officials on key conservation issues.
•
26 •
• RESPOND RAPIDLY
• SERVE AS A CATALYST
education programs.
for new environmental
to be a trusted statewide voice on issues with broad ecological importance.
• PROVIDE THE SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE
and establish new relationships with emerging players
to the public, such as invasive plant lists, bird and animal surveys, water assessments, and wildlife information. that anticipate best practices in conservation, to increase our efficiency and that of other people and organizations.
• DEVELOP NEW TOOLS
• CONTINUE, AND BUILD ON, OUR HERITAGE
as a leader and innovator in all areas of environmental protection.
Connecting People and Nature
We are inspired by the tremendous legacy left to us by earlier visionaries. Where would we be if John Winthrop and his contemporaries had not set aside the Boston Common in 1634 to become democracy’s green and vibrant front yard? Or if Henry David Thoreau had not in the 1840s recounted on paper his thoughts about the transcendent beauty of Walden Pond? Or if Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, published in 1962, had not alerted the world to the hazards of DDT and other pesticides? Furthermore, what would the nature of Massachusetts be if in 1896 the founders of Mass Audubon––Harriet Lawrence Hemenway and Minna Hall––had not launched the Audubon movement in North America, creating an international initiative to protect migratory bird species and founding what is now the largest conservation organization in New England? With the support of people like you, we’ve built on the achievements of our predecessors. Yet our efforts in land protection, environmental education, wildlife conservation, and public policy must continue to keep pace with—and anticipate—the changes that are happening all around us. And we need to inspire and involve the next generation of environmental stewards so that our work––including all we’ve yet to do––will have lasting benefit and value. Mass Audubon has always been propelled by visionary people, including those who financially support our work. Whether you are a lifelong donor or new to Mass Audubon, your participation in our campaign is critical if we’re to thoughtfully, passionately, and effectively move forward and realize our shared vision for the Commonwealth. Please help us inspire, preserve, and enjoy.
Jonathan Panek, Chair, Board of Directors Anne Brooke, Campaign Co-Chair Franz Colloredo-Mansfeld, Campaign Co-Chair Laura Johnson, President •
28 •
Mass Audubon works to protect the nature of Massachusetts for people and wildlife. Together with more than 100,000 members, we care for 32,000 acres of conservation land, provide educational programs for 200,000 children and adults annually, and advocate for sound environmental policies at local, state, and federal levels. Mass Audubon’s mission and actions have expanded since our beginning in 1896 when our founders set out to stop the slaughter of birds for use on women’s fashions. Today we are the largest conservation organization in New England. Our statewide network of 43 wildlife sanctuaries welcomes visitors of all ages and serves as the base for our conservation, education, and advocacy work. To support these important efforts, call 800-audubon (800-283-8266) or visit www.massaudubon.org. © Mass Audubon Design: Sametz Blackstone Associates, Boston
F
or 110 years, Mass Audubon has been a leader for conservation in the Commonwealth and throughout New England. We are protecting the nature of Massachusetts for the benefit of this and every future generation.
Photography: Shawn P. Carey©: Leader & kids (cover/p4), Mother & son (back cover), Animal demo (p7),Young birders (p18). Paul Rezendes©: Salt marsh (cover/p24), Cape sunset (inside front cover). Bob Speare: Big woods (cover/p12), Bluebird house (p6). Kathy Sferra: Coastal pond (back cover). Maslowski Productions©: Red fox (p2). Richard Johnson©: Great blue heron (p3),Wellfleet marsh (p15), Bobolink (p22). Carol Decker: Fall Pond (p3), Solar array (p10). Kevin FitzPatrick©: Nature festival (p8). Parker River Clean Water Association©: Group at Joppa Flats (p9). Bob Singer©:Wellfleet nature center (p10). Carolyn Cummings: Earth day at BNC (p11). Amy Ferreira:Winter birders (12). René Laubach:Winter footprints (p14). Jim Fenton©:Winter coast (p15),Yellow warbler (p18), Birders (p21), Short-eared owl (p21). www.pictometry.com ©: Lower spectacle pond (p16). Michael Quinton©: Snowshoe hare (p17). Rob Kipp©: Baltimore oriole (p20). John Van de Graff©: Plover chick (p20). Andrew Birch: Black swallowtail (p24). Henrietta Yelle: Barred owls (p26). All other photographs from Mass Audubon collection or stock photography.
Your support makes it possible
“ One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, ‘What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?’” Rachel Carson
Mass Audubon 208 South Great Road Lincoln, Massachusetts 01773 781-259-9500 800-AUDUBON www.massaudubon.org
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